Colby Harlow from Preowned Auto Logistics sits down with John Maher to talk about car shipping services for dealerships. He explains the process and looks at the benefits dealerships gain when they work with a professional car shipping company.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here today with Colby Harlow, Account Manager at Preowned Auto Logistics. A car shipping, and auto transport and logistics company in Massachusetts. Today our topic is customer deliveries for dealerships. Welcome, Colby.

Colby Harlow: Hey, thank you, John, for having me on. I appreciate you welcoming me here.

Dealership Inventory Shortage Increases Shipping Demand

John: Sure. So Colby, today we’re talking a little bit about dealerships. And one of the things that I wanted to ask about is… there’s been this inventory shortage recently. And a lot more dealerships end up selling their cars, maybe long distance and they’re not used to that. Can you talk a little bit about this sort of inventory shortage?

Colby: Yeah, of course. As everyone knows, this pandemic has been tough on everyone. And a little known side effect has been the chip shortage, which has led to production of new cars being halted all over the world. All these car dealerships in the US, they’re having a lot of trouble getting inventory, which means what they have on their lot is a lot more limited. And so people who are looking for a specific model or color interior are having trouble finding that at their local dealerships.

So with technology, these days, people can find what they’re looking for across the country with a click of a button. And that has led to dealerships sending cars all over the country now, which is relatively new to the business and something they aren’t too familiar with. So there’s a greater need for shipping right now to customers than there’s ever been before.

Dealerships Need to Serve Customers in Other Areas

John: Right, because dealerships are really focused on trying to move as many cars as they can. It’s not so much that they need to increase the price of the car and get a little bit more profit off of an individual car. That they want to sell more and more cars in a month, the more that they can sell the better. So if they don’t have that inventory on their own lot then they have to start looking at other branches of their dealership, or even other dealerships where they can get those cars from. Is that right?

Colby: Yeah, exactly. Their whole goal is to turn over a certain amount of cars a month. And whether that’s selling, again, to someone who walks in and they can find the car right there, or if that’s selling a car, someone five states away, that is an internet lead. It doesn’t matter to them. It’s all about hitting their goals. They all have a certain amount of cars they’re supposed to push out a month.

And again, now this has been a huge help in them hitting those numbers, but it’s just something that is a little bit newer to them. And even new to the consumer. A lot of the time, the person purchasing a vehicle online has never done that before. So it’s kind of a new experience for everyone involved, and again, this is somewhere where we try to come and be a resource for everyone.

Setting Up Deliveries From Dealerships to Customers

John: So do you ever actually get called on by the dealership to contact one of their customers, one of the consumers and talk to them about their car shipment, maybe give them a little bit more information about what they can expect, that kind of thing?

Colby: Yeah, almost every time I ship a car directly to a customer, I ask the dealership to allow me to contact the customer directly as we’re going through the process of setting it up. It’s just something that I’ve found has been very useful for, again, everyone involved. Because when someone’s new to shipping, purchasing a vehicle, not having seen it and having it transported, usually they’re pretty sketched out by the process. And that leads to them bothering the dealership, asking them for updates constantly.

I find when I step in and call them right away, explain to them the process of shipping a vehicle, and give them my direct contact information — Anytime they need anything I make sure to get a response to them. It seems to be very helpful in easing their mind and freeing up time for the dealership. Because that way instead of fielding calls, all they can go find the next internet lead or they can sell to the person who just walked in their door.

Helping Dealerships With Shipping Logistics

John: Yeah, so you’re able to really free up the dealership in terms of all those questions that a customer might have for the dealer about, “where’s my car and how long is it going to take to get here?” And that kind of thing. And they might have some undue expectations that they’re going to be able to get a car at a specific date and a time. And it doesn’t always work that way in your industry, where you’re able to give them that information way ahead of time, right?

Colby: Yeah. So again, what I try to do is let my dealerships do what they do best and sell cars, and I do what I do best and educate the consumer on what the logistics of transporting a car is. And sometimes when the dealership is trying to sell a car they set maybe a little bit unrealistic expectations on how fast the processes of transporting a vehicle, and maybe make it sound like, “hey, you buy this car today, it’s going to get picked up tomorrow.”

So that’s why I find when I can step in early on in the process and speak to the consumer, and really set the expectation for how this process truly works, it makes everyone’s life easier because they understand, “there isn’t a truck waiting right around the corner to pick up my vehicle the second I decide to buy it.” And that there is a process to it.

