Understandings Risks Involved With International Shipping Of Cars

You may have researched a lot about the process of international shipping of vehicles but do you understand all of the risks that are involved? There are a few things that you should keep in mind at all times. The first thing is to double-check the company’s policy on the storage of your personal belongings inside of your car. While it makes perfect sense to make use of that area for storage and overseas shipment of some of your personal stuff, you have to be careful. First check to see if the particular international shipping company you are using allows such things. They may not allow you to keep anything in the car while it is in shipment due to their insurance policies. Schumacher cargo’s shipping agents along with other reputable companies will go over the with you.

What were to happen if the ship went under or a fire occurred? While you may not be storing anything that could start a fire, how do you know what other people would have in their cars? In order to prevent anything explosive from being stored in the car, many companies simply decide to not allow such shipping techniques. And speaking of explosions, it is important to understand the particular gas tank policy of the international shipping company you are going with. Many of them request that you have about a quarter of a tank full. This is enough gas to allow them to move the vehicle as needed without being too much gas to help fuel a fire if one were to happen.

Get the Insurance
Watch out for the fine print, especially if you find a company that will allow you to store your personal stuff inside your car during shipment. Does their insurance policy cover the items inside the car or just the car itself if something were to happen? Most of the time, when companies allow such storage, they are unable to provide insurance to cover the items you have inside the vehicle. There are many reasons for this but the main one is that it would be hard for you to prove what you did and did not have in the car.

Make sure that you are also able to obtain your own shipment insurance. Some companies require that you pay extra money for their shipment insurance but if your auto policy already has such coverage for you then there is no need for that. If the international shipping company will not allow that fee to be waived then it is time to look for another shipping company.

Things to Remember
You should make sure that you are booking your shipment at least one month in advance of the date you want it to ship off. You will also need to be aware that it could take anywhere from one to three weeks for your vehicle to arrive to its final destination. This means that you will either want this schedule to work perfectly for when you plan on arriving yourself or that you will need to rent a car for a little bit. Either way, just make sure that you are planning ahead, reading all of the fine print, and making sure that you are legally covered from all angles.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact a Schumacher Cargo Logistics shipping agent today.