shipping car & equipment interstate?

N

Nicool

New Member
hi there,
I am going to invest on a 4WD, fully kit it to my needs, this will be my camping & scuba-diving travel house.
With it, i am going to have heaps of fun all-around NSW (i am based in Sydney).
I also want to explore one day Cape York, Kakadu, Kimberleys, Western Australia, etc... but take Cape York example, i am not keen to drive 2500 km highway to Cairns and back (total 5000 km, probably 6 days of driving with bored/impatient kids in the back seats).

Yet i wouldn't want to rent a car locally, would rather drive my pride & joy there.

Then here's the question: what about getting the car shipped interstate by one of the companies that do this (e.g. when you buy the car from another state and want it delivered to your place)?
Would that make sense, any reason not to do that?
What about shipping your gear inside? Idea being you fly to your destination (low-cost tickets since you wouldn't have much baggage to carry).

As a matter of fact, i just got a quote from one of these companies for 1380$ (for Sydney-Cairns, depot to depot), pr 1436$ with gear (but limited to 80kg of gear on that particular company).

Surely i am not the first one with this idea, but haven't found a post on the forum around this.

cheers
Nicolas
 
Albynsw

Albynsw

Well-Known Member
I have looked into it before but It is often a bit of a drama as they have height restrictions and most want the vehicle empty.
If it is a drama stick the wife and kids on a plane and enjoy the drive on your own to an airport near your destination
 
Hoyks

Hoyks

Well-Known Member
Some guys I knew privately contracted a truck to deliver their 2 vehicles to Cairns so they could do the trip. They were cashed up, but time poor,

It took some chasing around though as most vehicle transporters won't touch a fully loaded vehicle as its too much drama if something is missing at the other end and more than a few have turned up after being ransacked on the truck or in the depot.

Qld Rail used to have the option to take your car on the The Spirit of Queensland, I don't know if they still do.

The other option is for you to take 3 days to drive it there and back, punching out around1000km/day, and pick them up from the airport at the end.
 
D

dabbler

Active Member
If you're time poor you might ship a vehicle but personally I would much rather drive.

The distances really aren't they high if you preplan a bit and don't try really long legs. There's so much to see on the way.
 
callmejoe

callmejoe

Well-Known Member
Most companies work on a predetermined size which is used to make a quote. Something along the lines of minimum ground clearance 8cm, max height of 2.1m, and max width 2.2, a empty vehicle. You'll find this mainly covers all standard vehicles.
Once you move out of these boundaries prices can change dramatically.

Most companies prefer empty vehicles for a few reason. 1. Insurance ( the main contributing factor, and this is set by the insurances companies NOT the tranport company, give someone a inch and some will make it a mile) 2. Work safe / OH&S requirements. ( the loader must be able to see what hes doing, and be able to get in and out the vehicles easily. We have had vehicles "loaded ready for pick up " were the drivers seat is pushed so forward even a 4ft vertically challange midget wouldn't get behind the wheel. )

Some companies do allowing, or "overlook" items in a vehicle, some for a fee, some just to get the work. But still comes with restrictions. E.g.. No "lose items", so in other words all in boxes, (yeah right). No higher then the door and room to allow the seat to go back. BUT none of them will take ANY responsibility for loss etc.. And why would they, they don't know what's actually been packed in the 1st place. PS if transporting into WA all vehicles SHOULD be empty to comply with WA's quarantine laws, again not set by the transport companies.

In the end you'll get what you pay for, cheap and nasty, I bet there got no of inadequate insurance. Average price, yet cheaper then a dedicated vehicle transport company, I'll bet its forklifted on regardless of what they tell you. (Also there insurances policy aren't really designed for vehicle insurance, you may get left short handed if it does go pear shape).