And once that process is learned by them, they’re much more comfortable, that frees up time. Instead of the dealership answering 10 calls from this consumer asking, “where’s my car? Where’s my car? When is it getting picked up?” They have an understanding of, okay, there’s a little bit of time. And if they have any questions they’re always welcome to contact me.

How Car Shipping Companies Benefit Dealerships

John: So you mentioned before that this is kind of new for everybody, both for consumers and for dealerships that are dealing with this type of inventory shortage. Which is then causing the dealerships to be doing more and more of these out of state sales that maybe they really weren’t doing before, they were really only dealing with people in their local area.

What is it that you guys bring to the table in terms of the resources that you have, and the experience that you have that maybe the dealership isn’t used to having to deal with because of this new way that things are happening?

Colby: Yeah. I think… because here we handle a lot of what we call B2C deals, where we occasionally would help out dealerships all across the country do this on the more rare occasions that they did. But what we’re finding is now the dealerships that used to do two of these a month are doing 10, 15, 20.

And so that experience of having dealt with this in the past, that’s when we’re able to, again, step in, educate the consumer. And we have these lanes already built that we can move these cars the safest, the fastest, and for the most competitive price around. That’s where we really thrive. And I honestly think that’s the most resourceful aspect of what we are to a dealership, where we can step in and truly free up a lot of time on their end and educate their consumers.

Saving Time and Money for Car Dealerships

John: Right. And like you said before, letting the dealership do what they do best, which is selling cars and not having to be on the phone trying to arrange car shipping for, like you said, more and more cars every month.

Colby: Exactly. If you put me in a car dealership I wouldn’t know how to sell a car or what to do there. When you let me step in and sell the logistics end for you, you get to really, again, free up time, set the correct expectations. And again, makes everyone has a peace of mind. And that’s, again, if you can spend your time selling a car as a car salesman or explaining to someone how logistics work when you don’t know, what would you rather do? And one’s going to put money in your pocket, the other is just going to be a little bit of a pain in the butt.

Dealerships: Contact Us for Help Shipping Cars

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Colby. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Colby: Thank you for having me and have a great rest of your day.

John: Thanks. 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.

Mike Scenna from Preowned Auto Logistics sits down with John Maher to talk about shipping vehicles for college move-ins. He explains the process of shipping vehicles to college campuses. He talks about the advantages of shipping over driving to campus, and he provides tips on when to book shipping.

John Maher: Hey, I’m John Maher, and I’m here today with Mike Scenna, sales manager at Preowned Auto Logistics, a car shipping and auto transport and logistics company in Massachusetts. Today, our topic is car shipping for college move-ins. Welcome, Mike.

Mike Scenna: Hey, John. Thanks for having me.

When Should College Students Book Car Shipping?

John: Sure. So Mike, the end of the summer is a time for college students to start moving into school, and some college students might have their own car if they’re lucky, and how far in advance should they be booking that auto shipping?

Mike: Yeah, sure. So fortunately for something like school, you really have a well-known timeline. You know exactly when you’re going back to school and it’s the same each year, so that gives you plenty of time to reach out. It’s really never too early to reach out. I have parents call me for student car shipping. Sometimes they set both of them up so that we’re talking over a year out, they’ll call me in the spring and say, “We’re going to ship the car home in August, and back again next spring.”

So they’ll set both shipments up well in advance. So it’s never too early to book shipping, but I always tell people, “Give yourself at least six weeks. You don’t want to do it too last minute. And it helps to have your move on the books well ahead of time to make sure that everything goes the way that you’re hoping for it to go.”

Book Shipping Before the Busy Season in August

John: Right. So most kids are probably moving into college at the end of August, say, something like that. So maybe you even want to think about, yeah, by around July 4th weekend or so you should definitely be calling a car shipping company.

Mike: Yep. And car shipping, depending on where you’re going, can get busy that time of year. The end of August going into September, you have college students moving, it’s a common time for corporate relocation. People when they move between jobs tend to do it in between the school year. So over the summer, towards the end of the summer. And then you have seasonal residents going from north to south, so it can get very busy. And if you can reach out ahead of time, it helps quite a bit.

Why Should College Students Ship Their Vehicles to Campus Instead of Driving?

John: So whenever I think of college kids moving into college, I’m always picturing, and maybe it’s just because it’s what you see in the movies, you see a car full of suitcases, and maybe even a chair strapped to the roof or something like that. What are some of the reasons why a college student might want to have their car shipped instead of just packing it full of all of their stuff and driving to their school?

