Door-to-door car shipping

Every shipment we arrange is door-to-door. You give us a pickup address and a delivery address, and the carrier's driver meets the car at each one. There's no depot in the middle where you drop the car off and wait for it to be collected.

The fine print in the industry, which we'd rather say up front, is that "door" means the closest point a full car carrier can legally and safely reach. Most of the time that's your driveway or the curb out front. Sometimes it's the end of your street or a parking lot five minutes away. The rest of this page is about telling those cases apart before pickup day, so nobody is surprised.

It's the right service for almost everyone: families moving across the country, someone selling a car to a buyer in another state, a parent sending a car to a student, a retiree heading south for the season.

1. 1

   You tell us about both addresses

   Besides the street address, we ask about access: is it a gated community, a condo tower, a narrow street, a dead end? Are there signs restricting trucks? The two minutes this takes saves hours on pickup day.

2. 2

   We match a carrier and confirm the window

   Once a driver is assigned, you get a pickup window, usually a day or two, narrowing as the truck gets closer.

3. 3

   The driver calls ahead

   Drivers typically call when they're a few hours out, and again when they're close. That's when the exact meeting spot is settled if the truck can't come to the door.

4. 4

   Inspection and loading

   You and the driver walk the car together. Its condition goes on the bill of lading, and you get a copy before the car is loaded.

5. 5

   Delivery, the same way in reverse

   A call ahead, a walk-around against the pickup report, any new damage noted on the paperwork before you sign, and then the keys are yours.

Because door-to-door is how we ship every car, the price is shaped by the same things as any shipment: distance, vehicle, season and whether you choose an open or enclosed carrier. The door-to-door piece adds one more question: how far off the main route the driver has to go.

If you're shipping more than one vehicle from the same address, the work at each end is shared. See multi-car shipping.

Door-to-door doesn't add days on its own. The timeline is the pickup window plus transit, the same as any shipment. What can stretch it is access. A remote pickup may wait for a truck with a reason to be in the area, and a difficult delivery address may have to be scheduled around daylight or a building's move-in hours.

As a rough guide, a trip of 1,000 to 1,500 miles, like Michigan to Florida or New Jersey to Florida, usually runs 3–5 days once the car is loaded. Our guide to how long car shipping takes breaks timing down by distance. If your dates are tight, expedited shipping shortens the wait for pickup.

• Check your street and community rules. Look for "No trucks" or weight-limit signs, and call the HOA or gatehouse about commercial vehicles.
• Pick a backup meeting spot: a big-box store or plaza parking lot with room for a 75-foot rig to pull in and turn around.
• Line up who'll be there. Any adult you trust can hand over or receive the car. Give us their name and number.
• Have the car accessible, not boxed in a garage or behind a moving truck.
• Prepare the car itself: photos, a quarter tank, no personal items, toll tag removed. Our prep checklist covers the details.

Condo towers and apartment complexes

A car carrier won't fit in a parking garage or a porte-cochère, whether it's a high-rise in New York, a tower in downtown Chicago or a mid-rise complex in the suburbs. You bring the car down to the street or a nearby lot at the agreed time. For deliveries, check your building's rules on using the front drive. In beach towers in places like Fort Lauderdale, the drop-off loop is usually too tight for the truck.

Gated communities and HOAs

Rules vary from "add the carrier to the vendor list" to "no tractor-trailers, ever". Call ahead and tell us what they say. Retirement and golf communities around Sarasota and Tampa are often the strictest.

Narrow, wooded or dead-end streets

Low branches can strike a car on the top deck, and a cul-de-sac may have no room to turn around. The driver may stop at the corner. It's a judgment call made for the car's safety, not a shortcut.