Efficiency and convenience drive the car transport business. Millions of different vehicles get carried by large ships, railroads, or trucks each year. These aren't random deliveries, so the particular cars must be routed properly. Let’s see how auto transport works today.

New Cars & Used Cars

As for the new automobiles, they are delivered to their specific dealerships through various channels for a damage-free and timely delivery. Automakers are spending a lot of money to transport new cars from assembly plants to the respective dealers.

However, much of this expense passes on to buyers through a destination fee, so the automaker's real transportation cost has no effect on the destination charge. Car manufacturers aim to cut down the destination charges as much as possible, as they're included in their proposed retail price.

When it comes to the used cars, they’re transported across the country, too. Approximately one third of those vehicles are being sold through various franchise dealers, one third goes through independent car dealers, while the rest gets sold by individuals. Note that those vehicles usually make multiple trips during transportation because they're shipped to wholesale or auctions operations before getting to the dealers.

Auto Transport Methods

As you may already know, cars can be transported by:

• truck
• railroad car
• large ship, or
• airplane

Ro-Ro and other huge ocean vessels allow the car dealers to transport a large number of vehicles (more than 8,000) at once, which is why they're used to transport foreign-built trucks and cars to the US. For instance, Toyota transported roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Japan to America this way in 2008.

With the exception of luxurious limousines, race cars, and exotic collector vehicles, only a few personal automobiles are carried by cargo airplane. That's because of high transportation costs.

It is estimated that about 70% of all new cars sold in the United States get transported by rail before the final delivery is made by a big rig double decker or 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck. Truck transport usually implies a distance of up to 250 miles from the pick-up point. This is because the longer routes turned out to be more affordable by rail.

Auto-transport trailers are limited in size in the United States. The maximum length of the tractor-trailer measures  75 feet, whereas the width is limited to 102 inches. The loaded height can't exceed 14 feet for states in the western half and 13.5 feet in the eastern half of the US.

Personal Auto Transport

Every year, a number of cars are transported throughout the country to meet various personal needs, including:

• Corporate relocation
• Families moving cross country
• Students wo go to distant college
• "Snowbirds" who move to the Sun Belt

Regardless of the needs and reasons, many car owners hire auto-transport companies or transport brokers. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Transport companies are generally more responsible in case of an accident or damage and they have better control over the delivery time. The brokers, on the other hand, offer a quicker delivery in most cases.

There are also a variety of shipping solutions on the internet these days. They can facilitate the process of shipping, managing and receiving orders. The customers are provided with multiple online quotes from their carriers, which ensures the best deal. Most of these solutions support big, heavy shipments so that they can be utilized for vehicle transportation. That makes a big difference in the way the cars get to their owners.