It may seem sensible to ship your automobile along with your personal belongings when you move, but there are a number of difficulties that you’ll want to be aware of. By packing your car with extra stuff, you can find yourself spending a lot more for your relocation rather than saving money.
Before exporting a car with personal belongings, there are a number of additional aspects to take into account, such as legal concerns, the possibility of theft, and insurance.
Car Transporting Personal Items
Here is all the information you need to have an auto transport GA firm transport an automobile legally, safely, and with insurance.
Legal problems
Personal things cannot be sent in an automobile according to Department of Transportation regulations, and this restriction has been maintained under federal law. A corporation that disobeys it risks a $10,000 fine. In order to avoid paying such a large fee, vehicle transport firms rigidly follow the “No Packing Policy.”
TIP: Companies will only let 100 pounds of additional weight inside your vehicle.
If you choose not to follow the law, the shipping business won’t be liable for anything inside the automobile. It is in your greatest interest to not carry personal things in the car to prevent run-ins with the cops. Don’t even consider attempting to deceive auto shipping companies—they usually go out of their way to ensure that you aren’t adding any additional pounds to your vehicle.
Added weight
The cost of transporting an automobile is determined by the weight of the vehicle. Any more things will add to the package’s weight and alert the business.
Your automobile will weigh more than was anticipated by the shipping business if you stuff a lot of bulky baggage in the trunk. Avoid putting anything in your vehicle that you value highly; instead, leave little, lightweight items like CD cases and phone chargers so the shipping firm won’t have to deal with them.
Some auto transport businesses charge an extra fee to ship a vehicle along with personal possessions. However, the cost of transporting those goods in your car can be significantly more than the cost of shipping them individually, so be sure to complete all of your homework to find the most affordable moving option.
Not having insurance
The items you store inside your automobile are not covered by the insurance offered by car shipping providers. As they travel across the nation in your trunk for a two-week period, your belongings are very much at risk of being stolen.
Not to add that the vehicle transporting your automobile frequently stops during rest breaks, providing thieves with the ideal chance to enter and take your personal belongings. The best way to guarantee that your possessions remain secure while being sent is to avoid packing them in your car.
There is no option for the firm to provide insurance on your belongings because it is against the law to carry extra stuff in your automobile when transporting it. Additionally, although some businesses let a specific amount of objects to stay inside during delivery, there are three rigorous restrictions for shipping a car with personal belongings:
- Everything must fit within the trunk or be lower than the window. This means that if you must store items on the seats or floorboards of the vehicle, everything inside must rise no higher than the bottom of the windows. You must be able to look inside the vehicle and clearly see from one side to the other, without any obstructions. This is for the safety of anyone who is inspecting the vehicle.
- The merchandise must weigh less than 100 pounds in total. This is not just to keep the weight of the transportation vehicle down, but also to ensure that if any breakdown or incident should occur, that the vehicle can be offloaded and reloaded onto another transport vehicle without any issues.
- Alcohol, illicit substances, explosives, combustible objects, weapons, and illegal things are not permitted. There are specific placards for these dangerous items that must be used while the materials are in transport. If the transportation vehicle doesn’t have the appropriate placards attached, they can be fined heavily for moving items of this nature.
This is why they aren’t permitted to be stored inside any car they are transporting, so that they can be declared to the DOT upon inspection or the crossing of any state or country border. If undeclared items are found in your vehicle, the carrier could face being fined by a state or federal authority for unlawful transportation.
Inform the firm and the driver if you decide not to leave anything inside the vehicle. Your car’s safety will be prioritized by a reputable and skilled auto shipping firm. The business should be dedicated to offering you the greatest service even though they are not required by law to cover your things.
