One of the most important things customers can do safeguard themselves is to give their car a light spray down prior to the car transport arriving to load the vehicle.  The reason behind this is that a clean car will allow the truck driver and the customer to properly inspect the vehicle before loading.  Small dings and dents are much harder to spot on a dirty car and in some cases the drivers will mark the car “as is” if the vehicle is too dirty to properly inspect because they do not want to be held liable for damage they cannot see during the inspection process.  It is very rare that minor dings or dents occur during car transport that is a result of driver error.  However, it will give you peace of mind knowing your car was properly inspected and so you know what to expect on the other end.

There are four main ports we have found are the most popular for customers planning to ship a car. The obvious west coast port is in Long Beach, California. It is the main port as well for cars going to Hawaii. While there are ports all along the west coast of California, Long Beach is far an above the busiest. On the east coast there are two ports very close together in Jacksonville, FL and Brunswick, GA. The final port is up in New Jersey which exports the majority of freight for the north eastern areas. The reason this information is useful is that knowing the ports you can now decide if it is going to be easier or cheaper for you to drive your car to the port or if you prefer a car transport company to handle it for you to do it for you.

We wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy July 4th. Because this years Independence Day falls on a Sunday we will not be closed for any additional time. On behalf of everyone at American Auto Movers, Inc. we want to thank our men and women in uniform and all those who do their part everyday so we can enjoy our freedom. And a special thanks to those who throughout history who fought for our independence.

Do aftermarket parts such as air-filters help improve my car’s miles per gallon?

Surprisingly this is no longer the case, unless you are driving a much older car.  It was something that was once true for but since the invention and mass use of the fuel-injection engine, it is just another myth.  Often after market companies will use this as a gimmick to get consumers to pay additional amounts for car parts that are really unnecessary.  There has been extensive research done by a variety of companies and none of them found that making these changes improved the automobiles mpg.  Unless you have a heavy pulling truck that you use to transport things, it is really of minimal advantage to you to have make these “improvements.”

Is it better to leave a car running than turn it off?

A very common misconception people have is that it takes a large amount of fuel to start your engine.  Because of that often people will leave their cars running instead of turning them off when they are planning to sit idle for several minutes.  Depending on the type of car you have and the size of the engine, you will waste roughly one half gallon a fuel per hour while your car is idling.  This may not seem like much, but considering the cost of fuel, leaving your car when you are not moving can be very wasteful.  It has been so wasteful that in some areas people are starting campaigns to prevent people from doing this.  It is a simple way you can keep your wallet full and help the environment.

Most of the time when you are looking to ship a car, you are asked to pay part of the payment on a credit card, and the balance COD to the driver. There are several reasons that companies ask you to pay COD or Cash On Delivery, one of which is for the driver to always have cash in the truck. While drivers are on the road they often use the cash to pay for their fuel, which can be very expensive. Driver’s also use this cash when they have minor breakdowns or need a new tire. Another reason for paying COD instead of putting it all on the credit card is that when a car transport company processes a credit card they are charged a percentage of what they charge. Since it is a competitive industry they try to avoid paying any fees that are not necessary. The only time you should be concerned about payment is if the company is asking you to pay a deposit prior to pickup as sometimes these companies are not reputable and can lead to difficulties for you later down the road with getting your car moved.

Determining the price of car transport varies based on if it is on an open trailer or an enclosed trailer. On an enclosed auto transport, the price is typically based on the actual miles driven with your vehicle. Based on fuel that rate per mile will change, and based on the distance the rate per mile will come down. Most enclosed trucks have a minimum, so even if you are moving your car 10 minutes on an enclosed trailer, there will be a minimum fee depending on the company. On an open car transport the rate is calculated totally differently. Open trailer rates are more based on a given route. For example, the rate Texas to Florida can often be less expensive that from Florida to Texas. Things like, fuel, supply & demand and availability are all factors that are considered when going on an open transport. As long as you have a good carrier and you them what you are wanting to achieve you should not have a problem despite who you go with.