Tips to Get Your Car Shipped Fast (Podcast)
Mike Scenna from Preowned Auto Logistics talks with John Maher about shipping your vehicle quickly. They discuss the usual time needed to ship a vehicle and cover tips for car owners who need to ship a vehicle quickly. They compare priority and standard shipping and help you know what to expect.
John Maher: Hi, 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 tips to get your car shipped fast. Welcome, Mike.
Mike Scenna: Hey, John. How are you?
Time to Ship a Car
John: Good, thanks. So Mike, what’s a typical timeline for getting your car shipped?
Mike: Yeah, sure. It completely depends on where you’re going to and from, right? It could take a day if it’s a local shipment under 100 miles, or as much as a week to 10 days if you’re looking to go across the country from New England to Southern California. So yeah, big country, depending on where you’re going, anywhere from, say, a day to 10 days.
When Should You Book Vehicle Transport?
John: And how long ahead of time do you like to have people book before they need to have their car picked up?
Mike: Like most things, preparing makes it a lot easier. So the further out you start setting this process up, the more it helps to get that done in a better amount of time. I like to tell people if you call a month out, that’s great, that helps. But if you could keep it at least two weeks, it’s really going to help most likely get what you’re looking for as far as timeline goes.
How to Book Expeditated Vehicle Transport With Priority Shipping
John: Okay. If I have an urgent need, can I speed either one of those processes up along the timeline?
Mike: Yeah, sure. And this comes up a lot for us in really two different ways. So we have people who have a shipment that they know about coming up, that they just can’t be without a car for too long. So they’re able to look out ahead of time and prepare, but they know that they have a small window that they can’t be without that car. And then there’s other situations where we get a call from someone, something unexpected came up, and they need to ship their car maybe as soon as that day. And we definitely have ways that we can accommodate that. So we offer our standard and priority shipping. We offer different levels of shipping depending on someone’s need, if it is urgent.
Standard Vs Priority Vehicle Shipping
John: So go into a little bit more detail about the priority shipping. How does that work? And what are the differences between the standard and priority shipping?
Mike: Sure. As far as the standard shipping goes, a lot of people, the majority of the time, they need to get their car shipped and they prepared for it. They might have another car. They’re taken care of in this process. We can take our time here. And it’s great for them because they’re able to save some money. And we could wait until the stars align and we get them on a truck that’s going exactly where they are and has space available. And it works out for people who have that option and prepared. That’s not always the case.
Sometimes people, they need that extra level of attention where priority shipping comes in. At that level, if need be, we have a great team in here who are really able to apply some resources to a move, use historical data in here, bring in some extra hands if we need to, and move some pieces to get a car shipped quick. I’ve seen us get stuff, some crazy moves done within hours by just putting the team to work, turning over every stone, and doing whatever needs to be done to get a car moved for someone, if there really is that urgent of a need.
How to Ship Cars Quickly When You Have Limited Time
John: And what about on the other side of it where rather than taking 7 to 10 days, I really need the car to get there in, say, three days or something like that? How does that happen?
Mike: Yeah. So if that’s the case, again, if you can prepare, if you can reach out ahead of time when you know that shipment’s coming up, that you know you’ve got a three-day window we’re working with. Same thing, you choose that priority shipping. We’re able to apply those resources and get that done. And also reaching out further ahead of time helps because we have more time to work on it and really to get things lined up and make sure we’re able to accommodate a need like that.
Costs of Expediated and Priority Vehicle Shipping
John: And does getting your car shipped fast cost more?
Mike: Typically, yes. As I said, if you’re able to reach out ahead of time, it helps a lot. Preparation is key in this industry. But when you’re looking to get something done last minute, fortunately, we do have that option where if you’re paying a little bit more money, we have resources we can tap on in order to get that done. Depending on your situation, when someone needs to do that, it’s usually worth that extra fee to accommodate what the individual’s looking for.
Quality and Service With Priority Shipping
John: And do I need to make any concessions on the service quality or the amount of service that I’m getting in order to get it shipped fast? Or is it really that because I’m paying more, I’m really getting a better service?
Mike: Yeah. I would say for us really, there’s never any concession on quality. We’re looking to ship all of these cars at the same level of quality every time. If you’re looking to get something done really quickly, maybe you might want to broaden your horizons and options open, too. Maybe you were looking at an enclosed shipment, but it really needs to get done. So if we opened up like, “Okay.” If we’re looking at enclosed and open, if you’re going to consider both, we have a lot more spaces that we have available to us. But I would say you’re not really sacrificing quality, only because that’s just something we really pride ourselves in here and always offering the same level of quality in every order.
Tips for Shipping Cars Quickly
John: And any other thoughts or things that I need to consider if I need to get my car shipped fast?
Mike: Yeah. Just again, front end due diligence is great. If you know you have a shipment coming up that needs to get done quickly, just make sure you reach out well ahead of time. And you prepare for it best you can and give your auto transport company the time to work on it. And if it is just a last-minute urgent need, it’s just having the right resources. If you just know a good company to call that is familiar with it, that’s been doing this for 20 years and has the ability to get the job done, it’s going to help you quite a bit, being able to call that company.
Set Up Vehicle Shipping Today
John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Mike. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Mike: 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.