Mike: Yeah. Yeah. That’s funny. Good point, like you said, when you watch the movies, you kind of see that packed up car and maybe a parent dropping them off at school, but yeah, the reality that you don’t see is that option for car shipping. It doesn’t really come up that much. And there are a lot of great reasons to do the shipping instead of driving.

The biggest one is really safety, and most of the college moves we do, we’re talking more to the parents of the students rather than the students themselves. It might seem really fun and exciting to a younger person to hop in their car and drive it across the country, maybe with a few friends to school, but it can be dangerous.

You’re driving hundreds, maybe thousands of miles. You’re going places that you’re extremely unfamiliar with combined with being an inexperienced driver. It might not be the safest option. It’s a little bit easier to get on a plane. You hop on the plane, you get in your seat, you land at the airport where you’re going, and you hop out and get a ride to school. And it’s just one of those things that you might be young and ambitious and feel like jumping in the car and doing it, but you’re going to be hit with a lot of elements that you weren’t expecting when driving long distances like that.

Risks and Logistics of Long-Distance Drives

John: When I was younger, I did an internship for college and I drove somewhere that took really two or three days to drive there. And one of the issues that I encountered that I didn’t really think about before that was, what do I do with all of the stuff in my car when I’m stopping overnight at a hotel or a motel or something like that? Some of the places that I stayed at, maybe they weren’t the worst places, but I was on the cheap and it wasn’t at some fancy place, and I didn’t want to just have my car full of everything that I owned sitting out there in the parking lot where it could get broken into and stolen or whatever.

So I ended up, at least one of the nights, moving most of the stuff or the expensive stuff out of the car and moving it into the hotel room, and then packing it back from the hotel room into the car the next day. So I don’t know, do you find that too, that people maybe don’t think about some things like that if they’re doing a multi-day move and they’re packing their car full of stuff? You can’t just leave your car out on the street full of all your belongings.

Mike: Right. No, excellent point. And we go through that all the time with people. I had a similar experience as you, younger and moving across the country. I remember one of the things I had in my car was my acoustic guitar.

John: Right.

Mike: And I didn’t realize until I stopped, I’m like, “Well, that doesn’t look good.” You could see through the window. That kind of raises a flag and says, “There might be valuable items in this car.” So honestly, whether driving or shipping, we’re always advising people against too many items in the car. And the reason you just said, it draws unwanted attention to the vehicle. It’s unfortunate that things happen and break-ins happen and things can be stolen, so if you can avoid bringing any extra attention that could cause that to yourself, that’s good to do.

So yeah, you really want to be careful. And then if you’re bringing that kind of attention to your vehicle, that could be bringing potential harm to you personally as well if someone is attempting to take something from the car and you catch that and you confront them, that might not go over so well. So it’s just a situation that you ultimately want to avoid if you can.

Arranging Car Delivery on College Campuses

John: What are some of the considerations that people should think about when they are doing a car shipping to college, but they need to receive that car? Is the truck able to drive right onto the campus and deliver that car to them, or do they need to arrange for picking it up somewhere else, and how do they get there? What are some of those sort of logistical considerations?

Mike: Sure. Same kind of logistics that really go into all car shipping, and all good points. You really want to think about the space on the pickup end and destination end. These are big trucks. They run at 84 feet long, 13-and-a-half feet tall, so they need a lot of space getting in and out of places. And here, we’re more than happy to help. We’ve gotten on the phone with the colleges and asked about the best places for the cars to be unloaded.

We ask about things, places the car can be unloaded and people that can receive the keys, they can hold the car for the student. So it’s just a lot of questions. Every college is different, and most to all of them are very willing to help and do anything they can to accommodate their students and make sure that these things go as smoothly as possible.

John: Right. So a college might have a specific parking lot that they tell you to go to, and then they say, “Yeah, you can drop off the car there and you can give the keys to the attendant at the booth,” or something like that. And then the student can pick it up from them with their student ID or something along those lines.

Mike: Yep. Any of the ones that deal with a higher percentage of out-of-state students, there’s usually someone or some department you can get in touch with that is familiar with the process and has a good plan and way of delivering the car.

Contact Preowned Auto Logistics to Ship a Car to College

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Mike. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Mike: Yeah. Of course. Thanks, John.

John: And for more information or to request a quote for your auto shipping needs, visit their website at PreownedAutoLogistics.com or call (877) 542-1955.

Jeremy Louisos from Preowned Auto Logistics talks with John Maher about the benefits of enclosed auto carriers compared to open carriers. They look at differences in safety, price, and quality and discuss some situations where car owners should opt for enclosed transport. 

