Car shipping calculator

When shipping a car cost calculator can become a very important tool to help you better understand the value of the service. Just a few decades ago many cars’ owners had to spend a lot of time for such investigations while visiting numerous offices of the transportation companies across the state or making a lot of calls. Today you can figure out an approximate cat shipping costs by calculator on the official websites of various carriers and transport brokers.

Here we will consider the main aspects and parameters of such car shipping calculators in the transportation industry. Of course, they are not universal in every case, but there are some main points that every analytical system needs to count how much you should expect to pay for your car’s delivery throughout the United States.

Information required

To make the shipping car calculator work, you will need to provide it with some basic details about the upcoming transportation service you are interested in. It's very important to mention that at this preliminary stage you should not be required to provide any personal information (unless it’s not your mobile number or email address where you are supposed to receive the quote of the delivery). No details about the addresses of the pick-up and drop-off, no plate number of the vehicles you are going to send – at least if you are planning to deal with a professional transportation company.

Considering the main factors that can essentially affect the price, you will need to provide only the information linked to these factors. Here they are:

1. Locations. There are so many versions of the car shipping calculator you can find on different websites. In some cases, you will be required only the zip codes of the original and final destination. Sometimes – the name of the city. If the online shipping cars calculator is not that complex, you may need to enter the information both about the zip codes and the city names as well as the particular states. This will allow the system to count the distance between these two spots as well as to consider how it is connected with the main routes of the trucks for the cars’ transportation. If the original city or the destination is too far away, most probably you will have a more expensive quote and will need to wait a little bit longer for your vehicle to be delivered. Additionally, you should also be aware of the possible changes in the price depending on the particular location inside the city, but this point should be discussed on the later stage;
2. Parameters of the vehicle. On this step it’s enough to give the information about the make, model and year of your car. But in reality, you will need to inform the potential carrier about any changes you have made to your car, both for the interior and exterior. Of course, the shipping car cost calculator cannot take into consideration the influence of such details on the final price, but it can be pretty essential. For example, if in comparison with the factory-made vehicle your car has some extra kilos or inches, you can be required to pay some extra fee because the carrier will not be able to fill the truck with some additional cars for the route. In some cases, you may need to pay even a double price, but it’s fair enough considering the unreceived profit for the carrier because of your oversized vehicle for the delivery. On the other hand, it’s always recommended to check the offers from different transportation companies as some of them may have not so strict requirements or extra space in the truck. Sometimes you may also need to choose the type of the car you have (sedan, minivan, SUV, pickup etc. to help the shipping car costs calculator give you a more accurate result);
3. Number of vehicles. For most car’s owners this part is not essential as traditionally they need to transport only one, maximum two vehicles at the same time, but for dealers, for example, this part can be essential. Car shipping cost calculator normally have an option of adding vehicles to the request, at the same time some carriers have restrictions. For example, you may be able to place just five cars into the row. Of course, you still can order the delivery of a higher number of the cars but in this case, you will need to discuss the price with the company’s representative directly;
4. The condition of the vehicle. Here we can advise that in case you are planning to make some repairs to your car, it should better be done prior to the transportation service. The issue is a lot of carriers and brokers may refuse to transport your car in case of serious problems with the brakes and rolls. Plus, non-running car’s transportation can essentially affect the shipping cost for cars with the calculator as the truck driver will need some additional equipment as well as skills to load your inoperable vehicle onto the truck;
5. Type of the truck. Normally, you can choose between an open and enclosed transport to deliver your car from point A to point B. And the difference in quotes can be up to 60 percent with the average difference of 33 percent. Open transport is very popular because it’s also a more flexible way in regards to the dates and period of the delivery while the enclosed method will provide your car with more security and you with less stressful waiting time. There are even some transportation companies which are specialized only on the enclosed delivery so you can be sure your vehicle will be treated well;
6. Date. Advance reservation is always a good idea if you are willing to save some extra money. In case of a couple of months pre-arrangement you will be considered as an “early bird” and therefore can get a very nice discount. On the other hand, it’s also possible to arrange the pick-up service even on the same day, but most probably you will need to pay for such an emergency.

The last step is to provide the method of the contacting. Some transportation companies are using the automatic systems to provide you with the preliminary results while others prefer to use real people who will contact you directly and will consider your particular case in more detail. Anyway, to make a better choice, you should check the quotes from various companies. At least, from three of them.