Why Vehicle Shipping is Seasonal
We’ve made no attempts to hide the fact that vehicle shipping is seasonal. We’ve discussed a bit about shipping in the summer and the winter and there’s a lot of good information in there. But it’s a bit broken up and while those posts explain how the industry works in those seasons, it doesn’t really delve into why. Why do more people ship cars in the summer months? Is winter auto transport really so slow? Why are things more expensive on some routes? These are good questions, and they’re important to get answers to. We recommend reading those links we provided above as well as the information below. This will give you a better understanding of why vehicle shipping is seasonal in nature.
Here’s why vehicle shipping is seasonal
It’s mostly because of people and how they work. Auto transporters go where their customers are, so if we’re trying to figure out why vehicle shipping is seasonal in nature we have to start with why people move cars when they do. There’s a million reasons why people need to ship a car, but the most common is relocation. People are moving across the U.S. on a daily basis, and it peaks in the summer months. This can be because kids are out of school, or because the weather is nicer, or because it’s simply easier – again, lots of reasons. But summer is the peak moving season, and there’s more demand in the summer than in any other season.
During the winter months, though, demand goes down drastically. The industry slows to a crawl, and with this lack of demand comes fewer carriers. Some of the smaller ones just don’t even bother running routes in the winter. But those that do often run routes that are going south instead of east-west. This is because of snowbirds. We’ve talked a bit about snowbird shipping before, but considering winter is almost here we should revisit it a bit. Snowbirds live in the north during the spring and summer and the south in the fall and winter. They ship their cars between those two locations, often in the late fall and winter, and that’s where the highest demand for winter shipping services is at. Basically, customers dictate how busy the vehicle transport industry is.
On Getting A Seasonal Car Shipping Quote
Just take a minute to fill out our free online auto transport quote request form. It’s completely free and will get you a free, custom quote to ship your vehicle straight from us. We work with only top-rated carriers so you know you’ll be in good hands from booking to delivery. If you have questions about shipping a vehicle, or need some help getting a quote or placing an order, you can contact us toll-free at 800-930-7417 to speak to a live agent any time.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
- When to go with an Enclosed Transport - October 2, 2023
- Understanding California’s EV Mandate - August 1, 2023
- Top Reasons Auto Shippers Are Delayed - January 9, 2023
