Need to ship a nice car halfway across the country. Wish I could go pick it up, but that's not feasible. I've been researching auto shippers on-line and it is a quagmire of shady operators. I'd love to deal directly with a carrier rather than a broker, if at all possible. Anybody have any solid recommendations for covered transport? I made the mistake of requesting an on-line quote from one company and clearly they sold the lead and I've been cold called and texted incessantly for the past few hours. Had to put my phone on vibrate....

RELIABLE

Thanks Jim. I requested a quote.

I used InterCity twice. Flawless both times. Not cheap but it's one "company". Company-owned trucks, company paid drivers who are employees, etc. The proverbial "one throat to choke" should anything unexpected happen.

Thanks Chris. Got a quote. Not cheap, but not too far off other quotes. A recommendation from somebody who has used them before also carries weight. Thanks!

From where to where? I know a great owner operator but he runs specific routes...

Rolled the dice with UShip twice. One ok, damaged the second time.

No way will I use uship. They were sending dozens of emails an hour for one quote. Had to block them to stop. By the time you are done, they charge almost as much as a reputable company. We’ve had a couple customers ship cars to us and when they arrive damaged, the driver unloads and drives away. They could care less. They’ve all been core rollers for projects but still, why pay money for a gamble.

Be sure to clarify the insurance part. A member here lost a 356 to fire on a transport. The transporters insurance did not cover the loss.

I've used Plycar twice with great results. Priced out less than Intercity or Reliable.

Last December, I used Airryd to move two cars from NJ to NM. The 914 went in an enclosed trailer while my daily driver went in an open trailer to save a few bucks. Drivers showed up on time and took good care of them. Maybe I got lucky, but I had no problems.
https://airryd.com/

try uship.com

That certainly seems to be a commonly reported experience with them. I always take on-line reviews with a grain of salt, but that was a consistent complaint across the industry, as well as with that shipper. I was getting phone calls at 5am this morning Unfortunately I can't turn my phone off since I have to be on call for work. If I was shipping my 18 year old commute vehicle I wouldn't have too much concern if it got a few new scratches, or even a ding or two. Not willing to take that risk here....

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Please keep them coming. It likely will be between Intercity, Reliable, and Plycar, but no final decisions have been made. I'll share my experience once the car gets here just in case it is illustrative for anyone else.

FedEx. Covered carrier. Not cheap. BTDT.

I've used Montway successfully. Seem to be relatively low priced, and I got a 914 delivered from New Mexico to Georgia in less than a week. I went non-covered and the car was drenched, but it needed a lot of work anyway, so I wasn't concerned. I would use them again.

That said, I THINK they use of pool of subcontractors. Often, I assume, your delivery time and cost will be partially affected by how full the truck is already and where that almost full truck is in relation to you and where it is headed. Good luck.

My only car shipping experience was with Plycar. I was very happy with their service and would definitely use them again.

U-Ship is the wild west of car shipping, do it with extreme caution.

I've never used them but here are two stories of cars that were picked up at my place via U-Ship.
The first one the guy saved $100 over my carrier, the "driver" showed up in a converted motor home full of furniture, he unloaded, load the car, and then piled all the furniture on top of the car.
Second one was the driver shipped ATV's, so he loaded the Porsche but said it would have to go on and off about 6-7 times to load an unload ATV's.
Don't do U-Ship, not if you care about the car.

What a sad way to have to make a buck.

I used Reliable about 15 years ago and Passport in December last year. Covered transport. No problems.