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here with Jeremy Louisos, Senior Vice President at Preowned Auto Logistics, a car shipping and auto transport and logistics company in Massachusetts. Today our topic is, “Why choose enclosed auto transport.” Welcome, Jeremy.

Jeremy Louisos: Hey John. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Enclosed Car Transport Vs. Open Carriers

John: Sure. So, Jeremy, what is an enclosed car transport versus an open carrier?

Jeremy: We’ll start with open carriers. That’s really the standard mode of transportation for a lot of auto carriers. So if you’re driving down the highway and you see one of those trucks with cars hanging all over the place, that’s an open carrier. They’re secured to decks and rails, and they’re sort of up and encaged off of the road, but the sides are open. The vehicles are exposed to the elements and that sort of thing, as opposed to an enclosed carrier, which will quite often look just like a regular tractor trailer. You’ll see the hard sides. You might not even tell the difference between an enclosed trailer and just anyone hauling cargo. And it’ll have a fixed deck in the middle, as opposed to the trucks that we’ll, see the open carriers, they have these independent decks. You might see cars facing all sorts of different directions. On the enclosed carrier, it’s usually fixed decks. There’ll be a lower level that can fit a few cars and then an upper level.

How Do Cars Fit in Enclosed Carriers?

John: And how does the car fit under the upper level? Is there sort of a raised platform that can go up to that second level and then it drives in?

Jeremy: Yeah. Quite often these type of trailer is going to have a lift gate, similar to if you’re renting a U-haul and you can drop a gate down. It’s just going to be a bit longer to accommodate a vehicle. And it’s great for those low-clearance, low-profile, exotic or classic cars, where you need to not use a ramp. If you were to, the angle of that ramp might scuff the front of the underside of the vehicle. This lift gate will drop down, go right to the ground, drive the vehicle straight onto it. It’ll lift the vehicle up, keeping it parallel to the ground. You just drive right in to either the bottom or the upper deck.

John: So I might be driving by these types of enclosed car transportation trucks all the time on the highway, and not even know that inside that truck is a whole bunch of cars.

Jeremy: Yeah, that’s true.

How Many Cars Fit in Enclosed Car Carriers?

John: And how many cars typically fit into an enclosed car transport?

Jeremy: Typically, it’s going to be less than the open style. The open style we can get as many as 10, depending on the size of the vehicle. Those 10-car carriers, the really big ones, 80 feet long. These, it’s going to be, quite often, a few less. And the other constraint is, because of that fixed deck, you quite often won’t be able… In the larger trailers, you won’t be able to get an SUV or a truck, something that’s higher. That said, there are different versions of these trailers that, maybe they have the height, but they’re like a two-vehicle carrier where you can drive two in. That said, if you have something like a motorcycle or a smaller sports car, maybe you can do a little bit better and really pack them in there.

Why Choose an Enclosed Car Carrier Over an Open Carrier

John: Okay. So what are some of the reasons why someone might choose to have an enclosed car transport instead of an open carrier?

Jeremy: The biggest reason we see is, like we mentioned, with the open-style carrier, you’re going to be exposed… Because it’s encaged, but not closed off on the sides, you’re going to be exposed to the weather elements. You’re going to be exposed to possible road debris. There are a number of scenarios where the owners of these vehicles do not want the vehicles to be dirty. Perhaps they had a special type of recon done, or they were cleaned in a particular way. They just need to arrive at their destination fully clean on the exterior of the vehicle. And then if you have a very expensive vehicle, if you have anything exotic, classic, race cars, it needs to be pristine. You can’t risk that chance of anything popping off the road. A little pebble, if it bounces off most of our vehicles, I mean, we’re taking that risk when we drive on the highway anyway, but there are vehicles that are very rarely driven on the open road. If you’d be uncomfortable driving it that distance, enclosed is a good option for you. It’s going to protect it from all the elements and keep it nice and clean.

How Enclosed Carriers Protect the Interior of Vehicles

John: Do you ever have any situations where maybe somebody is shipping a car that maybe isn’t running or has something wrong with it, like maybe a convertible that somebody is having shipped to them to restore, but the top is missing or is broken or something like that? And so obviously you can’t ship a convertible with no top on it. It would get rained on and things like that. Have you ever encountered that sort of situation?

