Got back from a trip to Miami and noticed how they load cars on those huge container ships

I was down in Miami last month visiting family and we ended up walking along the port area. Hadn't really thought about auto shipping much before that but man, watching them load cars onto those giant container ships was something else. They had these drivers zipping around pulling cars from a big lot and lining them up at the dock. The whole operation looked super efficient but I also noticed a couple cars getting scratched up when they squeezed them into the containers. Made me wonder how often that happens and if the companies just eat the cost or what. Now I'm looking into shipping my old truck from Florida to California for a move and I keep thinking about that trip. Has anyone here shipped a vehicle from a port like that and had issues with damage? I'm trying to figure out if container shipping is really worth the extra money over open carrier.

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona1306d ago

The real hidden cost people miss is the time delay if your truck gets bumped to a later sailing because the container space gets filled with higher paying cargo. Those ports work on a first come first booked system and your personal vehicle is low priority compared to commercial shipments. Also the driver they hire on the dock to move your truck onto the ship might not care as much as the guy who loaded the one you watched in Miami.

mila3955d ago

They always book the paying freight first.