1 thing not mention yet is are you also calculating the time frame to transport your vehicle. The Avg is 2weeks, on the main traingle and more time may be need on less populated routes. Eg Cairns. So you need to allow for this if you expect to see it at the other pick up at the right time. I have heard of some horror stories of over 2mths, with smaller companies as they wait (collect) a whole load before they go. And this could destroy your holiday if your all paid up, arrived in Cairns and yet no vehicle.. Moral of the story here is allow as much time as you can, and can you do without your Vehicle to allow this to work. Me I'd allow a Mth but that's me. I just love those wallys that drop there car in Darwin on a Friday, right on closing time then think there vehicle will be loaded straight away then high tailed out to be in Perth for them Monday morning. Interesting people those 1'S..


So in the end, a vehicle transporters are designed for empty vehicle transport. If you find a car carrying company that will transport it, how much can you trust them (Insurance etc). Then a normal general freight company, knowing it'll be forklift on and off, and could still cost you a pretty penny.

In the end, a loaded up 4wd is most likely easier to be driven by you or get a friend to drive it to remote destination. It may seem more expensive but in the long run work probably be your best option.

Hope that helps.

Joe
 
N

Nicool

New Member
Thanks all and especially callmejoe for the very informative replies
This forum is great
Indeed i’d loooove to spend the time enjoying the drive frop Sydney to Cairns, but i am just time poor and struggle to take more than a week of leave, hence the ask.

Rental seems best for me at this stage. Cheers
Nicolas

callmejoe said:
Most companies work on a predetermined size which is used to make a quote. Something along the lines of minimum ground clearance 8cm, max height of 2.1m, and max width 2.2, a empty vehicle. You'll find this mainly covers all standard vehicles.
Once you move out of these boundaries prices can change dramatically.

Most companies prefer empty vehicles for a few reason. 1. Insurance ( the main contributing factor, and this is set by the insurances companies NOT the tranport company, give someone a inch and some will make it a mile) 2. Work safe / OH&S requirements. ( the loader must be able to see what hes doing, and be able to get in and out the vehicles easily. We have had vehicles "loaded ready for pick up " were the drivers seat is pushed so forward even a 4ft vertically challange midget wouldn't get behind the wheel. )

Some companies do allowing, or "overlook" items in a vehicle, some for a fee, some just to get the work. But still comes with restrictions. E.g.. No "lose items", so in other words all in boxes, (yeah right). No higher then the door and room to allow the seat to go back. BUT none of them will take ANY responsibility for loss etc.. And why would they, they don't know what's actually been packed in the 1st place. PS if transporting into WA all vehicles SHOULD be empty to comply with WA's quarantine laws, again not set by the transport companies.

In the end you'll get what you pay for, cheap and nasty, I bet there got no of inadequate insurance. Average price, yet cheaper then a dedicated vehicle transport company, I'll bet its forklifted on regardless of what they tell you. (Also there insurances policy aren't really designed for vehicle insurance, you may get left short handed if it does go pear shape).

1 thing not mention yet is are you also calculating the time frame to transport your vehicle. The Avg is 2weeks, on the main traingle and more time may be need on less populated routes. Eg Cairns. So you need to allow for this if you expect to see it at the other pick up at the right time. I have heard of some horror stories of over 2mths, with smaller companies as they wait (collect) a whole load before they go. And this could destroy your holiday if your all paid up, arrived in Cairns and yet no vehicle.. Moral of the story here is allow as much time as you can, and can you do without your Vehicle to allow this to work. Me I'd allow a Mth but that's me. I just love those wallys that drop there car in Darwin on a Friday, right on closing time then think there vehicle will be loaded straight away then high tailed out to be in Perth for them Monday morning. Interesting people those 1'S..


So in the end, a vehicle transporters are designed for empty vehicle transport. If you find a car carrying company that will transport it, how much can you trust them (Insurance etc). Then a normal general freight company, knowing it'll be forklift on and off, and could still cost you a pretty penny.

In the end, a loaded up 4wd is most likely easier to be driven by you or get a friend to drive it to remote destination. It may seem more expensive but in the long run work probably be your best option.

