Recommended Cross-Country Vehicle Transport?

[teflon6string]

Okay guys and gals, maybe you can help me research a one-time project...

One of my boys is at Ft. Bragg (NC). He's blowing $20-30 daily on Uber (basically a monthly car payment) and wants us to ship his pickup to him there (2400 miles). Army will pay POV miles on his next PCS, but not this one.

Mrs. Teflon looked up how to ship the pickup and was immediately overwhelmed by a deluge of negative reviews for pretty much every place she saw - warnings about hidden fees after the fact, A-holes, unreliability, delays, damage, etc., etc., etc. Dismal.

Has anyone here used an outfit they can recommend? I guess there might be some private volunteers to actually drive it there, but he wants us to go the pro trucking route. His call.

Appreciate any recommendations for legit carriers you guys have actually used (and definitely those to avoid). Thanks much in advance.

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[notazombie]

I know I'm not really giving you what you're asking for, but here you go. My dad has shipped 2 cars cross country. Both were different carriers, both were late, full of excuses, and one came in damaged but "it was like that when they picked it up". He swore off shipping from then on.
My suggestion would be to buy a car locally to use until he's done there. Cars on base are usually cheap because the seller doesn't have time to hold out for big money. They need to cut and run.
Aside from that, i'd suggest driving it.

 

[HB of CJ]

May not be effective or efficient to ship a daily driver across the nation. There you have it. Consider just buying whatever needed locally?

Sorry.

 

[The Heretic]

My suggestion would be to buy a car locally to use until he's done there. Cars on base are usually cheap because the seller doesn't have time to hold out for big money. They need to cut and run.
Aside from that, i'd suggest driving it.

It depends on how long he will be at where he is stationed, but having BTDT and seen others do it, I pretty much second this - buy a beater for cheap and drive it into the ground, rinse and repeat.

 

[notazombie]

I wasn't military but most of my wife's family is/was. They always talked about the streets leading up to bases looking like used car lots.

 

[The Heretic]

I wasn't military but most of my wife's family is/was. They always talked about the streets leading up to bases looking like used car lots.

People shipping out not wanting to ship their cars too.

Happened to me - I bought a motorcycle, arranged to have a friend haul it in his car, and he flaked out on me. It sat in bike parking in Virginia for almost a year. I lucked out and went there for another school and was able to sell it at a heavy loss.

 

[BDA.45]

Okay guys and gals, maybe you can help me research a one-time project...

One of my boys is at Ft. Bragg (NC). He's blowing $20-30 daily on Uber (basically a monthly car payment) and wants us to ship his pickup to him there (2400 miles). Army will pay POV miles on his next PCS, but not this one.

Mrs. Teflon looked up how to ship the pickup and was immediately overwhelmed by a deluge of negative reviews for pretty much every place she saw - warnings about hidden fees after the fact, A-holes, unreliability, delays, damage, etc., etc., etc. Dismal.

Has anyone here used an outfit they can recommend? I guess there might be some private volunteers to actually drive it there, but he wants us to go the pro trucking route. His call.

Appreciate any recommendations for legit carriers you guys have actually used (and definitely those to avoid). Thanks much in advance.

My personal opinion?, Well, why dont you guys drive it out there and fly back? Its a win win, you get to (possibility) see your kid and take a road trip, he gets a vehicle....

 

[Ura-Ki]

I drove mine cross country several times, and even shipped it to Germany twice and back again, all told, it was cheaper then if I had bought a car, and I got to drive my baby all over Europe! Win Win!!! I say Road Trip to Bragg and fly home, and he can drive it home when he is ready!

 

[jbett98]

There's a shipping outfit in SE Portland that I used to ship two cars to Texas and they were very good to work with.
A local flat bed tow truck came to my house and transported the cars to the car hauler rig, and they made it to Texas exactly on the day they specified. I will call my daughter and see if she can dig up the paperwork, and I will look online to jog my memory.
Most outfits seem like you're dealing with the Mafia. These guys came through on time and budget, no excuses.
They took pics of both cars and when delivered there was no damage to either one.
I did have to go down to their place of business and pay them directly, no middle man.

 

[teflon6string]

Thanks fellers. Good ideas all around.

I already suggested he go the local used beater route for a year (a good idea in my experience), but that was met with a quick, flat no.

While I rather enjoy a road trip, we already flew back east to see him in May and again in June. Mrs. Teflon doesn't have an extra week off for yet another trip, and it gets pricey in a big gas hog, with food, lodging, flights home, etc.

His idea and his money, so I'll play along and deliver it locally to a shipper once I can identify one with a decent rep.

Kids... (who can kill with bare hands and drop silently out of the sky to do it).

 

[Member 34319]

I didn't see Amtrak mentioned. They ship vehicles. Maybe worth looking into.

I know there are other train options to. Takes a bit longer, but a bit safer then the open road, for the vehicle that is.

 

[teflon6string]

Thanks for the input guys.

It eventually cost our soldier $1200 to have his Ram 1500 transported to Ft. Bragg NC from where I met the hauler in Portland. Their price was at the low end of everyone else's.

He could've done worse, and I'm glad he still has his nice newish truck instead of trying to replace a crew cab 4x4 near a military base. It would've cost the same/more for his mom and me to drive it cross-country, stay in rooms, hang out for a couple days while he's in training, fly home, etc.

Caveat: Some carriers flatly refused to take it with any belongings aboard (about 200 lbs of golf clubs, tools, winter clothes, boots/shoes). The outfit we used instructed us to put it in the back seat, and made it clear we would eat the fine if they were cited.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i have a buddy that was at bragg before going to ft lewis. he sold his pickup and bought one there then drove it to ft lewis once he moved. might be a good opton?

 

[jbett98]

Which transport hauler did you use. I'm sending a Nissan Sentra to Texas early next year and like the point that I can load some belongings in the trunk.