ATLANTA CAR TRANSPORT
More Than Just a Car Transporter
Get A Free Quote NOW




Important Documents to Know When Shipping a Car

You are currently viewing Important Documents to Know When Shipping a Car
Understanding Important documents can save you time and money
  • Post category:blogs

For many people, they’re only going to need to ship a car once or twice in their life. It’s just not something most people do every day. For some, it’s part of their business. However, if you’re not familiar with the process, there are some things that may get glanced over when you’re setting up your shipment. This mainly includes paperwork. Let’s be honest, paperwork is something that is never interesting. Even for your shipping company, more often than not, most of the paperwork isn’t even necessary. Especially for things like insurance that only matter if there are any problems with the shipment. Most of the time, they never need to look at the insurance because nothing goes wrong. However, if anything does go wrong, you’re going to want to understand any important documents to ship your car.

The insurance terms

Since we already brought it up, the insurance documents are first on our list. The biggest red flag to look out for is if there aren’t any insurance documents at all. In an effort to save money, some shipping companies will not even have proper insurance. Don’t be fooled, make sure your shipping company has insurance. Your regular car insurance will not cover anything that goes wrong with your vehicle while it’s on a transport vehicle. After all, your insurance covers your car while your car is driving, and technically, your car’s not driving. This means if anything goes wrong, you’re going to need to go through your shipping company’s insurance. And besides, who wants to go through their own insurance if they don’t have to?

The biggest thing to think about when it comes to insurance is whether your shipping company has enough insurance. Even if you think they have more insurance than you have, you need to understand that they need to insure more than just your car. They need to have enough insurance to cover every vehicle on the trailer. That means if they’re shipping your vehicle and nine other vehicles, they should have ten times the insurance you would have for only one car. It’s a good idea to ask what kinds of vehicles will also be on your trailer. If they’re shipping tons of luxury high-end vehicles, make sure your shipping company has the kind of insurance that covers that.

A Bill of Lading

The bill of lading is very similar to the insurance policy. It’s something you may not be familiar with when you start your shipment, but by the end you’ll be very familiar with it. Essentially, it’s a checklist on your car and a receipt you sign when you receive your car after shipping. Your driver will start every pickup with an inspection. They’ll check for any prior damage and write it all down on the bill of lading. When they drop off your car, they’ll have you sign to agree that you received your vehicle. However, don’t be too anxious to sign right away. This is because the insurance company will use the bill of lading to determine who is at fault for any damage.

When you receive your car after drop off, it’s important to do your own inspection before you sign the Bill of Lading. Make sure there are no new scratches, dings, or damage of any kind. If you notice anything, make sure they address it on the bill of lading. Additionally, make sure it wasn’t already marked on the bill of lading when they picked up your car. If you’re familiar with this, then filing a claim if anything goes wrong becomes a lot easier.

Other Important Documents to Note

When shipping your car, those are the two big ones. They are also the two documents that get overlooked because most of the time they’re completely unnecessary. There’s rarely an incident, which means both documents are merely a formality. Other documents to look out for, though, may be specific to your particular drive.

If your shipment takes you across international borders or across the ocean, you need to make sure that your shipping company holds all the proper licenses and permits. This may be difficult to do, especially if you have no idea about shipping laws. A quick and easy way to guarantee your shipping company is legit is by asking for their DOT number. This is their Department of Transportation number. Every shipping company must have one. With this number, you can check online to verify they have all the licensing and requirements.

If you need to find a shipping company look no further than Atlanta Car Transport. They offer instant quotes with industry leading insurance included right there in the quote. Give them a call today and one of their live agents can go over all the important documents and any questions you may have.

Leave a Reply