What you are risking when you ship personal items in your vehicle?
Shipping your car is a great way to avoid having to drive hundreds or thousands of miles during a trip or move. Sometimes, you can even put some things in your car as it ships to avoid having to ship those things separately.
When you choose to ship personal items in your vehicle, you are taking a risk that those items can be lost or damaged during the transport process. Unfortunately, unlike your car itself, these items will not be covered by any insurance associated with your car shipment.
Things that you definitely can’t ship in your car
This should be obvious, but it is very important, so it warrants repeating. There are certain items which absolutely cannot be shipped with your vehicle. This includes firearms, ammunition, alcohol, drugs (legal or illegal), fireworks or any other sort of item that would seem against the law to take over state lines.
This also often includes household items such as kitchen knives or something like a blender. This is because these items can often require a special type of license to ship and if an auto transporter gets caught shipping these things without that license, they can face a hefty fine.
General rules to follow
If you plan on shipping any personal items with your car, you should be aware of the rules and restrictions that apply first:
The items must weigh less than a hundred pounds in total – Whatever you do ship with your vehicle, make sure that the total weight is less than a hundred pounds. You can determine this by weighing the items separately and adding the weights together or you might be able to put them into a container and weigh them at once on a household scale, the just subtract the weight of the container.
Make sure it is not anything of great value – If you do end up shipping personal items with your car, be sure that it is not anything too valuable. The insurance on your shipment will only cover your car, not any items inside of it. So, if these items are lost or damaged during the transport, you will be stuck covering the entire cost yourself.
Make sure it is not anything too large – These items that you ship with your vehicle will need to remain below the window line. So, do not attempt to ship large items like furniture with your car.
Be sure that your items are secure and not too delicate – Odds are that your auto transport driver will hit a few bumps in the road during the shipment which is unavoidable. So, make sure that whatever you are shipping is secured. Also, be sure that it is not something delicate and likely to break such as glassware.
Be aware there is an extra fee for shipping personal items with your car – When you ship personal items with your car, be aware that there will be an added fee for this depending on the weight of the items in question.
Conclusion
Shipping some smaller personal items is permissible but is up to the discretion of your auto transport carrier. Sometimes a driver has had a bad experience with shipping a car with personal items in it and now, as a rule, they do not allow it anymore. So, if you do plan on shipping any personal items with your car, be sure you discuss it with your auto transport driver beforehand.
