enclosed vs. open shipping

Hi all

I am in the process of buying a speedster out in California & need to get it shipped to New York. I've talked to some people who say the car will be fine on an open carrier if it is right behind the cab (the driver will put it there after a green handshake). Any thoughts on this?

I would be careful with that. I know that many carriers unload at hubs and change trucks. Do you think your car will be on the same truck that left CALIF? As for throwing a cover on the car, that cannot be done since the wind buffeting will scratch the bejeesus out of it. If the car will be on the same truck, can you not arrange for shrink wrapping?

This time of year there will be all 4 season thrown at the car on a cross country journey. Be careful brah!

David,

Mike has some good advice. I'd opt for the covered trailer from a reputable trucker. There have been several recomendations in the past of excellent trucking firms. If the Speedster is new or in very nice condition, it makes sense to put it in a covered rig. Save hassles that may occor if weather related or vandalism on he way back east. Money ahead paying a little more up front is my advice.

Bruce

Recently had an open carrier arrive at my home to pick up and deliver a CMC speedster I sold to it's new owner in Texas.
The trucker (independent carrier sub contracted to a major shipper) had 5 cars loaded on the carrier, the car that was a on the top front rack of the carrier was a rather nice appearing older Mercedes Benz unfortunately it had a major rear end oil leak.
Directly below the Benz sat a 2002 Vette convertible which was getting a major oil bath on and into the Vette from above.
I mentioned this to the trucker his response was to the effect that he could have cared less ...grumble grumble ...not his F****** problem!"
After contacting the speedster's new owner and explaining my hesitation to ship it on this rig, I sent this less than professional on his merry way minus the speedster.
For the cost difference of enclosed vs. open carrier it is an inexpensive investment to have a speedster shipped in an enclosed trailer..

I got my car shipped via "enclosed trailer" (at least I paid for it; there's no way of verifying it was shipped that way). When it got here it had some water damage (tailights as well as turn signals had signs of having been full of water as well as rust spots on the tailight lens surrounds and license plate light. Remember this was a brand new car! Also the left door had been banged on the edge and some of the paint had come off as well as in a couple of spots on the left front fender. The little piece of side moulding behind the door handle was also missing. Remember that these trips sometimes have stopovers at different places and you don't know how the car is stored or treated at those depots. I also paid insurance and got a nominal fee (barely enough to fix the car) when I filed a claim.

Wow, that sounds like a mess! From the start I wanted to go enclosed, and this forum definitely reinforced that decision. Thanks guys!

David,
I ship and have shipped to me an average of 6 cars a year. The main
thing is to use a reputable shipper that is fully insured. The open
closed thing is something that would not be worth the chance this
time of the year.Remember these guys don't go straight west to east,
but may be in northern Minnasota and on to Kentucky before getting
to the east coast. Short hauls,say, 3or 4 hundred mi.are o.k. on open
carriers, but long hauls are best on a closed carrier. Also totally
inspect the vehicle when it arrives against the inspection done by
the driver at the pick-up point. Remember,oil WILL drip in a closed
trailer.
Jim

i've spoken of this before, but i contracted to have my car shipped via closed carrier as well (AAA auto transport). they subcontracted it to someone who subcontracted it to someone else. somewhere in the mix they lost the "enclosed" order and called me to let me know that i was due for a refund. after several minutes of %*$#(#%&*!!!, they kindly explained that if i wanted to cancel my shipment with them, i can come get my car. seeing as i was 3000 miles away, i decided lay down and let them ship it. when it arrived (five weeks later), one of the windows was removed, the other was in place...backwards. the top tensioners had been loosened and the car looked as though it had weathered a sandstorm.

I shipped a full custom bug on open carrier, It had a fender stolen off it in shipment. They put it on the bottom in the back. Worst place on the truck. I had my speedster shipped enclosed and paid a little extra for a top load so it would not be dripped on becuase it is topless. Enclosed was better.

Have the previous owner walk around it taking pictures just before it is put on the truck. Pay them for a disposable camera if you have to. Best way in the world to prove damage, especially if the carriers truck is in the background of the photos.

I have an answer.......

Fly me to California, and I will drive it back. Awesome idea don't cha think? I will get it home in 10 days and it will be cleaned, armour-alled and ready for you. And, I will even supply hundreds of pictures of your car on a X-country journey!

I used Dependable and went from terminal to terminal and enclosed trailer. I didn't worry about being on top because I had a hardtop, but you could see where other cars leaked oil and radiator fluid on to my car.

I have shipped the same car twice across Canada, from Vancouver to Toronto and vice versa. Both times the car went by train, and both times it arrived in good shape. Perhaps you can look into a shipper that uses this method?

Mike:

You want a navigator? I'm ready to go an a couple of days notice, but remember that Jim Ward thought of this first.....Guess we'll have to be competitive on price or offer more delivery value for the dollar. Maybe even split the deliveries - Jim gets West of the Miss., and we do the East.

Maybe we could do a couple of days through the Napa Valley, breaking in new engines at a leisurely pace, then making sure it's trip-ready and head out to the customer's site, eh?

Such a deal!!

gn
One of the Speedstah Delivery Guys in Rhode Island

So why not fly out, put the sucker in a Hertz rental truck, tie it down and have a nice drive accross this great country?

Not a bad idea Michael!

Because Michael...............it won't be ME driving the thing across the country that's why!!! :)

Gordon sounds great, NAPA baby, could take a few days more. We can stop over at Jims on the way and have a road kill BBQ.

BTW, guys....I'll be trailering my baby down to South Carolina in a month, on Chris' open trailer. I doubt that the new top will be here in time, so I'm looking at options to get it there dry inside.

I have a full tonneau, and am toying with the idea of putting the tonneau on and then wrapping the cockpit (only) with pallette shrink wrap just to keep everything in place for the trip. I've been running the tonneau installed over the rear seat and it seems to be OK on the body, so this alternative might make sense. Just don't know how well the shrink wrap will work out - might have to try it out for a day before we leave. At least we can do what we did coming back from Carlisle - we wrapped the sheepskin seats with a tarp and let the rest get wet if it rained - wasn't all that bad, really.

I stopped over at the local boat dealer and asked about fully shrink-wrapping the whole car as they do with boats delivered from the manufacturer. Was told that the wrap chafes the hulls a lot and that they always have to buff out the hulls and other areas with rubbing compound when they arrive to get the abrasions out. Not a good alternative.

The hunt goes on...

When my Speedy got trucked up to Oregon from JPS, the trucker had my car on the bottom "shelf", but he had placed a clear plastic sheet/tarp over my car. All the cars on the bottom had them placed on the cars. Very thoughtful since there was a 64 Jag coupe over my car and they have been known to spot whatever is under them.

Bruce

Forgot to mention in my story that I used Dependable too...

"Forgot to mention in my story that I used Dependable too..."

That was your mistake. You should have used 'Depends' instead. That way, there would be no leaks at all!

Passport Transport is now....
FedEx Custom Critical Passport Auto Transport

Maybe they have overnight shipping! 800.325.4267

All kidding aside - Passport Transport was excellent. Delivered my car in 2 1/2 days from FLA to NY Enclosed! Worth every penny

That's a great one Robert! Somehow I was also thinking about how close to Depend that sounds.....

IMO John Van Damm is the best point-to-point enclosed shipper out there and his charges are reasonable.

Enclosed, St. Louis to Baton Rouge no problems.