Car Shipping to Florida From Boston (Podcast)
Mike Scenna, sales manager at Preowned Auto Logistics, a car shipping and auto transport and logistics company in Massachusetts, discusses shipping cars to Florida from Boston.
John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher, I’m here today with Mike Scenna sales manager at Preowned Auto Logistics, a car shipping and auto transport and logistics company in Massachusetts. Our topic today is car shipping to Florida from Boston. Welcome, Mike.
Mike Scenna: Hey, John. Thanks for having me.
Snowbird Car Shipping to Florida
John: Sure. So Preowned Auto Logistics is based in the Boston area in Danvers, Massachusetts. And I know that a lot of people ship their cars from Boston to Florida, or from Florida to Boston. How many people are doing that every year, and is that a big part of your business?
Mike: Yes, it’s a huge part of our business. Last time we checked, there’re approximately about a million people who live in the state of Florida part-time, and a lot of them, their second residence is up here in the Northeast. So, this has been a big part of our business, pretty much since we started, for 20 years. We have customers that have been shipping for close to that entire 20 years, and we get referrals for new customers each year. Definitely, a big industry that we know a lot about and we learn a lot about each year, but back and forth from the Boston area to Florida is definitely a big club.
Reasons for Car Shipping to Florida From Boston
John: And what are some of the reasons why people will ship a car from Boston to Florida? Is it always, like you said, snowbirds who are living down in Florida for the winter and then they have their summer residence in New England? Or are there other reasons as well?
Mike: Yeah so, by far, the majority is what we’re talking about here, the seasonal residents. They’re up here in the summer and back down to Florida in the winter. We do a lot of students as well. Lately, we’ve really received a lot more business from students who live up here and attend college down in Florida.
And the other one that’s getting really big is purchasing out of Florida. A lot of people find that Florida is a really great state to buy cars out of. They are a lot cheaper than they are up here, and used cars especially, people really appreciate the fact that the Florida car doesn’t see winters. It tends to stay in better condition. And as people grow savvy and become more aware of the ease of shipping your car and the prices, we’re seeing a lot of purchases come out of Florida.
Cost of Automobile Shipping
John: Interesting. Yeah. So how do you calculate the cost of shipping a car from Florida to Boston or from Boston to Florida? Is there a set rate or does it go by the exact mileage or the exact city that you’re going to, or what are the factors?
Mike: Sure. So Boston to Florida is a great lane for us. We’re based out of Boston and we have seven terminals throughout the state of Florida. So as far as what we call a terminal, the terminal shipment goes, if you bring the car to our facility here in Danvers and pick it up at a terminal down in Florida or vice versa, we have set costs for that. For your average-sized sedan, you’re looking at $975. And for your average-sized SUV, it’s going to be $1,050. We have other options for door-to-door services that can add a small amount, depending on where you are in the state of Florida or up here. And we also have enclosed options, which would be a bit more as well.
Car Shipping vs. Driving
John: Okay. And why would somebody ship a car from Boston to Florida instead of just driving it? I looked on Google Maps and it’s like 22 hours of driving, Google says, from Boston down to Miami or something like that. So that seems like it would be somewhat doable or at least I could do it in a couple of days, say or something. What are the reasons that people decide to ship them instead of drive them?
Mike: Yeah. So lots of reasons there. For our seasonal residents, a lot of them are retired and might travel back and forth. Driving can be a bit exhausting. It’s a long trip. It’s a lot of driving. It’s staying in different hotels, different nights, and it’s just not as easy for them to do at their age. Another big thing is people don’t want to put that many miles on the car, especially if you’re going back and forth each season, that’s an extra 6,000 or 3,000 miles you’re going to put on the car every year. That adds up quickly. It’s going to really depreciate the vehicle a lot quicker. And really, honestly, price. It’s not cheap to drive a car down to Florida. Prices add up very quickly between fuel, lodging, you have to buy food, the tolls, it’s not a cheap trip, just jumping in the car and driving down.
John: And then what about shipping a car from New York to Florida, or maybe from a different place in New England? Are the costs pretty similar or again, are there a lot of different factors?
Mike: Yeah, they don’t vary too much for this lane. It’s a consistent lane. The Northeast in general, we can handle anywhere up here and you’re not going to see too much fluctuation in the price there.
John: All right. Well, that’s really good information, Mike. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Mike: Thank you, John.
John: And for more information, or to request a quote for your auto shipping needs, visit the website at preownedautologistics.com or call (877) 542-1955.
