Interstate Car Transport: how to ship your vehicle

Quick guide to a safe interstate transport

Choosing an auto hauling company is an important decision that is often made without a lot of experience. Like buying a home, vehicle hauling choices are important to get right the first time. Do some research. Look up third party review sites. See if there are customer reviews on the site of the company you are considering hiring to ship your car. In addition to offering free interstate car transport quotes there are important questions to ask any auto transport company when you want to transport your vehicle. Car hauling should be easy, simple and painless, but that is sadly not the case much of the time. In fact, the auto transport business has a less than sterling reputation.

There are lots of mixed experiences dealing with interstate auto transport companies and you can find horror stories online. That’s why we were motivated to start this company 13 years ago: because we needed reliable shipments for our other business. We set a high standard for our promises around honest communication. Read some of our clients descriptions of their past experiences with other car shipping companies before hiring J&S Transportation:

Price increased, having to pay more

“We had shipped a car before, and it was horrible. It was through a broker. We paid, but then the broker asked us for more money and didn’t want to release the vehicle until we paid more.”

 

Shipping difficult when it’s rural location:

“Every broker I tried treated Dillon, Montana, like it was in the middle of nowhere and didn’t know when they could get up there. Basically I was dissatisfied with the service I received from the brokers in the past, and that’s why I decided to go a different route this time…There was a lot less communication with the brokers I used in the past than what I got from J&S.”

Shipping vehicles into low population states

“I’ve shipped a couple vehicles before through brokers. There are some states that are just inherently difficult to get vehicles out of and Idaho is one of them. There are not a lot of people moving vehicles through that state…J&S performed better than anyone else I’ve ever used before. You guys did what you said you were going to do.”

Know before you ship a vehicle:

• An instant quote should be available, with clear prices.
• Any required or suggested preparation of your car should be disclosed.
• Insurance and damage policies as well as vehicle tracking options must be clear.
• Extra charges for over-sized, modified or inoperable vehicles must be known.

How to avoid common complaints when shipping a vehicle:

• Damages to vehicles during transport. Damage to vehicles is not common, but to make your transport as safe as possible, request Top Load. The Top Load fee for J&S is $150.
• Late pickup and delivery. The best way to avoid delays in pickup is book your auto transport order as far in advance as you can. A minimum of 10 days is recommended but 21 days in advance of when you want to transport the car is ideal.
• Poor customer service and communication. The best way to avoid companies with bad reputations for customer service and/or performance is to do research. Check out their ratings on BBB.org and customer review sites like transportrankings.com.
• Surprise charges not mentioned in the car shipping quote. There have been instance where less reputable carriers have demanded more money once the vehicle is picked up and threaten not to deliver the vehicle until they get it. Also, sometimes the initial quote you receive is a bare-bones quote. If you want extra features, they may be listed as a la carte after the initial information is submitted.

Transport price vs value:

When it comes to vehicle transport, cheapest does not mean the best. Remember the last time you choose to buy the cheaper version of a product and ended up costing you more? Avoid that with your car shipments. A less than reputable company will lowball you with a quote $200-$400 lower than everyone else, then be unable to find a carrier to transport your vehicle for that price. Sometimes the auto transport broker collects your deposit and then take weeks or even months to pickup up your vehicle. In worse case scenarios, your vehicle may not be picked up at all.

Why? The reason for this is the broker is trying to find an auto carrier to ship your car for the price they quoted you. If they can’t find one, your car simply won’t be picked up. Also, the longer you are without your car, the more you are inconvenienced. If the auto transporter doesn’t deliver when promised, it may potentially cost you more if you need to rent a car while you wait for your vehicle. Cheap vehicle hauling quotes may look appealing, but they can be the biggest headaches.

Why we decided to start our own shipping company?

Our involvement in other businesses led us to ship vehicles across the country, and we found it very difficult to get the kind of service we expected. We learned firsthand it is very hard to find a company in the car delivery service that is honest about their delivery capabilities and how long delivery of a vehicle will take.

Our cars were consistently not picked up on time. No one would tell us where our vehicles were during transport and we found it almost impossible to get an actual human on the phone or get a response to our emails when we had questions. Cars we shipped often arrived damaged. Shipping quotes were rarely held to. It was a nightmare.

Eventually we figured we could do a better job ourselves, and so began our experience transporting cars and trucks across the United States. That was over 15 years ago, and now it’s grown into its own auto transport company, J&S Transportation. We made it our mission to make vehicle hauling a positive experience for each customer. Since we opened our auto hauling business over 15 years ago J&S has shipped over 235,000 vehicles with our own fleet of trucks and shipping partners who help us serve the entire continental United States. 

Door-to-door service:

When you get a auto transport quote many times it is for terminal-to-terminal service, not door-to-door service. J&S does door-to-door service unless there are neighborhood ordinances prohibiting trucks from entering. In that case, our driver will call and arrange a close, convenient and safe location with you to pick up or deliver your vehicle.

Always know where your vehicle is during transport

When you hire J&S to ship your car, you will receive honest answers to whatever questions you may have regarding the transport of your car. You can count on quick communication about the on-time delivery of your vehicle.

We say what we mean and we mean what we say: When we quote you a price, we honor it, and when we give you a delivery date, we meet it or get your car to you early. And if there is a problem with the transport of your vehicle, we are pro-active in letting you know.

You will not be wondering what is going on with your car. We’ll call you first, or return your call promptly, as we demanded for ourselves when we started this company to serve our other businesses.

Delivery on our own trucks

We always try to put your car on our own trucks, but if we can get the vehicles to the customer faster by brokering the freight, we’ll do it. We are primarily an auto transport company, but J&S is also a licensed and insured broker.

Direct contact from pickup to delivery

When you book with J&S to ship your car, you’ll get an on-call phone number and an e-mail address for one of our own dispatchers so you have a personal contact throughout the process of of pickup to delivery.

Our promise to you:

We will e-mail or call you to update the status of your order so you’ll quickly know what’s going on with your vehicle. We will be able to track your vehicle throughout the shipping process with GPS tracking systems in our trucks.

Our Insurance Coverage Meets The Highest Standards In The Industry

No matter how nice or expensive your car is, we have the insurance coverage to deal with damages in the rare instances where that occurs. For our damage policy, see our FAQs. Get an instant auto transport quote and book your order with J&S!