Shipping autos by train

Probably, you have heard a lot about shipping cars by truck – most of the transportation companies dealing exactly with this type of the car’s delivery. Also, if you were searching for international transportation, there are a number of carriers dealing with overseas methods. But what about the train? It looks like a great and most probably cheap way to deliver your car from one city to another, especially considering how many railway routes we can see in the modern USA.

The reality of auto shipping by train is not that easy. And here we will consider why.

Restrictions of shipping autos by train

First of all, not every rail company is dealing with individuals and, in most cases, you will still need to approach a professional transportation company that can arrange this kind of the car’s delivery. Nowadays one of the main options for those who are preferring to deal with the rail company directly is Amtrak. But even here you will find a great number of the limitations. And one of the most important of them is that the railway route of Amtrak covers only the East Coast. Meaning there is no option for you if one of your destinations (either original or final) is located in another part of the country.

One more restriction within train auto shipping is that you need to arrange the delivery of your vehicle to and from the railway stations. Even further – as the train is not supposed to make a lot of stops on the way, even if your location is somewhere between two big cities, you will need to deliver your car to one of them. Speaking about the Amtrak, there are only two cities you can choose from – New Your City and Sanford.

But if you are lucky and this is the exact route you are looking for, you can enjoy a great variety of benefits with an auto shipping train.

Advantages of the choice

The reason why some car’s owners still look for the possibility of auto train shipping is that there are a number of essential benefits they will get if they find the solution. Here are just some of them:

1. Price. If you consider open transportation from terminal to terminal via a traditional transportation company as the cheapest possible option, you will be definitely surprised with the cost of the delivery by train. The difference for the same route can be up to 300-500 dollars which is indeed a great value.

   Here is one important and pretty interesting detail which affects the final price but still keep it at the attractive level for the potential customers. You cannot arrange auto train car shipping without travelling together with your car. Meaning you should not only pay for the car’s delivery but also purchase a passenger’s ticket for yourself (or another person who will be in charge of your car). At least it’s a practice of the Amtrak company. The cost of such a ticket fully depends on the comfort for the traveler while the cheapest option is around 100 dollars. And if you decide to choose this cheap option you can expect to save up to 600 dollars in comparison with traditional truck service delivery.
   Typically, there is a big range of the possible seats for the passengers in such trains. The cheapest option is just a standard coach, and if you are worrying if you would be able to spend up to 18 hours like this, you can just recall long flights (which normally have even less comfort that trains). The next option is a business class which is just 25 dollars more expensive but already will provide you with more benefits on the road. First Class, Superliner Roomette, Family Bedroom and, finally, Superliner Bedroom will make your trip more and more convenient. For example, the superliner option will provide you with a very cozy and priority offloading.

2. Speed. If you have ever travelled by train, you must know that the speed it covers the distances is much higher in comparison with traditional cars, especially in comparison with massive and heavy trucks for the cars’ transportation. You can expect your car to be delivered even within one day without paying extra fees for urgency. To compare, express delivery with a truck may cost you double or sometimes even triple of the original quota. Considering the example with Amtrak, its route from Washington DC to Sanford will take approximately 17,5 hours while the same route is normally covered by a transportation company’s truck in a week.
3. Possibility to add personal belongings. It’s making this type of transportation especially convenient for those who are moving to a new house. Here you can transport not only your car and your family (in this case it’s always better to choose a family bedroom in the train) but also everything you need to move, including furniture and personal belongings. Of course, for such extra weight you will be required to pay additionally, but it’s still much cheaper, faster and, therefore, more efficient and convenient than to arrange a separate moving truck or send everything via plane.

When shipping auto by train you need to be careful as nowadays, in such a competitive world, some transportation companies, especially small and young ones, can promote themselves as the train transporters. Most probably, in the near future in the USA there will be much more rail companies but for today there is only Amtrak. So before making a deal you need to carefully check if the company you chose really works with Amtrak or it’s just a catch.

For those who are living not too close to Sanford and Washington but still not too far there is an option of combining an auto shipping via train with traditional truck’s delivery as you still can save a significant sum of money. You just need to arrange the delivery of your vehicle from the original spot to the railway station and after the delivery – from the last railway station to the final destination. But still, you need to remember that there is an obligation of purchasing a passenger’s ticket.

If the traditional truck delivery looks extremely expensive and you are living at the East Coast of the USA, you can also consider a train transportation as a great alternative. At least, it’s always useful to compare the offers from different possible carriers.