Customers frequently inquire about having the option to select a specific pick-up date for their vehicle shipment.  The short answer is “sort of.” You’ll understand that answer by the time you finish reading this article!

You’ll notice when you get an instant quote on our website, we provide a pickup forecast. This is an estimate of when we will get your vehicle picked up. We don’t provide a specific pick-up date because it’s impossible for us to meet specific pick-up dates in most cases.

What we need to know is the earliest time your car may be picked up. After that, we give a range of days starting with the earliest pick-up date that we anticipate having a driver at your pick-up location. This estimate is known as a forecast.

Why don't we give a definite date instead of only an expected, or forecasted, range of days?

You may assume that as a carrier with our own fleet of trucks, we could tell our drivers where to go and when to get there, but we are unable to do so. While we undoubtedly have more control over our drivers than do those who work for other carriers, we still need to plan them so they may complete their routes as quickly as possible.

If we get an auto transport order that is on a driver’s route, we are going to schedule the pick up of your vehicle so it falls in line with other vehicles that are being picked up and delivered along the route. You may want your vehicle picked up on a Tuesday, but the schedule we have the driver on may not put him at your pick-up location until Friday.

There are other factors we need to take into account when we have to serve as a broker on a transport order. To consider these factors, we need time. These particular factors are:

1. Does a carrier even have a driver on your route during your time frame?

2. If yes, when will the carrier’s driver be available to pick up your vehicle?

3. Does the carrier pass our stringent standards?

Let's examine each variable in greater detail...

Finding a carrier with a driver on your route within your period is the first thing a broker must do. We could need a day or two to locate a carrier that even has a driver on your route if you need your car picked up tomorrow.

Once we locate a carrier with a driver on your route, we need to learn more about their schedule. The work schedules of the drivers for other carriers are not within our control. For instance, a carrier's driver could be on your route but not arrive at the pick-up site for another four days.

Finally, we may find a carrier’s driver that is on your route that can pick up your vehicle in a couple of days, but they might not pass our stringent standards when we vet them. They may not have enough insurance coverage for your vehicle. They might have recent complaints or an overall carrier rating that concerns us. In short, we might have to reject the carrier and start the process all over!

All of this takes additional time when we’re a broker because so many variables are out of our control.

The good news is since we’ve been in business for over 20 years, we have a lot of experience doing what we do, and we have a vast network of carriers we can rely on so we can get transports done quicker than most brokers. However, we still need time and we can’t promise specific pick-up dates.

I stated at the outset of this essay that you may "sort of" select a certain pick-up date. As I've stated in this post, it's usually hard to have a driver at your pick-up location on the day that works best for you. Nevertheless, that's our objective. I mentioned "in most cases," but there are times when everything just so happens to work out and we can have a driver at your pick-up location on a specified day.

When you place an auto transport order, however, you should never assume that you’ll be able to choose a specific pick-up date. The best we can promise is that we’ll have a driver at your pick-up location within a certain number of days from your earliest available pickup date.

The good news is that is usually within a week. Some challenging routes may take a little longer but even on those routes, we can usually have a driver at the pickup location within 7-10 days. We always review our pick-up forecast with you when we begin to work on your order so you know what to expect and so there are no surprises!

We advise you to create a backup plan if you are in a circumstance where you require a driver to pick up your car on a specified day since you won't be at the pick-up site after that date. You could, for instance, have a friend, relative, or neighbor who can assist you with transportation and meet a driver when the time for pickup comes. A trustworthy alternative is to leave your car with a nearby repair or dealership. As long as they are 18 or older, anybody may show up at the pick-up spot to meet a driver.

We understand there are rare situations where you absolutely must have a driver at the pickup location on a specific date because you don’t have a backup. It never hurts to contact us to see if by chance we can accommodate you, but in most cases, we won’t be available to. The only thing we promise is that we’ll have a driver at your pick-up location within the forecast we give you when you book your order with us – which is usually within a week!