Jeremy: Yeah, absolutely. That would absolutely fit that criteria of a vehicle that cannot be exposed to any weather conditions. If there was a defect on a vehicle where if it was transported distance and there was just any chance of weather, you wouldn’t want to risk it. You’d want to make sure that vehicle was inside and protected from the elements, it would get to its destination safely, and they could do the repairs without any of that weather exposure risk.

Cost of Enclosed Carrier Vs Open Carriers

John: Right. Is an enclosed car carrier more expensive than an open one?

Jeremy: It is. Because open transportation is such a convention, there’s so many more of those trucks. There’s just far fewer options or trailers or folks that have that equipment in their arsenal. So because there are fewer of those, and the demand just is such that those end up being just a more expensive option. Plus, they can’t really ship as many at a time. There’s those restrictions with size. So taking all that into account, it’s a more specialized piece of equipment. Many parts of life, if you want the safest, highest-level customer experience, you’re going to have to pay a little bit more. It doesn’t make sense in every occasion. Quite often, open is just fine. It’s a good way to affordably ship something. But when the most important part of the shipment is keeping it protected, enclosed is your best bet. Quite often, our customers are more than willing to pay to get that service.

Enclosed Carrier Delivery Options

John: Right. And can enclosed car carriers deliver to both terminals, terminal to terminal, and also door to door, like right to my house? Are there any other considerations or things that I can’t get if I’m using an enclosed car carrier?

Jeremy: So the equipment they’re using is going to be very similar in height and length. So any restrictions we might see on an open carrier would just apply the same to the truck. Those trucks are, size-wise, very comparable. They can get in and out of the same location. If you would be uncomfortable having an open carrier arrive in a small residential neighborhood, needed to maybe arrange a terminal transport or meet at a nearest parking lot, you’d want to make those same accommodations with enclosed, but nothing really specifically different in the size of the truck.

John: All right. That makes sense. Well, that’s great information, Jeremy. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Jeremy: John, it was a pleasure as always. Appreciate it.

Set Up Enclosed Car Carrier Service Today

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.

Mike Scenna from Preowned Auto Logistics sits down with John Maher to talk about the benefits of termina-to-terminal shipping with vehicle transport. Mike answers questions about what terminals are, how they work, and why people opt to use terminals instead of shipping vehicles to their homes or other locations. 

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. And today our topic is terminal to terminal auto shipping. Welcome, Mike.

Mike Scenna: Hey John, how are you?

What Is a Terminal in Auto Transport?

John: I’m good, thanks. So Mike, in the world of car shipping, what is a terminal?

Mike: Great question. So when you ship a car, it’s not always the case that it’s going to go door-to-door. So a driver meeting you at your house or a parking lot to same thing, house or parking lot on the other end. We have what we call terminals that have tons of advantages and ways that they can make car shopping a lot easier.

Basically, they’re kind of like storage facilities. Places that cars can be left and watched over. If you have to drop it off at a terminal, you got to go somewhere and you don’t have the ability to meet a driver on the pickup end, or a place that it can stay and hang out on the delivery end if you’re not able to get to it right away.

They are places usually that trucks consistently go in and out of. So they can usually create more efficient lanes, as well as just a place that is more common for a carrier to be in and out of. So it can help speed up the shipping process, help at the rate of the shipping process. It’s common for them to be looking over these cars, so it’s a really safe place. They do a really good job with condition reports. Going over the car with the drivers when they show up. And on the delivery end, going over it with them when they’re dropping it off. It can kind of take over the pickup and drop off process for you, and as well as hold the car as long as you need to.

How Terminal-to-Terminal Shipping Benefits Vehicle Owners

John: Right. So there’s typically somebody there at the terminal, like you said, who can receive the car, check it over for any damage that might have been caused by the move or something like that, but I don’t have to physically be there in order for that to happen. And so that’s helpful for me because it frees up my schedule and I don’t have to plan on being there the moment that the car’s dropped off.

Mike: Right. Yep, exactly. There are a lot of places that do this quite a bit or almost exclusively, and they’re very equipped for all that and it can save you a ton of time. Because as we’ve talked about in the past, timing in this industry can be difficult. You’re dealing with a lot of factors when it comes to traffic and accidents and delays with loading and unloading at other stops. So, it could save you a whole day. Usually, typically, you’re waiting around for half of a day or a day to get that call that the truck is there. Whereas, if you were to use terminal and just let the car off there, you’re done. You’re in and out in 10 minutes and that process of the day is over for you.

How Do Shipping Terminals Work?

John: Right. So are terminals owned by the shipping company like yourselves, or are they sort of like parking lots where you rent spaces, or how does that work?

