Studies have shown that driving cross country would likely cost at least $2,200 in gas costs at a minimum. If you’ve landed a new job three time zones over or are just thinking about packing up and taking a crack at some new life challenges, the allure of the open highway through the heart of the continental U.S. can sometimes be almost too much to bear. Your heart yearns. Your thoughts turn to desert skies and ocean shores for miles. You pine for the coast.
While fantasies might be enough to keep you going at work, the realities are much more stark than any fictional portrayals could ever let on. This isn’t some kind of pep talk to dissuade you from following your dreams, of course. It’s just a reality check. If you want to move cross country, hire a team of auto transport professionals to handle the car specifics for you. All you have to do is get a quote on the service. Here’s what goes into that kind of cost projection.
Determining the vehicle type and means of transport.
For obvious reasons, RV shipping tends to be more costly than, say, regular auto shipping because of the nature of the vehicle in question. The same thing goes for boats and larger trucks as well. The first step in determining an accurate quote is figuring out exactly what kind of vehicle it is and how it’s going to be moved: Open or enclosed carrier? Door-to-door shipping or vessel transport? The answers to these questions will make a big difference in the ultimate cost.
Calculating the distance and total mileage costs.
Say you wanna ship from Boston to Los Angeles. That’s obviously going to be a completely different set of circumstances than a trip from Boston to New York. And again, the type of vehicle you’re looking to ship will play into this cost, but also the destination itself will probably have an even bigger impact on the final cost. No matter which of the myriad auto transport companies you hire, they’ll likely price differently based on what time of year the job needs to get done (winter can be pricier) and the general route (is it highway or mostly country road-centric?).
Figuring out the delivery specifics.
Certain bargain-hunting sites will tell you to have the company deliver the car, truck, RV or boat to a third-party destination where you can come yourself to pick it up. They argue that this tends to be more cost-effective than a direct driveway drop-off, though again, it’ll depend very much on the other specifics of the trip. Sometimes, storage facilities will charge extra fees, so you’ll want to know that before you make final auto transport plans. Above everything else, always talk to the company directly to get the most accurate information.
With all this in mind, are you ready to make your next auto moving plans? Remember that today, all it takes is a few clicks of your mouse. References.
