Reading : 2 minutes
Jan 16, 2024

Here is the tough news that you need to know: Trying to ship between 12/24-1/14 is the toughest time of year to ship a car. However, if you are aware and prepared for what to expect, it will at least keep your experience from becoming a nightmare. It’s important to understand that pricing and carrier availability in this industry is always based on SUPPLY & DEMAND.

During the holidays, the DEMAND of people trying to ship a car *greatly* outweighs the SUPPLY of available carriers; this already tough scenario is further aggravated by the fact that most carriers are off from 12/24-1/1 spending time with family and virtually NO pick ups or drop offs take place that week. When the carriers return to work on 1/2, there are infinitely more cars trying to ship ASAP than the available carriers can service, giving the carriers liberty to only service the very best paying loads and thereby causing price spikes during the first half of January.

Here are 8 tips to keep in mind if you want to avoid a lot of frustration.

  • Getting a carrier for pickup between 12/24-1/1 is near impossible and not realistic to expect
  • Ship well before Christmas Eve or after the first half of January to save money and headaches.
  • If not possible, then be prepared to pay significantly more to get a spot on a truck
  • Pricing will be higher than typical and can be nearly double to get a carrier particularly for the “snowbird” shipments from up north down to Florida and Arizona.
  • Beware of low price quotes, as a brokers can offer carriers any price you like, but if it is too low, your car will not get shipped on time or at all. Carriers will simply have too many better priced shipments to choose instead.
  • The risk of bad weather during early January can extend the lack of carrier availability causing the inflated prices to continue through more than the first two weeks of January
  • Make sure your broker has a fixed and transparent broker fee so you are not victim to brokers charging higher broker margins because of the holiday price spikes.If your broker doesn’t warn
  • You upfront about the holiday and early January shipping concerns, you should be concerned about their transparency and honesty.

Our goal is to empower customers to know what they are in store for during the holidays. Education, transparency and honesty is key if you want to have a smooth and safe car transport experience.

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