There are two main categories in the car shipping business with regards to the services available.  There is door-to-door and terminal to terminal.  A terminal is a hub, very similar to that of an airline.  Carriers use these terminals as locations to pull all the vehicles into one central location for a convenience and in some cases, unload/reload their trailer.  This gives the transporters the option to allow smaller trucks to deliver/pickup their cars.  In cities like Los Angeles and New York it is far more convenient for a smaller truck to get around the city because of traffic and size of the carriers.  It is no more or less safe to have your car transported door-to-door or terminal to terminal.  Assuming your carrier is reliable it should not make a huge difference on the overall timeframe either.  Of course, because the car transporter needs to do less work your price will be cheaper for you to use the terminal service, but you then need to get rides to pickup and deliver your vehicle.

People often call our office unsure if they want to transport their vehicle in an enclosed trailer or on an open trailer. They are under the illusion that transporting with an enclosed auto transport is the only option if they want their car to arrive safely.

You should use this service if your vehicle is a valuable exotic that shouldn’t be exposed to the elements, like a new Ferrari or Aston Martin. Another scenario is when your vehicle has high end modifications like a custom paint job or is a restored classic.

Typically the main difference between the two will be that if your car is shipped enclosed it will arrive clean and on one of our open trailers it may come in dirty. In the wintertime, if you’re shipping through an area that has snow, keep in mind the salt that will be on the highways. If that’s a concern for you, ask for an enclosed truck to handle your move.