Owning a car comes with huge benefits and an overall easier life in terms of transportation and getting to places. Having your own set of wheels means that you no longer have to depend on public transport and favors of friends and family. You are free to go wherever and whenever, and for however long. Best of all, you will be saving yourself and your family a lot of valuable commuting time and shorten daily averages of having to go to the shop or finis other chores.
However, what happens when the car itself has to be moved somewhere? Let us say you are moving to another part of the country, a different state, or a faraway foreign country, and you need your car there but cannot drive it yourself. If you hire a moving company for your belongings and you are traveling by plane or other means, what happens to your car? Well, it gets shipped as well of course. There are numerous companies who deal with transportation of vehicles and their shipment services offer all sorts of things.
The most common question people who need to ship their vehicle have is can they have other stuff inside the car. Does the vehicle have to be empty or can you fill the trunk and the seating area with additional items? If you are already shipping a car, why not use the opportunity and the space it offers and ship multiple things at once? If you are interested in finding out whether or not something like this is possible, you came to the right place. Make sure to stick until the end of the article to find out more. Additionally, if you want to know additional details about cars and services around them, click here.
Is it Possible?
Source: autoshippinghub.com
To answer the titular question straight away, yes, this service is entirely possible and many people actually make use of it. However, it is more of a question whether or not you should do it. There is a lot to think about when evaluating this option because there is so much to cover and so much can potentially go wrong. Furthermore, there are certain rules to be followed if you really want to do this the next time you are shipping a car. In the following sections of the article we will explore all the details surrounding the shipment of additional items within the car.
Rules and Guidelines
First of all, you must comply with the rules and make sure that what you are doing is perfectly legal and within reason. Of course, you will have to check with the shipping company if they allow or are willing to perform this deed. Depending on the company, they may have very different systems in place, but usually there should be no problem as long as you are planning to send legal, average items that do not require special permits and licenses. What most of the shippers allow free of charge is a single bag or a suitcase up to 100 lbs. in weight. Anything over that or whoever many additional bags or items you want to ship will cost extra.
Next up we have a rule called “Below the Window” rule. For shipping anything above the 100 lbs. you will be paying according to the weight or number of items. All of those additional things must be loaded below the level of the windows. The driver’s seat has to be clear so that the drivers can freely drive the car during transportation, loading, and unloading. Under the seat area and the rest of the seats are the best places to put the stuff you need to ship, other than the trunk. Special hidden compartments hidden between the seats or in the seats are also good, as is the glove compartment.
Theft Risk
Source: which.co.uk
All in all, the most obvious reason why you should opt for other solutions if possible when shipping additional things is a very high risk of theft. The cars will hardly ever go straight to their destination. The trucks and ships that will be carrying them will be stopping at multiple docks and rest areas where there is no telling what can happen. If you do not ensure it, you will lose the items and get no compensation whatsoever. This is why the above mentioned window rule is important. If the thieves cannot see anything, they cannot steal anything. Things left on the seats are in the immediate danger so avoid doing such a minimal job like simply putting the items right below the window but still having them visible. If you pack the car full of items, it will practically act as a gold mine for car thieves who are no strangers to breaking in for one small bag, let alone so many unprotected items bulked together.
Can you legally transport your vehicle with your belongings still inside?
When having your automobile transported by a shipping firm, it is not against the law to include personal things in the shipment as pointed out on a1autotransport.com. It’s possible you’ll be restricted from taking certain possessions out of the car. You may transport your automobile and anything else you need to relocate at the same time with certain firms. Your shipping business may have a policy on pieces of personal property left in vehicles under their care, but whether or not this is lawful is usually not the major concern.
Shipping Items with or without your automobile have nothing to do with whether or not you are breaking the law. Instead, the heaviness of these objects is a major factor. Your shipping business may also have restrictions on having certain items in the vehicle. When it comes to objects of a personal nature left in a vehicle during transport, most shipping firms have similar regulations. In the next part, we’ll go into greater depth about these regulations. Few shipping firms would let you transport your automobile with your personal belongings inside. As we continue to discuss this, you will begin to see the logic behind my reasoning.
Limitations
As mentioned, the very concept of shipping items in cars is a thing but limitations exist as well. Not all shipping companies are willing to take the same amount of weight, nor are their trucks or boats capable of holding equal amounts of weight. Overweight vehicles can result in fines and placing more items than agreed upon can get you in trouble.
Damage to the Car
Source: carsrelo.com
Last but not least, you should really think about how safe your car will be while on route to its destination. If you pack a lot of fragile items inside, they may break and damage the interior. Moreover, if liquids are in question the car may get ruined beyond repair. The worst part of it all is that you can hardly know that something is wrong until you get to the car and open it up. By then everything will already be dry and almost impossible to clean. This problem of course depends on nothing else but how well you package the goods and what you are shipping in the first place. If you can choose, pick more common objects like smaller house items, clothing, cushions, carpets, and things that cannot damage anything physically. Anything else is prone to damage due to the frequent stops and turns as well as rough terrain or waves.
