Shipping Your Car Across the United States of America: Where to Begin

Shipping your car across the United States involves a few steps to the process. When you break it down into steps the challenge becomes doable little pieces.

Here’s a guide to help you get started and drive off on your way to your new home!

• Get Recommendations: Ask Google, friends, family, or whoever you can for personal referrals to reputable car shipping companies. Another option is to pay a local friend or student who is willing to drive your car out and road trip it on its way to you for a price.

• Online Research: Use online tools to research and compare reviews of different shipping companies. Shipping your car is not a one-size-fits-all thing, you need to feel you can trust the driver of your car or the driver of the truck bringing your car. Put in your make model and year into iMoving’s marketplace and you will get multiple binding quotes to move your car in confidence.
• Check Credentials: Triple-check that the company is licensed and insured for auto transport services.

• Request Quotes: Contact several car shipping companies (or simply do this only once on iMoving) to get quotes based on your specific needs. Prices will vary based on the distance, type of vehicle, the time frame you need the car, and more..

• Compare Services: Compare and contrast not only prices but also services offered, such as door-to-door delivery vs. terminal-to-terminal, enclosed transport vs. open transport for your car on the road. Take all the factors into account then book directly with our vendors.

• Clean Your Car: Clean out your car thoroughly to take photos of its condition before shipping. It is a good idea to get a car wash so that you can properly take photos of every scratch for later insurance claims. 

• Inspect for Damage: Document any existing damage with photos and videos.

• Remove Personal Items: Take out all personal belongings from the car to comply with transport regulations. You won’t be seeing your car for a while and you don’t want any items lost in transit.

• Open vs. Enclosed Transport: Decide whether you want your car shipped in an open carrier which is always cheaper or an enclosed carrier that offers protection but comes at a price.

• Delivery Options: Choose between door-to-door delivery which is the most simple way since you won’t have a ride to go pick it up, or terminal-to-terminal delivery which is cheaper but requires you to drop off/pick up your car and you should factor in the cost of taking a cab to the terminal.

• Schedule in Advance: Book your car shipping service well in advance to lock down the best dates, especially during peak moving seasons like the summer or during holidays. Take into consideration that they might be doing a delivery of multiple cars at the same time and the dates may not be exact.

• Confirm Details: Double-check all details of the shipment, including pickup and delivery dates, insurance coverage, and payment. Make sure everything checks out. 

• Vehicle Registration: Ensure your vehicle registration is up to date. Don’t start digging for paperwork right when the movers arrive, prep your paperwork ahead to be prepared.

• Insurance Documents: Provide copies of insurance documents to the shipping company just in case they will need them.

• Title Deed: If your car is still financed, provide the title or get the approvals you need to move it out of state.

• Stay In the Loop: Use the tracking information provided by the shipping company to monitor the progress of your car shipment. See where it is at all times so you can know it is on the way. All movers should provide you with tracking if they don’t run away.

• Inspection on Delivery: Right when you get the delivery, inspect your car for any damage and note anything wrong immediately. Take photo and video evidence while the movers are still with you and have them sign off that they saw the damage live. This will be the best time to make a claim before driving it because once you have driven off you can not prove that the damage was made by the movers. Don’t let them rush you through this part, take your time to check all angles outside as well as the insides.

• Payment Terms: Follow the agreed-upon payment terms with the shipping company. Usually, you will pay a deposit of 10-20% upfront when booking and pay the rest post- car inspection. 

• Feedback: Provide feedback to the shipping company based on your experience. If they did a good job, consider writing a review on Google Maps or other review sites so you can help others like you understand their level of service.

• Documentation: Keep all documentation related to the shipment for your records.

Shipping your current car across the USA might seem a bit daunting at the start, but when you book with iMoving, you know you can sleep freely without worry.

Your vehicle will arrive safe and sound if you book with us. You should know that it is important to book your car transport ahead of time to make sure the drop-off and pick up dates work with your life schedule.