Hope that helps.

Joe
Click to expand...
 
Chatty

Chatty

Well-Known Member
Be careful who you pick for shipping vehicles. The cheap quotes are invariably through brokers who won't guarantee shipping times and who simply wait for a truckie to have some spare space and going your diection before the car gets loaded.
I have seen horror stories of vehicles taking 8 weeks or longer to get shipped. There are also lots of horror stories about damage being caused but not compensated for.

The companies that do guarantee shipping dates and adequate insurance coverage are generally 2 to 3 times the price of the cheap quotes.
 
RainbowStalin

RainbowStalin

New Member
Saw this thread and it reminded me about the issue I had at the very same time. A year ago, I mean. I had to ship one very rare retro mobile. Pontiac GTO, if more specifically. I was searching for the shipment option and didn't find any for a very long time. Because there were a lot of proposals, but when I asked if they can guarantee that my extremely expensive retro mobile won't have a scratch on it in the process of the shipment, they told me a lot of bullshit without actual information. Then one of my friends told me that he knows a shipment company which can provide exotic car shipping. Yes, I spent a lot of money on it, but it was worth it, because a car was shipped without any scratch. And within the timeframe. Cheap doesn't always mean good.
 
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hiluxdriver

hiluxdriver

Well-Known Member
If you can't take more than a week of leave you can't do the cape.
If you can't handle the kids in the car for the drive up north another option is you drive the car, 3 days later fly the kids up.
 
Batts88

Batts88

Well-Known Member
The only problem I see is the quote you got is they put the $ at the wrong end be wary.
 
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Skurfer

Skurfer

Active Member
I asked a mate about this who owns a few trucks about where he gets his loads when he doesn't have any contract work on or needs a backload. He is on https://www.loadshift.com.au/ and said most private operators are on there. You just punch in what you want shifted and guys will quote you.

He also said to check with guys if they have a certificate of insurance and to sight that and check it covers insurance for the load and not just the truck and trailer. Many cheaper quotes aren't insuring the load.
 
Hardpack

Hardpack

New Member
Some shippers won't allow any gear and the ones that do will have some kind of limit like you mentioned. There are a handful of shippers that offer moving services too so they can just as easily ship stuff separately from the vehicle if not everything fits. I've used A-1 Auto Trans in the past and had no complaints with them. They're based out of the U.S. but operate worldwide and were the cheapest I could find at the time. And they do ship non vehicles as well so that might be one place to look.
 
Hardpack

Hardpack

New Member
Sorry, didn't realize this was an older post. I'll leave it up in case anyone else is considering something similar.
 
joshinthecity

joshinthecity

Active Member
There's GOT to be a business opportunity for someone to specialise in "Overlander's" vehicle transport.
Given the popularity (and only growing unfortunately) of people wanting to get "out there" and back. There's a lot of people with more money than time...
 
FranksnBeans

FranksnBeans

Active Member
joshinthecity said:
There's GOT to be a business opportunity for someone to specialise in "Overlander's" vehicle transport.
Given the popularity (and only growing unfortunately) of people wanting to get "out there" and back. There's a lot of people with more money than time...
Click to expand...
Yeah you'd think so. There used to be a few from memory but they required you to remove all personal objects from the vehicle before transit, which is a bit difficult when your 4wd is setup for touring.

I imagine plenty of time-poor families who only have a few weeks off each year would love to ship their tourer to say, Cairns and then fly up, grab their 4wd and do Cape York, etc.
 
joshinthecity

joshinthecity

Active Member
If there were a specialist, set-up to do this in the way the market requires. (secure, insured, enclosed trailer, ramp loaded, vehicle packed to GVM etc..etc..)
I'd be a potential starter myself.
Fly to Perth (from Sydney) Pick up vehicle and drive home over say, 4 weeks on some of the best / remotest routes in the world.
I'd use it.
 
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