Mike: Yeah, so all kinds of combinations out there. We have our own spots, lots of companies have their own spots. There are people who get into this, as I said, exclusively. There are terminals out there that are just terminals. That’s all. They don’t own trucks. They’re not affiliated with any individual shipping companies. They’re just in areas where so much shipping occurs that there’s a demand for just a terminal, and that’s what they do exclusively. There are companies that might have a few flatbed trucks where they move some cars around locally, do a little bit of towing. And another big part of their business is to operate as a terminal. Because again, they happen to be in a lane where there’s a lot of demand for that kind of stuff.

So it really comes into the industry in all different forms. Just anyone who’s in an area where there’s a need for this might offer services as a terminal.

Locations of Vehicle Transport Terminals

John: And where are there terminals and how many of them are there?

Mike: Sure. All around the country. There are people I’ve seen in every state that offer these services. We’ve worked with people in a majority of the states that offer these kinds of services. By far the most, the majority of it, the most commonplace would be the State of Florida, which again, you and I’ve talked about being a huge shipping lane for the consumer based off of that. Those seasonal residents, the folks who traveled back and forth from the North down to the South for the winter. So there’s tens of thousands of cars, probably hundreds of thousands of cars getting shipped down there throughout the year. We work with a lot of terminals in the State of Florida, and there are a lot of terminals down there that are offering this service for a very long time.

John: Right. So there’s not going to be as many terminals in say Ohio or something like that, because you don’t have that many people constantly moving cars to and from Ohio. But Florida, like you said, with a lot of seasonal residents, people who go down South to Florida for the winter and then come back up North for the summer. There’s so many of those types of people doing these moves constantly every year that it makes sense to have all these terminals in that state.

Mike: Right. Yep, exactly. You get down to Florida and you have a whole bunch on all the major cities along the coast and a couple centrally in the state. Whereas, if you go out to, like you said, a State like Ohio, there might be just a handful, a couple around basically the capital or one or two of the major cities in the state.

Advantages of Shipping to Terminals Instead of Your Home

John: You mentioned a couple of them, but what are some of the advantages or disadvantages of using terminals over having your car shipped directly to your address or your home or a parking lot, like you said?

Mike: Right. So as I touched base on origin end, the pickup end, you have the advantage of dropping the car off and being done with that process. It’s out of your hair and it’s all set and you know it’s at a safe place. On the other end of that, it could be there’s more of a demand at the destination on the drop-off end. We deal with a lot of people who are traveling somewhere, they’re shipping their car, and it’s really important for them to have their car at that destination when they get there. So by using a terminal, you have a place that the car can get sent to, but you don’t need to be on that end to receive the car.

We have people who ship their car well ahead of time, because that’s how desperately they need it on that end. And they want that peace of mind, a call from us saying, “Hey, your car is at the terminal in Fort Myers. It’s there waiting for you.” They can say great. They might not be going there for two, three, or even four days, but they really need the car there when they get there, and they know it’s there. They can get off the plane, they could take a taxi or shuttle over, and their car is right there waiting for them when they get there.

John: Right. So they don’t have to worry about, like you said, having the car shipped and then having to time your flights or your drive or something like that perfectly so that you’re down there at the exact right time when that car is coming in. And then you have to arrange for transportation maybe to get to where that car is being shipped to. Just lots of logistical things like that that gets solved by the fact that it’s just being dropped off, you don’t have to worry about being there at all, and then it’s there when you’re ready to go pick it up.

Mike: Yep, exactly. So for your own personal logistics, there are all kinds of advantages. We’ll use that same lane as an example. There are lane efficiency advantages. In a lane like Florida from the Northeast down to the major cities in Florida, it’s so common at certain times of years for cars to go back and forth from the same city up here to the same city down in Florida, that there’s just trucks running back and forth from these two terminals like a bus stop. So you could drop it off at your terminal up North, it’ll get right on a truck and be down in Florida very quickly at the terminal, just because that’s that lane that that truck is driving in. Almost like a bus stop, it’s just going back and forth.

So you could save some money by using these terminals. You’re picking to move in that lane that is common. You’re dropping it off and making it nice and easy for the driver. That driver is picking up nine cars at that same place and bringing the nine to the same place down there, and not stopping at different people’s houses. So yeah, there’s a financial advantage and a time advantage as well to using terminals.

Contact Us to Learn More About Auto Shipping

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Mike. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Mike: Yeah, of course. Thanks, 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.