Drivers everywhere are affected by the cold and snowy weather of winter, but how does this weather affect auto transport companies? Unlike sending a package in the mail, prices for sending your car with an auto transport company can largely differ depending on seasonal changes. As a general rule of thumb, winter is one of the best seasons to ship your car with an auto shipping company if you want to take advantage of good discounts.

Why Is It Cheaper to Ship an Auto in the Winter?

Unlike over the summer holidays, winter isn’t a busy season for most auto shipping companies. While there are a few routes that are always popular during the summer, winter doesn’t tend to be busy for most routes. This means that most auto shipping companies find themselves in need of more customers over the winter months.

On top of the fact that winter already tends to be quiet, carriers often no longer travel on less popular routes to secluded areas, as these routes become inaccessible or more dangerous to travel when weather gets harsh during winter.

To keep business going, many auto shipping companies are willing to offer good discounts during winter. This helps companies compete in the competitive market of auto shipping.

How to Make Winter Auto Transport Work for You

While shipping your car during winter could open up opportunities for great discounts, it might be harder to find a company that’s able to ship your car to the exact destination you had in mind. So while finding the right deal can take time, you’re likely to get a very reasonable rate if you’re persistent enough.

However, there’s also a chance that you won’t find a company that can ship your car to your preferred destination during winter. As mentioned before, this is because carriers don’t tend to travel on less popular routes during winter.

If you’re unable to find a company that can ship your car to the exact destination you wanted, you could still send it on the closest popular route and have it dropped off as close as possible to your preferred destination. Even if there isn’t an auto transport company that can take your car to the exact place you wanted, you should be able to find a company that can send your car at least two thirds of the way. This can seem like a schlep, but the winter discount you get with your car shipping can make the extra effort worthwhile.

If you’re planning to ship your car and fly to your destination, you can simply book a ticket on a flight that lands in the same city where your car will be dropped off. This way it will be easy for you to arrange transport from the airport to the terminal where you arranged pick up your car.

Preparing Your Car for Auto Shipping

Regardless of whether you’re shipping your car in the winter or summer, there are certain best practices you can follow while preparing your car for shipping:

Remove all your personal belongings before shipping your vehicle

Auto transport companies don’t assume any responsibility for personal belongings you leave in your car. Please remove things like your CD collection or USB memory sticks from the car before handing it in. If you have a CD player in your car, check that you didn’t forget a CD in the player. If you have personal belongings you need to leave in your car (like child safety seats) please talk to the auto transport company to arrange an agreement.

Make a record of existing damage to your vehicle before transport:

Any good auto transport company will insure your car during transport. To claim from a company’s insurance in the unlikely event of your car getting damaged during shipping, you’ll need to have a record of what it looked like before you handed it in to the auto transport company. To do this, you can take a camera and carefully inspect both the exterior and interior of your car for damage. Look at things like scratches, missing components, the condition of your car’s tires etc.

Ask your vehicle shipper about the fuel tank:

Some auto transport companies might ask you to hand the car in with less than half a tank of fuel, so just be sure you know what their policy is so you don’t have to pay extra for the weight of a full fuel tank.

By following these guidelines, you should be well prepared to ship your car. However, it’s a good idea to ask the auto shipping company if there’s anything specific you need to know about preparing to have it shipped with them – after all, you can never be too prepared!

Finding A Reliable Auto Shipping Company

While winter is a great time to shop around for low auto transport quotes, you still need to be careful about choosing an auto shipping company based solely on price. Though auto shipping prices tend to be much lower during winter, no company can offer you a rate that’s unrealistically low. Even during times when business is slow, auto transport companies still need to make a profit to cover business expenses.

If a quote from a specific company is much lower than what you’ve been seeing everywhere else, you should be suspicious. Do a background check on the company by reading some online reviews. Some auto transport companies try to lure customers by offering unrealistically low quotes. Don’t be fooled! These companies will usually push up the price of shipping unexpectedly after you hand your car in.

If you’re interested in a quote from a reliable auto shipping company with many years’ experience and countless success stories from satisfied customers, please contact Suncoast Auto Transport for a quote on shipping your vehicle.