What Potential Car Shippers Need to Know

As of March 7, 2011 the US average for Diesel Fuel was $3.87, an increase of $0.97 over a year ago. The fuel price increase was slow but steady until mid-February when they began to sky rocket. Two weeks after this spike, the car shipping industry started to react with rates drastically impacted anywhere from $50 to $200 depending on the route.

In our years of experience at Lepke Auto Transport,  we have noticed when diesel fuel gets above $3.50 per gallon many small vehicle transport companies stop operating for a while or shut down altogether. This leads to a backlog of vehicles waiting to be shipped, especially for larger vehicles such as SUVs and Pickups. It’s important to understand that on routes over 1000 miles a vehicle transport company will use an 8-10 car hauler. These car haulers can only fit two large vehicles, the rest have to be a variety of car sizes. This leads to many SUVs and pickups experiencing longer than normal wait times for shipment.

Especially in times when fuel rates are up, be careful of going with the lowest quote. Your vehicle may end up waiting for an extended period of time before an auto transporter is willing to pick it up at that low price. At Lepke Auto Transport, we try our best to give car shipping quotes that will satisfy both the customer and the auto transporter.