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Non running car transport
A car that will not start is still a straightforward job. A car that will not roll, steer or brake is a different job entirely.
The trade does not ask whether the car runs. It asks whether it rolls, whether it steers and whether it brakes. A dead battery or a failed fuel pump still answers yes to all of those, and that car is a winch job — ordinary work for most open carriers.
Answer no to any one of them and it stops being that job. A car that will not roll must be lifted. One that will not steer cannot be lined up on a deck barely wider than it is. One that will not brake cannot be held on the ramp. That is forklift or rollback work at both ends, a far shorter list of carriers willing to take it, and a different price rather than a surcharge.
| Distance | Running | Will not start | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 mi | $760 | $960 | +$200 |
| 900 mi | $1,140 | $1,340 | +$200 |
| 1,400 mi | $1,380 | $1,580 | +$200 |
| 1,900 mi | $1,590 | $1,790 | +$200 |
A flat surcharge, not a percentage: the winch takes the same time on a short run as a long one. This covers a car that rolls, steers and brakes but will not start. A car that fails any of those three is a forklift job, priced case by case, and a much shorter list of carriers can take it.
What rolls, steers and brakes are actually for
The winch cable pulls from the front, so the wheels have to turn and the gearbox has to sit in neutral; anything that stops the car rolling stops the winch. Steering is how the car is kept on the runners with almost nothing to spare either side, and it is done by someone sitting in the car as it comes up. Brakes are what stops it at the top of the ramp and what holds it while it is chained down. Take one away and the crew is no longer loading a car. They are handling freight — skates, a forklift under the tires, or a rollback bed tilted to the ground.
It has to be on the order before dispatch
The condition goes on the request before a carrier accepts the load, not after. A driver who expected to start the car and drive it up the ramp arrives without a winch, without the extra loading time in his schedule and without a deck slot laid out for a car that has to be dragged on. He does not improvise at the curb. He leaves, and the load goes back out for re-dispatch with the true condition attached, into whatever the market is paying that week, and the pickup date you had is gone. None of that is a penalty. The equipment was simply never on the truck.
Keys, neutral and a steering lock that stays off
A car that will not start still needs its keys. The steering column has to be unlocked and stay unlocked, because the car is steered onto the deck and steered off again at the other end, and a locked wheel turns a straightforward winch load into a lift. The selector has to reach neutral and stay there. If the ignition is dead, say so, and say whether the wheel and the gearbox are free without it. A parking brake that has seized on over a winter of standing belongs in the same sentence — worth finding out before the truck is booked, not while it waits outside.
Questions people ask
The engine is fine but the transmission will not come out of park. Is that inoperable?
It fails the rolling test, which is the one that matters. A car that cannot reach neutral cannot be winched, so it has to be lifted or put on skates, and that is priced as a different job rather than as a surcharge. Whether the engine starts is not what anyone is asking. Say the selector will not move, in those words.
Can I just tell the driver when he gets here?
You can, and the usual outcome is that he leaves. The winch, the loading time and the deck plan are all settled when the load is dispatched, and a truck already built around those cannot rebuild itself at the curb. The order goes back out with the correct condition on it and you wait for a truck that carries the equipment.
Does the driver's door need to open?
Yes. Someone sits in the car and steers it while the winch pulls, so the door has to open and the seat has to be usable. A car loaded to the roof with boxes, or one whose door is wired shut, is worth raising before booking. It is the kind of thing nobody thinks to mention, and it gets discovered on the ramp.
It rolls freely but the brakes are gone. Still a winch job?
No. Brakes are one of the conditions, and losing them is the one carriers are least comfortable with, because a free-rolling car on an inclined ramp is held by a cable and nothing else. Expect it handled as a lift and quoted that way, and expect a shorter list of companies willing to quote at all.
Where is the car going?
Two ZIP codes. No account, no obligation.
Other things people ask about
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Door to door car shipping
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Luxury car shipping
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