If you’re considering our excellent open car shipping service, you may wonder how we keep your car safe during transport. With enclosed car shipping, the safety of your car is guaranteed because of its protective metal shell. But how do we manage to maintain your car’s safety on an open trailer? Our expert drivers have a set of best practices to follow.
Strapped-down, not chained-down
Chains are very sturdy, so it may seem as though chaining a car to its carrier gives it the most security. However, chains are hard metal, and as such, can cause damage to your car. If the driver has to stop quickly, for example, the chains could make contact with your car’s body. Worse, they could scrape off your beautiful paint job! That’s why our drivers always make sure to secure your vehicle with heavy-duty straps. These straps use a ratchet mechanism (hence their usual name, ratchet straps) to tightly secure your car onto our carrier. They’re made of heavy-duty, abrasion-resistant materials, so even if they slip a little bit during transport, they won’t wear out. With these straps in place, your car isn’t going anywhere.
Parking in the right spots
You may think that parking during car transport is one of the easiest aspects of the job. However, it takes a discerning eye to find a secure parking space for a car carrier. Unfortunately, there are people who patrol truck stops looking for things to steal. Our carriers take a long, hard look at every place they stop to make sure their parking spot is at a secure location. Their spot will be brightly lit and visible from wherever they’re going. We can’t be with your car 100% of the time, but we’ll make sure it’s safe even when we’re not.
Secure loading and unloading
It may seem counterintuitive, but the least safe part of the open car shipping process is during loading and unloading. After all, your car is perfectly safe on our carrier the rest of the time. Our drivers make sure to practice loading and unloading as safely as possible. While loading, they take great care to secure your car in place with high-quality straps. They also make sure to leave enough space between each car so they don’t jostle into one another throughout the day. During unloading, they make sure to properly set up the ramps on the back of their carrier and to unload slowly, one at a time. A rushed load or unload can spell disaster for car carriers. So we make sure our drivers take the risks of loading and unloading very seriously.