[DeTomaso] Shipping exotic from New Jersey to California, looking for pr

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

I have shot several commercials and music videos using cars loaned out of
the GM heritage collection,  every single time they have trusted
irreplaceable cars to Reliable, super professional drivers who treat your
car and their own rigs like gold.  Michael Shortt

On Feb 24, 2010 3:38 PM, <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:

Bjorn,

Your first stop should be here:

http://www.movecars.com/

This is a listing of most of the auto transport companies in the USA, both
stand-alone companies and auto shipping brokerage firms.

Note that not all companies are created equally.   There are very
well-established, major companies that deal directly with the public, and
then there
are fly-by-night outfits that get their business from brokers.   I have had
experience with both types, and although there was a small price difference,
my experience indicates that you get what you pay for.

When I shipped my Pantera from Oklahoma to Vermont in 1990, I went through
a broker.   An open transport truck showed up, loaded with ordinary cars,
and mine was squeezed onto the back.

It was taken to Connecticut (which is not Vermont, you'll note), and then
dumped there, where it sat for a MONTH, waiting for a truck to be going up
towards Vermont so it would be convenient for the shipper to deliver it.

Eventually, they gave up and decided to bring the car up on its own.   They
rolled the window down in order to steer the car onto the trailer, but then
they couldn't figure out how to roll the window back up again, so they just
left it down for the tow.

It poured with rain, and when the car arrived it was totally soaked inside.
 Fortunately the water all drained out through the 7,434 rust holes in the
floorpan. :>)

When it came time to get the car back, Gary Hall had arranged with a
fly-by-night outfit to ship three cars to Pocono, but only had two cars
coming
back, so I was afforded the last spot on the trailer.   Or so I was told.

Bobby Byars (who was working for Gary Hall at the time) drove to Vermont
and picked up my car with   Hall's pickup and single car trailer (which he
had
used to tow the Burgundy Express to Pocono for Gary to drive), and brought
it back to Pocono, where it was then loaded on the commercial trailer.

The driver of the truck took it to his home in Wisconsin, where he dumped
it into a field behind his house and let it sit for a month, while he chased
other business on the eastern seaboard.   Eventually he got some other cars
that needed to come west, so he picked up my Pantera and brought it out to
me.

When it arrived, it was absolutely filthy.   He had chained the car to his
truck, and compressed the suspension so much that the front tire fouled the
fenderwell, slicing the sidewall of the brand new tire open.   The driver
said that the damage was the car's fault and not his, and he refused to
accept
responsibility, and dumped the car and took off.

So, that's how the fly-by-night outfits work.

NOW, since then, I have used Passport auto transport (which was
subsequently purchased by Fed Ex, and is now called Fed Ex Passport).   I
have used
their services three times.   In all three cases, an exquisitely appointed
18-wheeler enclosed rig appeared in front of my house, driven by a
professional.
 Inside were cars that were arguably as nice as mine or nicer (pre-war
Rolls Royce, Ferrari, hot-rod pickup truck, etc.).   My car was carefully
loaded, secured, and the truck left, and the car was delivered on time (and
in
one case, two days early) at its destination, completely unharmed.

Needless to say, I'll never go through a broker again.

Among the truly reputable firms is

http://www.reliable-carriers.com/

http://passport.fedex.com/

http://www.horselesscarriage.com/

They all have their own trucks, their own drivers, deal directly with the c
ustomers, and are fully accountable.   When you look at the truck park at
Pebble Beach; more than 3/4 of the trucks there will belong to these
carriers,
or ones like them.

That's the only way to go as far as I'm concerned.   You MIGHT get better
service and MIGHT save money going with an unknown outfit.   But you equally
might get the shaft the way I did.   Why take the chance?

Mike
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