The distance of your transport route.
It won’t surprise you that longer car shipments cost more. After all, your Chicago car shipping hauler has to be fairly compensated for their hourly workload while factoring in food, gas, and other on-road necessities.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll pay the same per-mile rate for every shipment. Drivers often ask more or less for the same route based on supply and demand, increasing or cutting your per-mile expenditure accordingly. To get the most accurate data on your Chicago car transport route, head over to our auto shipping cost calculator for a free assessment.
The size and specs of your vehicle.
Your car's make and model go a long way in determining the price of your Chicago auto transportation order. The larger your car is, the more space it takes up in an open or enclosed hauler. The fewer vehicles your driver is able to ship at a time, the higher the cost of Chicago car transport might be.
The weight of your vehicle also affects Chicago auto shipping costs. All car haulers have strict maximums for the weight they can haul at a given time. If your car is much heavier than average, it may cost you more out the door for Chicago, IL car shipping services.
Please note that vehicles not in operating condition require special tools for safe loading and unloading. To save money on Chicago vehicle transport, be sure that your car is driveable before your trucker arrives for pickup.
Driver availability and demand.
The demand for Chicago auto shipping companies shifts as the seasons change. It may also be as simple as a few sunny days in a row. That’s why we’ve engineered our vehicle transport cost calculator to assess both demand for Chicago car transport service and driver availability on your chosen route. You’ll receive up-to-the-moment price info with the ability to save the quote you’ve received for up to seven days.
Learning the best time to ship a car is your best bet for finding cheaper Chicago auto transport.
Weather conditions and time of year.
Inclement weather is tough for all drivers, even experienced Chicago car haulers. If you’re trying to get out of the Windy City when the snow has already hit, you may pay a fair amount more for vehicle transport services. Asking prices go up when jobs get trickier, and often there’s a lot of demand from clients looking to escape the harsh Chicago winters for warmer locales out West and down South.
In addition, you may pay a premium for Chicago car transportation services as driver availability dips during the holidays. To save some money on vehicle shipping, try to push your pickup window a few weeks before Thanksgiving or a couple of weeks after Christmas. Also, try to avoid other holidays like the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
If you need to ship a car on a holiday or during a cold spell in Chicago, we'll do our best to find cost-effective Chicago auto shipping services that suit your budget. Call us at (224) 218-2949, and we'll gladly assist.