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Shipping an auto almost always costs more than driving it yourself. In figuring your actual costs of driving, you must take into consideration how many miles per gallon your vehicle gets. If you are driving 800 miles and your car gets 20 MPG, in theory you should need 40 gallons of fuel from Point A to Point B. At a national average right now of around $3.00 per gallon, that is a total of $120 for fuel. This does not include oil or the wear and tear on your tires.

Budget one night for a motel at $100 to be safe, and $50 a day for food on the road. The cost for you to drive your car on an 800 mile trip would be about $320 for a drive-it-yourself scenario. Naturally, this does not include any roadside emergencies.

Throw in some family members or friends who are either relocating or vacationing with you and you must calculate a per diem for their food and lodging as well. If it is just you and your spouse, the total cost of your drive-it-yourself trip would be $420.00. The average cost of shipping a car 800 miles is around $700.00. You must not forget to add in the tab for airfare or ground transportation for the two of you to reach your destination.

You could tow the car behind your rented truck and the only costs to transport the car would be the rental/lease or purchase of the towing gear.

Dollars and cents, however, are not the only means of measuring cost differences between driving the car yourself or having it transported.

A professional who charges by the hour, say a doctor, lawyer or consultant must figure in the hourly fees he is not receiving while driving over a long distance. The same is true of mechanics, electricians, plumbers and other highly skilled tradespersons. Being away from work and therefore unproductive for 12 or more hours will definitely put a dent in their wallets. This cost must be included in the expense tally of driving the car versus shipping it.

A non-financial consideration would be the stress factor of driving yourself. If you are the type of driver that tensely grips the steering wheel and worries throughout the entire trip about various perils coming your way, you are going to end up at your destination in a frazzled condition. If people are in the car with you, they will feel the tension in the air and you will all wish you shipped the car instead.

Then there is the family car with driver, back-seat driving spouse and three screaming kids in the back seat whining “Are we there yet” throughout the trips duration. Siblings thrown together in a small space for hours will come very close to doing each other in. This does not make for a relaxing trip. There is actually no price applicable to peace of mind for two adults who work 40 plus hour per week not having to deal with this sort of “family fun.” The cost of shipping a car under these circumstances can be considered priceless.

For additional news and information about Vehicle Transport or Vehicle Shipping please visit MetroGistics.

It’s possible to establish the ability of an auto shipping company that you are doing business with in the same way that you would with any business that provides services. You can take action to identify the no-good companies so that you can hone in on the genuine companies that are likely to provide a good service.

Disreputable shipping companies often provide cheap estimates over the Internet or on the phone. They don’t bother to visit your home or view the items that you need to have shipped. Once your property-in this instance, your car-has been loaded onto its moving truck, the company suddenly demands more money before it will deliver or unload your vehicle. Until you pay more cash, the company won’t release your car. A good tip is not to do business with a mover that doesn’t suggest or agree to inspect your goods on-site, but simply provides an estimate over the Internet or phone.

Another suggestion from one expert is to avoid looking for a mover online. Many trustworthy and reliable moving companies do have websites. It has to be said, however, that most fraud victims found the moving company that defrauded them over the Internet.

It’s a good idea to get hold of the latest copy of the yellow pages or phone book and search for at least three companies that have actual built premises in your area. If possible, these moving companies should have been in business and located in those premises for around five years at least. Another tip from the experts is to avoid using moving brokers. Consumer protection laws that cover moving household property presently only cover motor carriers and do not extend to household good brokers.

Those in the know are firm in telling you to set up appointments for your three choices to come to your house and do an in-home estimate, even if it is just for your automobile. If one particular company will not visit you in person, find an alternative mover. Find out up front if the company will be doing the move themselves, or if they will be sub-contracting out the job. If they won’t be moving you, again delete that candidate and add another. You should also visit their office and make sure that the company is who they say they are. Make sure that their trucks are permanently marked with the company’s name.

With any new jobs, you generally have to provide professional references from at least three sources. It wouldn’t be an unreasonable request if you asked the transporting company you want to use to provide three references in support of its services. Ensure that you do your homework on the company, and that you ask pertinent questions about experience and any other issue that’s important to you. There’s little merit in having a positive reference that the company will drop your car off at your home when timekeeping is actually the most important issue for you.

Finally, you want to check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if any local complaints have been filed against this company. There is also a Federal website you can check to see if there have been complaints.

Reputable transporters and car moving companies do exist. With a little research and preparation you will be able to get in touch with a company that will meet your expectations and your budget.

To read more on Car Transport or Car Shipping please visit MetroGistics.

We have all been so tired we hardly knew where or who we were. Hopefully this is the result of a really fun-filled night that went on way too long before a work day rather than a result of chronic insomnia.

Sleep is boring but a very important part of a healthy life and has been the subject of many a medical study. Sleep can be a valuable process as much as a necessity or it can also lead us to a fatal injury. Sleep depravation is real and an ugly thing that can turn into a very serious issue. It is never more deadly then when it strikes a person behind the wheel of a car or especially behind the wheel of a massive eight-wheeler. One seriously exposed industry is auto shipping.

Regularly relying on truck drivers to travel long distances in short and efficient periods of time, the auto shipping industry is an area of expertise that is very susceptible to the drawbacks of combating sleep schedules and the safety concerns that follow. Driving is already a very sensitive task and mixing long hours with this type of work function can have devastating effects. The more we learn about the sleep laws of the road, and review details of sleep as related to truck driving, the more conscience we should become about some of the perils we may face when shipping vehicles.

