Spot the mistakes in this photo!

[Matt Harwood]

A great example of how NOT to do it. I took these photos on my way to Toronto this afternoon, somewhere outside of Buffalo, NY. Whiteout conditions, roads are a mess. It appears to be a 1930-ish Chevrolet roadster (a rather rare bird) and a Model A coupe strapped to an open car hauler and suffering the elements. I especially like the plywood tied to the sides of the Chevy, as well as the crushed front suspension--wonder where they tied it down, because it certainly wasn't on the axle.

But at least he saved a few bucks doing it this way.

PS: Yes, I was able to take the photos because we were grinding along at 8 MPH. I could barely see the truck in front of me in the snow. I'm shocked these photos came out as clearly as they did.

[JFranklin]

Those cars have seen a lot of that kind of weather in their long lives, they will survive.

[Guest shadetree77]

Those cars have seen a lot of that kind of weather in their long lives, they will survive.

Agreed, but you gotta' wonder how much some poor schmuck somewhere is paying that guy to haul his new "baby" home. Something to think about next time you're forking over big money for a car hauler.

[Steve Braverman]

I had a car transported once and never again. There was a month between pickup in NV and delivery in NY, during which time it was sitting in a warehouse "somewhere near Detroit."

A friend was buying a car, and made arrangements with the seller to deliver it. The seller called enroute, and said the the door must not have latched properly and had blown off. He was told to turn around and go home.

Thr next time we bought a car from afar, we took our own trailer and the amount of cash we were willing to pay and drove the 1200 miles ourselves. The car came home in our enclosed trailer under my supervision.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Steve Braverman (see edit history)

[R Walling]

Matt, what were you thinking takeing a picture, at 8MPH, you had plenty of time to run along side of the driver and make an offer! (;-)

[auburnseeker]

If you hire a professional company you can avoid this. I used Passport twice, once on a non runner 36 Cord needing work, they delivered it from California to upstate NY in 1 week handling it like it was a freshly restored car and it looked far from that.

The second was a #2 fuel injected 1960 Corvette. That came from Washington state and took 3 weeks still arriving in the quoted amount of time. Again super careful handling. I don't even bother checking for other rates now. You pay what you get for.

Also remember open hauling in the Northeast in the winter means road salt packed in every nook and cranny as well as that convertible top. (no thanks) it's one step above a salt water flood car when you get it. (yes these old cars were driven in the winter years ago but they didn't use road salt then like they do now. Some places use liquid Calcium, even worse)

Don't be cheap, pay the extra and get it shipped properly. The Vette was 2500 door to door and the Cord was 3100 because it was an express pickup after my first shipper failed to do the job in 3 months and the car had to be picked up in less than a week on a certain day at a certain time because the owner was leaving the country for a month. This is how you have it delivered in the Northeast in the winter and this is what it looks like when it comes out of the truck!

[jpage]

A few weeks ago a friend was having a '57 Ford retractable shipped to Colorado by a refered professional hauler. I drove past the house the day it was to be shipped so I stopped to see if I coild help. In talking to the guys that were there (family members) ,the shipper was already three weeks late and on that day he was over 4 hours late. It seemed to be an episode right out of "Shipping Wars". Finally,late in the afternoon , the shipper showed ,driving a medium sized fifth wheel diesel Dodge and a trailer loaded with three other vehicles. We were all wondering where he was going to put the Ford as it's so long,much longer than the other cars. The driver hopped out and low and behold spoke little to no English,was slovenly dressed and had no coat( it was about 40 degrees that day and dropping). We couldn't help to think that this shipper was a real class act! To make a long story short,he had to unload the other cars and had to raise the front lift by using hydraulic jacks(the hydraulics were broken). He put the smallest and most expensive car under the lift and drove the Ford onto the top lift. The Ford's rear bumper dragged on the ground while loading and got hung up on the distorted flooring when driven onto the top lift. We told the driver that the Ford was severly leaking tranny fluid and that it was going to drip onto the car below but all he did was shrug his shoulders! He loaded the other cars and was ready to go. He never once did a walk around to note any damage or defects for his own protection and I believe he was late in delivering the car too! All this for $1000.00. IMO you should never ship a classic or antique vehicle on an open trailer regardless of condition and make sure of who your using when you dercide to ship! Remember."The sweetness of low price is lost in the bitterness of poor quality"! I would have fired the shipper when he was 1 day late without a good reason!

[jpage]

Another horror story! One day ,while returning home from a Hershey or Carlisle show, we were traveling up the mountain on the PA turnpike near Sidling hill when we saw an open double decked transport stopped along side the road. As we neared the truck we could see that one of the cars on the top deck had fallen off along the side the road. The car was already pulled off of the road an I assume the transport was awaiting a wrecker to help reload the vehicle. Just one of the dangers of shipping on open transport. I'm sure the owner wasn't too happy!

[James B.]

If you hire a professional company ..... Don't be cheap, pay the extra and get it shipped properly. The Vette was 2500 door to door and the Cord was 3100 because it was an express pickup after my first shipper failed to do the job in 3 months and the car had to be picked up in less than a week on a certain day at a certain time because the owner was leaving the country for a month. This is how you have it delivered in the Northeast in the winter and this is what it looks like when it comes out of the truck!

Man, granted it has been 30 years or more since I even thought about transporting a car but I seem to recall that back then it was a LOT cheaper... something like $200-$300. ?

Jim

[James B.]

Yikes, I cringe looking at the rope tie downs on the convertible because the movement from wind and bounce will damage and wear the paint down where they lay across it. Especially after junk gets on and under them! I don't even like using bungee cords to tie down a trunk lid when hauling stuff from a store.

[Guest 37Packard]

At least they're on the upper level of the trailer so they should have a little less road grime on them. That's about the only positive comment that I could think to make about this situation....

[TexRiv_63]

I shipped one car on an exposed trailer and never will again. It was a 95 Impala SS on a 3 car rig pulled by a big dually pickup, when it arrived the entire front and top was covered with oil and the oil was covered with dirt. Had to scrape holes in the dirt on the windshield to drive it home! Well worth it to spend the extra for enclosed storage with a reputable hauler.

[Dave Gelinas (XP-300)]

I can't understand why a company would haul in this fashion, much less hire a company that does.

[keiser31]

The roadster looks to be about a 1925 Flint. I certainly would NOT ship it on an open carrier like that.