As you may or may not be aware of, shipping your car comes in two flavors, open-air and enclosed. Open-air auto transport is typically comprised of your car and up to 8 others sharing space on an open-air auto shipping trailer (you’ve probably seen them on the highway loaded with new or used cars destined for dealerships or delivery to individuals). Though cheaper than enclosed shipping, the 9 car open-air carrier (5 cars on bottom and 4 on top) does expose your car to extreme weather and hazardous road conditions (flying pebbles, grime, etc). Moreover, because your car is sharing space with up to 8 others, you will probably wait longer to have your car picked up for shipment and dropped for delivery than you would for single car enclosed shipping.

Compare the trucks used:

Open-Air Auto Transport Trailer

Enclosed Auto Shipping Trailer

Truckers base their pickups and deliveries by customer location, fuel economy and other economic factors. Open-air auto shipping is essentially 9 auto shipping customers sharing a trailer, each hoping that they are the last to have their car picked up and the first to have it dropped off. Oh, If it were only that easy.

Though enclosed auto shipping costs more than open-air the cost benefits depend on the value of the vehicle, or perhaps more importantly, how you value your car. In our opinion, enclosed shipping is a must for expensive autos, collectable/exotic autos, sentimental autos, or time sensitive delivery needs. If you go with enclosed shipping, your car is completely enclosed within a locked-down trailer, usually sharing space with no more than 3 other vehicles. Moreover, the trailer is equipped with an automatic loading gate, thus reducing the risk of damage to your car when it is loaded and unloaded. Other considerations are the minimization of weather and road conditions damage and the expediency of pickup and delivery.

Before you make a shipping decision, feel free to contact us. Auto Transporters Online is here to help you make the right choice for vehicle shipping nee