Cheapest/best way to ship a vehicle?

[Kraig]

I need to find the cheapest/best way to ship a vehicle from Washington state to the Eastern shore of Maryland. I can have a LWB 1969 F100 Ranger pickup for free if I pay the shipping! Truck has factory big block, C6, PS, factory bucket seats (rare), behind seat storage (rare), fairly straight and rust free!!

Appreciate any helpful, serious input!

Thanks,
Kraig

[shadetree]

Grab a good friend and go for a long ride . I love road trips .

[71Montego]

There are alot of reputable car carrier services. Google it.
It take a while 2-3 weeks or so. In order to keep the price down they pick up more or combine their pick ups in a area.
They are usually enclosed and safe. If you figure gas and tolls and your time they work out better. Also, don't drive it. If you brake down your screwed plus it would not be registered I bet. If you geet stopped.....They usually run $800 plus.

Good luck.

[Kraig]

It's registered etc. but by the time I bought a plane ticket, gas, lodging etc. I think it would be cheaper and less stressful to ship it!!

[crazyrog17]

I've heard of uship.com

They're like an ebay of shipping things. People bid on the jobs and transport stuff for you. Keeps the prices competitive.

[Nerd Racing]

multiple boxes

[Rocketman]

I've heard of uship.com

They're like an ebay of shipping things. People bid on the jobs and transport stuff for you. Keeps the prices competitive.

U-Ship is awesome. My buddy and I did a massive road trip this summer (5,000+ miles) From Chicago to Vegas and back, got to the the Rockies, grand canyon, etc. We picked up hauling jobs on U-ship ahead of time so we didn't have to pay out of pocket for much. Fuel was all paid for!

[georgeb]

Advertise on Craigslist for someone going east.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I checked out WA-to-East Coast shipping (of a Festiva) last spring. For a MINIMUM of $900, you'll get outside shipping. You'll wait up to several weeks while they coordinate their pickups, since the actual truck that does the pickup will stop by your place, then the next, etc., then head immediately to I-90. You can't live on a dead-end road, unless you agree on a big rig-accessible place/time to meet them. They don't send out a small truck to get your vehicle and then re-group at some warehouse.

All of the advertisers seemed to just be agents for independent truckers.

They want some money by c/c prior to pickup, most of it at the destination.

If you're not at the originating location (it looks like you're in MD), the logistics could be difficult.

Re transcontinental airfares, check out AlaskaAir.com. If you're flexible on travel dates, even one-way fares can be quite low. I fly them a lot, including Lower 48 coast-to-coast, and frequently pay a tad under $200 including taxes for 5-6 hour flights. Somewhat near you, they serve one or both DC airports and Newark. They often drop fares about two weeks before flight date if they think they're not going to fill the airplane, then raise them (sometimes tripling) a week before to gouge the last-minute "gotta go now" types. You can also buy frequent flyer miles on their site for about 2.0-2.5 cents/mile, then immediately cash them in, undercutting the published airfares by using as little as $12,500 miles (equating to as little as $250 one-way).

I should mention that I didn't actually end up using a hauling service -- I drove myself not long ago, with a full set of tools on board, after repairing some shoddy work I'd had done under a barter arrangement with a stranger I found on THIS site.

If you even think about having a stranger drive your vehicle, make sure you talk to your insurance company about what you're contemplating and are awash in liability insurance in case the party runs over Grandma out on the Interstate.

Finally, if the truck's that good of a deal, you might fly out and back yourself on the cheap for a few days, and check it out yourself for drivability, then go back in the spring and drive it back yourself. The WA/OR/ID/MT/WY/CO mountain passes can be pretty nasty in winter, the daylight is short (bottoms out at 7hr58min in Seattle), and you need to carry chains.

[boydg1]

Finally, if the truck's that good of a deal, you might fly out and back yourself on the cheap for a few days, and check it out yourself for drivability, then go back in the spring and drive it back yourself. The WA/OR/ID/MT/WY/CO mountain passes can be pretty nasty in winter, the daylight is short (bottoms out at 7hr58min in Seattle), and you need to carry chains.

.
.... Sounds like you have been there before. :eeeeeek:
.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

More than a few times! It's much better to be in your easy chair at home wishing you'd made the trip than vice versa.

In Anchorage, the day gets down to about 5 hours. You turn your headlights on in November and leave them on until March.