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Door to Door Car Transport vs. Terminal to Terminal Service

Car transport services offer a wide variety of options when it comes to shipping your car, Door to Door car transport, Terminal to Terminal car transport, Open car transport, Enclosed car transport. Needs and expectations are different from customer to customer, therefore the car transport industry has tried to accommodate to those requirements as much as possible in order to provide a hassle free experience to customers. One of the perks of the service that many times can affect the price and commodity of the client is the pickup and delivery type of service, whether it’s door-to-door car transport or terminal-to-terminal.  In the following post we will analyze and provide the pros and cons of each service to help you determine which one will fit your needs the best when booking a car transport service.

Door to door car transport: pickup and delivery from the comfort of your home.

Door to door car transport service is a very common perk of the car transport industry nowadays with the heavy demands from all over the country.  This service allows customers to wait for a pickup or a delivery from the comfort of their own homes, drivers provide an estimated time of when he will be there that way the customer can plan around that time and keep going with their busy agendas.  Another perk of a door to door service is that you can turn in and receive the car yourself to inspect it and make sure it is loaded properly. When delivered it allows you to inspect the car again and check for scratches, bumps and other damages that may have been caused during transit, this way you can file a proper claim with the carrier’s insurance.  Overall door-to-door service offers a more personalized service for customers, providing more assurance and more guarantees to a hassle free experience.

Door to Door Car Transport vs. Terminal to Terminal Service

Door to Door Car Transport vs. Terminal to Terminal Service

Although this service may have many perks, it also has some downsides to it. Having a door to door car transport experience can be more expensive than a terminal-to terminal, as drivers have to go the extra miles to exact locations. Sometimes these locations are across bridges, or inside gated communities where trucks cannot go in. For these cases meeting points are required and they’re not always the most convenient locations. Also this service delays schedules for drivers and decreases the possibilities to arrange faster routes as they have to travel longer distance from door to door until they can finally get on a main route towards delivery points. Sometimes cars are not ready, or customers are not available and driver has to wait for clearance, causing his entire schedule to be delayed.

Terminal to terminal: great for tight schedules and easy transfers.

Terminal to terminal has been the main service for car transport companies when it comes to pickup and delivery as it was offered before door to door services.  This service is a great option for people who are moving one place to another or transferring to a different state or country. Usually in these cases customer run with very tight schedules and flights to catch and don’t have time to wait for the driver’s schedule, therefore it is easier to leave car at a terminal. A perk that benefits drivers is that he can pick up 2 or more cars at one location instead of driving around a 50 mile radius; this allows schedules to flow faster and less chance of delays from pickup to pickup. Some terminals are free of charge and come as part of the carrier offering the service to ease customer’s schedules; this allows prices to be lower as well.

Unfortunately lower prices aren’t always the case; some terminals do charge storage fees until driver picks up the car. Fees can go anywhere from $25 to $75 a day at owner’s expense.  Another con of a terminal-to-terminal service is that you don’t get to inspect car at the moment of pickup, or get to see if car is loaded properly and is taken care of. Sometimes cars can get scratched and bumped in the terminal or during pickup, although you leave with a record of how you left the car, it’s always better to presence the treatment to file claims to insurance companies; the same thing happens upon delivery.

Choosing between door to door car transport services or terminal to terminal all depends on what you expect from this experience and what you need. If you are running a tight schedule and need the car picked up as soon as possible and the driver can only make it to you a day later, chances are leaving car at a terminal with a possibility of storage fees will work better than changing your whole trip arrangements.  However if you run with more flexibility you can easily avoid these fees and wait from the comfort of your home. Make sure you tell your booking agent what you need and what commodities you would like in order to have a hassle free transport service. With today’s car transport industry, easing customer’s request is one of the main focuses of the business, don’t be afraid of requesting all you need, chance are most of your needs will be accommodated.

Read also How to ship a car and the Golden Rules to avoid car transport scam!

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 Door to Door Car Transport vs. Terminal to Terminal Service

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