Shipping a Car in the U.S.- Secretly Simple
As a former dealer I can’t tell you how many times people would ask me about the possibility of shipping a vehicle out of town. Many times it was a potential customer and other times it was just someone moving that couldn’t drive 2 or 3 cars cross country and they knew as a dealer we had the resources to assist. We would, of course, eagerly offer our services to obtain a shipper because if we are providing a service we get to tack on a small fee for our time, right? But, did they really need to use a dealership to help them ship a car? Do you? Is the time and effort that you’ll save worth what you will spend to let someone else do it for you?
You may be surprised to find out that not only is shipping not that much of a headache, it’s honestly just as easy as printing out a Fedex or UPS label online. As a former dealer I ordered and sent shipments all the time using a service called Central Dispatch, a Dealer Only system for vehicle shipping. If I sent you there you could say there may be some sort of a learning curve! Luckily for you, they created a consumer facing side of the business called USHIP where you simply:
- Enter basic information about your vehicle (So they get the right one and know it fits on the truck)
- Enter information about the location it is being picked up from (So they know where to go)
- Enter information about where you would like it to be shipped (So they know where you are)
The great part about Uship is it acts a lot like an Uber or a Thumbtack for finding a shipper. After entering the information above you actually are generated quotes by several to sometimes many drivers that are based largely on predetermined calculations of miles, fuel, etc. The listings are broken down to show you the company, reviews, price, and estimated shipping date among other factors. This allows you to decide if price or speed is more important to you. But, let’s say you still don’t like what you see. Uship has a bidding feature that allows truckers that may have an open space to actively browse requested shipments and make last minute offers to fill those spots. Obviously this is best reserved for the most patient among us because you could land a great deal in a day or two, or you could sit for weeks waiting for an offer that just doesn’t come in.
Either way, Uship, like their dealership facing counter part Central Dispatch, offer you (The average everyday person) a simple and cost effective solution for getting your vehicle from point A to point B. Of course, there are other companies out there that do something similar but from what I have found Uship is another example of a shared idea that they just simply execute better.
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