craftsmen22

Hi,
I think about to buy a 59 pick up truck in Los Angeles area, but I need transportation to Tampa Bay area. Who would know about a decent shipping company?

Regards,

Tom

dancutlass

Hey Tom, I see you are living in Munich?! Why would you first transport it to Florida and then from Florida to Germany?

craftsmen22

Hi Dan,

I think about buying a project pickup truck in California and I have a good mechanic in Florida, who took care of my 69 Cutlass, so the way is to bring the pickup truck from CA to FL and after finishing resto the route goes to Germany. Besides, I like the challenges to organize all from here.

Tom

dancutlass

Well, sounds like a plan ;-) challenges like this are always fun, but for me it wouldn't be worth the extra $ for the transport. I had a pickup transported from Missouri to New York and it cost me$850! I dont want to know what it costs from California to Florida...
However, have fun and good luck finding a reasonable shipping company ;-)
Hope to see your beautiful car in Munich one day!

jaunty75

There are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of shippers and brokers. Some operate independently, scheduling and making their own pickups and deliveries, and others work with brokers, getting jobs through a central coordinator who doesn't actually do the shipping but who has a line-up of drivers who work with that broker.

Last summer I had my '67 Delta 88 shipped from Ohio to New Mexico, a distance of about 2,000 miles, and it cost about $1,000 on an open carrier. Los Angeles to Tampa is about 2,500 miles, so expect to pay something like $1,000 to $1,500 or thereabouts. But quotes you get will range widely, and I would check the record of any shipper you are considering by at least going to the Better Business Bureau website for the city where the shipper or broker is based and checking their record.

http://www.bbb.org/

One advantage you have is that you are shipping between two major urban centers, so there will likely be many drivers who could take your shipment, there will be lots of competition, and there won't be any difficult or lengthy drives to remote areas, all of which should save you money.

You'll likely get all kinds of recommendations from people on here, and you'll likely get your share of horror stories. But remember that thousands of cars, new and old, are shipped every day in this country, and most arrive at their destinations without incident. Those are the experiences you never hear about.

In my case last summer, I did work with a broker. It was the same company that moved my household goods. Their services include shipping automobiles, but they don't do that particular kind of shipping themselves. Rather, they act as a broker for that part of their services. They did an excellent job, staying in close touch with me through the whole process of moving both the household goods and the car.

If you're at all interested, this company is Elite Moving and Storage out of Skokie, Illinois.

http://www.elitemover.com/

Because my location in Ohio was in a rural area, it worked much better in terms of getting the pick-up to happen on a schedule that was good for me if I took the car to a drop-off site, which turned out to be the yard of a shipping company. It wasn't the company that ultimately transported my car, but it was one they worked with.

When I dropped it off, the folks at the yard were very good. They came out, filled out a detailed condition report, and took lots of photos of the car. I left them the keys and drove away. Two weeks later, the car showed up at the destination, and the driver was great. He took great pleasure in having had the car on his rig as he was transporting mostly late-model cars, he took care to keep an eye on it, and he wanted to see me put the top down and drive it away. I was glad to oblige!


If I were you, I would have your U.S.-based friend in Florida handle the shipping arrangements. Being here in the U.S. will make it a great deal easier for the broker and/or shipper to stay in touch with you/him if for no other reason than at least the time differences will be small and the phone calls won't be international.

Rickman48

We shipped a restored '57 Lincoln Premier from Chicago to the RM Auction in Scottsdale, Az, without a scratch, and it had a continental kit, making it 23 ft long!!
[didn't meet reserve - still for sale]
Used Curves Ahead - 800-869-4140. The charge was $1250 - reasonable for the miles.

DeltaPace77

I recently sold a late model Corvette to a guy in OR(I'm in MI), and he sent a Reliable brand open carrier, and was 1K. Car got to him without a scratch, but was filthy from storm travel. Truck had two drivers, and got there in a couple days. Guess it pedends if you don't mind doing a little clean up work, as Reliable has closed trucks too, but probably double the price.

craftsmen22

Hi guys,

thank you very, very much for your tipps. I really appreciate. After all, I did not buy the pick up truck, it took a while to find out that it was a long bed truck. After all I am looking for a 59 Chevy Apache Fleetside with a V8 motor and short bed. The offers I got from various shipper throuhg a site named uship.com came up to 1250 - 1350.

Tom

jaunty75

Those prices sound right.

jaunty75

Heck, even the BBB might not be trustworthy any more. This might not be an auto transport service, but the BBB IS the BBB, and if they were shaking down a TV provider and restaurants, who else might they have been doing it to?



Did the Better Business Bureau Shakedown DIRECTV?

http://www.tvpredictions.com/dbbb031313.htm

66 Olznut

And along those BBB lines, this just happened out here. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/c...elled-18711299

jaunty75

It's the same story I referred to, but a different source. Both discuss the antics of the Los Angeles BBB.

joe_padavano

Uship is the only place that I've had good luck with when shipping. 99% of the on-line shippers are brokers who will bait and switch with lowball prices, only to quickly ratchet the price up once you are on the hook. $1300 is actually a pretty good deal these days for a cross-country shipment of a large vehicle.