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East Coast
Freight off the east coast is taking
longer than usual to move this month. This is causing
a couple of issues for our customers. One, the rates
are significantly higher than they were earlier this
year. Auto shipping is like any other business –
it is governed by supply and demand. Simply put, there
are more vehicles needing to be shipped off the east
coast than there are transporters. This leads to the
second issue, it is taking longer than normal to move
these vehicles. It is not uncommon for it to take 3
weeks just to load! Please plan your move in advance
and be flexible about meeting the driver. This will
make it easier to accommodate your schedule. We estimate
this situation to last through the end of the year,
at least.
Fuel Prices
We’ve all seen fuel prices steadily
and dramatically increase over the past few months.
While it can be frustrating to your family budget, this
increase can literally put some auto shippers out of
business. Any industry that faces an increase in operating
costs is faced with few choices. The most immediate
and painful one is to increase the price they charge
for their services – in this case the cost to
ship your car.
The average auto transporter gets only
about 5 miles per gallon. At an average of only $2.50
per gallon (in many areas the drivers are paying $3.00
per gallon) it costs $25 per hour just to keep the engine
running at 60 miles per hour. According to recent news
stories fuel prices are up 40% in the last 12 months.
Fuel cost is easily the largest expense in maintaining
and running a car shipping company. A coast-to-coast
auto transporter will put 6,000 miles on his truck for
the round trip. That translates to around 1,200 gallons
of fuel – or about what the average consumer would
use in a year! Imagine how this fuel situation will
impact your pocketbook over the next year and understand
the auto shipper will feel that pain over 14-17 days!
A .50 increase in fuel cost adds approximately $1,000
each month in additional operating costs for each car
transporter you see on the road!
This increase in fuel price has forced
the auto transport industry to increase our rates. This
is an action National Car Shipping takes very seriously.
We pride ourselves on giving our customers the best
value for their dollar. However, it simply isn’t
fair to the drivers to ask them to shoulder the entire
burden of rising costs alone. Our rates have increased
by $50-100 across the board to enable our quality drivers
to continue shipping cars for our customers. If and,
hopefully, when the price of fuel falls the rates will
as well. We appreciate your understanding and are always
here to answer any questions you may have about shipping
your vehicle.
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