How Transport Works

Call and speak to one of our agents or simply fill in our easy to use shipping quote from our online portal. Once you have received your quote and decided on dates for shipping, you can call us and or email us referencing your shipping quote. We will send you an order form to fill in, once we receive this back we will begin doing what we do best, getting your vehicle scheduled and moved. Sounds too easy? That’s because it is!

Types of Transport

Open

Open transport is the standard way to ship your vehicle and the most affordable option used by private parties, corporate moves as well as dealership moves. More than 85% of the industry chooses this open air shipping option. You can always count on your shipment being insured, regardless of what type of carrier you choose.

Enclosed

Enclosed transport offers the most secure vehicle transport. Some high-end vehicle owners choose enclosed transport because it protects the vehicle from the elements and offers additional insurance coverage. The trailer is closed off from any weather conditions and debris. In addition, we offer Hard-Side-Liftgate trailers that load vehicles with very low ground clearance not limited to exotics, collectibles, classics and racing vehicles. When it comes to enclosed car transport, you will have the security of knowing your precious cargo is in great hands.

It's Easy!

Step 1

Quote and book your order

Step 2

We pick up your vehicle

Step 3

Receive your vehicle

What We Offer

Door to door transport — Affordable and honest pricing — On time vehicle pickups — Licensed and insured — Fast customer service — Open, enclosed, flatbed transports — Shipments from Hawaii — Terminal deliveries — Easy and simple car shipping experience

FAQs

When researching car shipping companies you will get many different prices, you need to keep in mind that the prices they are getting are not guarantees, but rather ESTIMATES of what one transporter thinks it will take to get a vehicle shipped versus another company’s opinion of what it will take to get the job done. Don’t be tricked, there are no carriers committed to take your vehicle at these quoted prices, the company you choose will still have to  work on getting a carrier to move it at the price they quote you.

All companies, whether brokers or carriers, use a site called Central Dispatch to post and find vehicles to transport, the main thing you are paying a company for is access to Central Dispatch. All vehicle transport companies use it, their fees to post your shipment to it may vary, but the site is the same site used across the vehicle shipping industry. At Topline Logistics we of course use this site, however we also have membership access on other VIP websites many brokers do not have access to where only highly rated, reliable and safe carriers are offered membership and also use to book your shipments.

The short answer is no, all dates given are only estimates. For this reason we ask that you give us the earliest date possible you’d be willing to release your vehicle, even though it may not be your most preferred date. We will put you in direct contact with your carrier and the carrier is also instructed to call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery, they won’t just show up unannounced, if they do we want to hear about it as we go through a screening process to get you the best carrier possible. Keep in mind, the carriers are out on the road dealing with traffic, weather and a number of other factors that can and usually do affect their pickup and delivery estimates from time to time. If your shipment dates come and you have not been contacted by your carrier or are not able to contact your carrier, please call our office right away so we can help resolve the situation. We are here to help throughout the entire process, this is another service you are paying us for.

Short answer, no. We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and our carriers are not licensed to ship household goods from state to state borders either. Both parties are licensed to carry just about any type of vehicle and sometimes extra parts however, household goods are not one of them. You will be told by a lot of companies that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk or backseat, but that is not entirely true. The truth is that items of that amount are fairly common (day to day stuff like books, extra clothes, gym bags and various day to day items) are commonly left inside the vehicles. Adding extra boxes and suitcases would be considered household goods. The department of transportation is probably not going to fine a carrier over such day to day items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit for the entire hauler. They will however fine them if they see a vehicle packed full of personal items at this point the carrier will most likely pass that fine on to you, if they allowed you to leave them in there in the first place. Some carriers may choose to charge you an agreed upon extra items fee and if they get fined that is their own responsibility. Keep in mind you will need to verify with your carrier once booked to see what they will allow. If they show up and your vehicle is packed and it wasn’t agreed on beforehand you may have to empty all the items out before they load the vehicle and or pay the additional fee.

We do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a carrier. The deposit that you pay to Topline Logistics is what you pay for our help in setting you up with safe, reliable and fully insured carriers. The fees paid directly to the carrier which you pay the carrier typically when you receive the vehicle is not directly controlled by Topline Logistics. Therefore, any requests for a refund of the carrier’s portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly. However if the vehicle is excessively late we will do our best to get you some sort of reduction in rate for the delayed delivery.

The average transport time from pick up to delivery going coast to coast will be between 6-12 days. Your transport duration will be based on how far your vehicle is being transported. If you are shipping 1-2 states over the transit time would be closer to 2-3 days and so on. Keep in mind that many carriers do not offer direct shipping for all of their available spots (Example of direct shipment CA-FL), this means they are doing spot pickups and deliveries along the way (Example of a spot pickup CA-TX then TX-FL) until they reach your destination. All transport times are estimated. For further information please reach out to our team.

Great question as all companies may give you a different answer. There is no set in stone amount of lead-time required. Whatever lead-time you can give is fine, don’t worry if you have to hold off until the last minute, if we priced your move correctly, it will usually get picked up within 24 to 48 hours of your first available date.For the most seamless transport we ask you give us at least a 7 day lead-time from your first available ship date.

Yes always! This is another portion of what you pay us for, we verify that the carrier we schedule for you is covered by the required amount of insurance for your vehicle and that it is up to date. There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, if any company is requiring a fee for coverage you are wasting your money as ALL carriers are required by law to provide cargo coverage. There are however some special cases with rare collectible and classic cars where the vehicle value is far greater than insurance available. At this point we will help get you in touch with purchasing additional insurance for a specific transport.

Transport damages are very rare, but unfortunately it does happen in some cases. The most important thing for you to do if your vehicle arrives damaged is to note the damage on your bill of lading (condition report) when you receive the vehicle. The bill of lading is the report that the driver will fill out on pickup, denoting any pre-existing damage(s). Any damage that happens during transport must be marked on this report upon delivery. Failure to do so could drastically halt your damage claim, if it arrives with new damages, WRITE IT on the bill of lading. Inspect your vehicle thoroughly when you receive it. The bill of lading is the single document that releases the carrier of liability once you sign at delivery. Once you write this on the bill of lading, take photos of the vehicle at time of delivery and email us a copy of the Bill of Lading as well as the pictures, or call us right away so we can help you through the claims process.

We offer both open and enclosed vehicle transport in many various sizes. The most standard of cross country transport will be on a 7-10 car hauler with two levels. The smaller 2-5 car haulers will tend to do shorter transports, usually within the state or across 1 or 2 state lines.

When filling in our order form you will be asked to provide exact pickup and delivery addresses. Depending on the accessibility of your address, if a driver can get right to the addresses you provide, they will try to do it as this expedites the pickup process and keeps the moving. If the addresses that you provide us are not accessible for a car hauler, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a safe nearby location where the carrier can safely load the vehicle. Tight streets, low hanging trees, turnabouts, weight restrictions and many various factors can restrict a carrier from loading directly at your door.