Are you getting ready to ship a car, but not sure when you should do it? If you’re new to the world of car transport, you may not realize how much timing affects shipments. However, for loads this large, timing your load well can mean the difference between a car that makes it to its destination with ease and one that gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. Our experts have shipped thousands of vehicles over the course of our operations. Therefore, they know when the best times to ship are. Read on to learn about how to time your car shipment.
‘Tis the season for… car transport?
While car shipments can happen any time of the year, the season can affect how smoothly your service goes. Winter presents obvious challenges: car carriers are large and heavy, and, as a result, they prefer not to drive through snow. Winter shipments also have to contend with frequent holidays, which can restrict their operations. Similarly, springtime in Eugene brings lots of rain, which can make shipping cars a bit more dangerous.
So you should ship a car in the summer then, right? Well, you’re not the only one with that idea. Thanks to snowbirds heading home and more people moving houses, summer is the busiest time of the season for car transport. If you need a tight turnaround on your shipment, you may find yourself frustrated with the waiting game that comes with summer shipping. Therefore, we recommend fall as the perfect time to ship your car. It won’t take long to schedule, and your car will encounter less troublesome weather along the way.
What about the days of the week?
Even within just a single week, the day you schedule your shipment for can affect its success. Of course, this only applies if you expect your shipment to be done within a day or two. For long-distance trips, like a shipment across the country, you’ll wind up encountering delays and traffic that you can’t avoid. If you’re just going somewhere close like Corvallis, however, the day you choose for your shipment very much affects its efficiency. The most obvious impact is that many car transport companies are closed on the weekend. This may mean that your 2-day shipment scheduled for Friday will take a few extra days to wrap up.
Traffic patterns can also have a big impact on how long transport takes. Traffic doesn’t stay perfectly steady from week-to-week or even day-to-day. However, most studies on the matter say that traffic is lighter towards the beginning of the week. So, we recommend trying to schedule your car shipment on Monday or Tuesday to avoid the worsening traffic. This way, your car will spend less time away from you and more time getting you where you need to go.