Hopefully the more we know, the more willing we will be to abide by the laws and to support the auto shipping companies that are making a conceded effort to keep our roadways free of danger. Let’s take a look at who created some of the laws and a few of the methods used to prevent harm.

State highways, county highways, United States highways and interstate highways all have the same rules regarding sleep while working and driving as a truck driver and vehicle transporter. The governing body of these laws is The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration who is responsible for deciding driving hours and conditions for truckers involved in interstate commerce. All auto shipping companies should at least be aware of these guidelines as they almost always pertain directly to there business goals.

The Motor Carrier Safety Administration partners with both the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies and the National Institute for Occupational Safety to conduct a multitude of scientific and in-depth statistical studies regarding fatigue and the effects of sleep in conjunction with occupational driving. The resulting information has been used to create what the administration refers to as Hours of Service (HOS) regulations.

It is important to note that there are two sets of rules. One pertaining to passenger carrying vehicles and one directed towards property moving trucks. Auto shippers must abide by the more stringent property based regulations. Dissecting and reviewing these laws will help auto shippers do a better job, become more alert within their work environments and may even help save lives.

Auto shipping drivers and companies to avoid breaking any laws must abide by certain rules of sleep. The basics of these rules dictate that drivers may be on the road a total of 11 hours without rest only after 10 straight hours of being completely off the clock. The rules also state that drivers cannot drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour on the job and may return to work only after 10 consecutive hours of idle time. Other guidelines are that drivers who log a 60 hour-7 day work week or a 70 hour-8 day driving schedule must then take 34 hours of rest before starting out again. Lastly, drivers sleeping in berths in their trucks must take eight consecutive hours in that sleeper cabin along with a separate two consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or a combination of the two before continuing their driving.

It is mandated that this schedule be tracked via trucker logs and journals and on-board computer devices. Bits of the compiled daily data might include truck number, the name of the vehicle carrier and the mail office address, date and time, total miles driven in a 24-hour period, name of the co-driver, shipping document numbers and driver’s signature swearing that all entries are true.

All of this is closely observed. Fatigue can be the most dangerous of auto shippers’ enemies. Because of the severity of the possible results of operating a large motor vehicle in a compromised state, auto transporters must be ever alert and continue the fight against the very real disasters caused by falling asleep at the wheel.

To read more about Auto Transport or Auto Shipping please visit MetroGistics.

Good old Curious George the sock monkey has a lot to teach us about asking questions to get to the root of the problem and discover all of its ramifications. Just like good teachers who encourage their students to ask questions, Curious George was a good character who did the same. If you are thinking about shipping your vehicle to your new location instead of driving it (if that is even possible) emulate the sock monkey and ask a bunch of questions.

Since auto shipping is usually not something the average person does on a regular basis, it makes it even more important to diligently inquire about the unknown. As people and property can be on the line, not asking the appropriate car carrying questions can lead to significant consequences down the road. The practice of auto shipping can be a complex process and asking the right questions is one of the only ways we can better prepare for all that it entails. Going over some of the basics as well as some of the more obscure questions related to sending and receiving cars should allow us to make informed decisions and in turn will increase performance and conformability.

Probably the first question to ask is about the container your car will be shipped within or on top of. The differences are vast between closed and open container shipping and must be addressed in terms of categories like security and pricing. You must not only determine the price but what that amount covers. Not all price quotes will cover the type of container offered, insurance, door-to-door shipping, and direct or expedited routing.

Along with cost questions should come cancellation fee and policy examination. Delving in depth with the auto shipping provider in regards to the terms and conditions of pricing and service is never a negative. Other simple questions to ask may be about the amount of time it will take to complete the shipping, what are the guarantees of the delivery organization, and if the company represents itself entirely or brokers the work out to third parties. Extra general questions to be aware of include cross-examining scheduling parameters, pickup and drop off locations and the rules of object inclusion inside the vehicle. Once the standard prodding is out of the way there still may be a few more investigations we should be making.

If your car has special needs and/or if it going outside of domestic boundaries, shipment knowledge definitely becomes even more of a priority. For example, even though Hawaii is certainly a part of the United States, there are distinctive conditions that apply to this particular state, and you need to find out what they are. In international shipments, you will need to inquire about customs clearing, local laws and the current idiosyncratic rules and regulations of the particular country of destination. If your vehicle is rare, vintage, classic or oversized, special handling is required. Ask the shipper how they handle such vehicles.

Another more sensitive and complex topic to review with the shipping company of choice is damage reporting. Obtaining knowledge about how inspection sheets work, driver licenses, and how signature reconciliations are coordinated is recommended. Sorting out challenging auto shipping issues such as what is done in case of emergency, the historical background of the company you are working with, and what measures are taken to assure customer happiness should not be taken lightly. Regardless of what your auto shipping intentions are, asking the frequent and infrequent questions of the trade will in most instances better ready you for any possible barrier or concern.

The automobile shipping industry is a mystery to just about everyone that doesn’t deal with it on an everyday basis. Questions about how much gas to leave in the tank, will the car be driven by someone else at any time and does the vehicle have to be in operating condition to ship are not dumb. As a matter of fact, questioning any phase of the process that you do not understand until you do understand it in detail is the wise way to go. Once again, you do not want to encounter any surprises when shipping something so important as your major means of transportation.

For more on Car Shipping or Vehicle Transport please visit MetroGistics.