How to time a car shipment with a household move
Ship the car on its own calendar. The movers, the closing, the flight, and the car carrier are four schedules. The car's first available date is the first day it may leave, not the morning you fly. Household-goods estimate rules do not automatically cap the car bill. An optional movers request is a second, separate lead.
Key facts
- Two contracts
- The household mover and the auto carrier are different companies unless one contract clearly covers both.
- Source: 49 CFR 375.103
- Do not use the first day as your flight
- A first available date opens a window. Plan the flight from the last day of that window plus days on the road.
- The 110 percent figure
- It is a household-goods delivery rule. Do not assume it applies to the car unless the car is on that household bill.
- Source: 49 CFR 371.115
- Optional movers request
- A separate lead from the car request, only if you check the box. It does not book the van.
The sources are listed on this page.
Ship the car as its own job with its own clock. The household movers, the house closing or the lease end, your flight, and the car carrier do not share one schedule unless you build one. The car's first available date is the first day the car may leave. It is not a promise of a truck that morning, and it is a poor choice for the same morning you hand over the keys to the house.
The service overview is moving a car and a household together. This page is the calendar.
Put the dates in one list
Write these down before you book either company. Use real dates from your closing, your lease, and your tickets.
| Event | The date you actually have | What fails if you ignore the window |
|---|---|---|
| Movers load the house | Their contracted days | A car blocked in the driveway, or a house you cannot lock |
| House closing or key return | The appointment | You may not be allowed to store a car there after that hour |
| Flight or drive for people | The ticket | You cannot meet a truck after you have left |
| Car, first available | The first day it may leave | A truck before this day is too early |
| Car, last day of the pickup window | Count the days in the auto contract | A later truck is outside the order |
| Car, planning days after pickup | Use the highway model, then add slack | The car arrives after you needed it |
| First day you need the car at the new home | Job, school, or apartment rule | This is the date the other rows must beat |
What a first available date means is the definition of that row. How long car shipping takes is the planning model for days after pickup. It is a floor under federal driving limits in 49 CFR 395.3, not an average of deliveries. Do not put the flight on the minimum day.
A practical order many moves can survive: the car's window ends, with slack, before the day you must have the car at the destination. The people leave when both the house and the car have a signed plan, not when a broker says "it should be fine." If you must be at the origin to release the car, the pickup window has to fall while you are still there, or you name an adult who will be. Who must be present is that handoff.
The mover's rules are not the car carrier's rules
49 CFR 375.103 defines household goods as personal effects or property used, or to be used, in a dwelling, when part of the equipment or supplies of the dwelling. The move must be arranged and paid for by the individual shipper, or by another individual on behalf of the shipper. Household-goods brokers have extra duties. 49 CFR 371.115 says a household-goods broker may give an estimate only under a written agreement with the carrier. That agreement has to state that the broker's estimate will serve as the carrier's estimate for part 375, including the part 375 rule that the carrier relinquishes the shipment when the shipper pays no more than 110 percent of a non-binding estimate at delivery.
Use that 110 percent figure only for a shipment that is actually household goods under those rules. A car on an auto-transport bill is a separate contract. Do not argue a car-hauler down to 110 percent of a broker's quote unless the paperwork says the car is on the household-goods bill. Read the heading on each contract. If both companies are involved, you have two cancellation clauses, two cargo limits, and two phone numbers.
Do not pack the household into the car to avoid the mover. What may stay in the car is the auto contract's personal-items clause, and this site does not invent a weight. See what you may leave in a shipped car.
Closing day is a bad surprise date
If the house keys transfer at noon, a car carrier who arrives at 3 p.m. may find a driveway you no longer control. Tell both the mover and the auto company the closing time when you book. Ask the auto company what happens if the window includes a day you will not have access. Get the answer on the order.
The same problem runs in reverse at the destination. An apartment that will not let you park until the lease starts is not a delivery address for the day before. Give the carrier a meeting point that exists on the delivery date. Door-to-door still means the closest place that truck can legally reach, not a freight elevator. See what door-to-door car shipping means.
The optional movers request
On RideShipper's quote step, an optional box asks whether you also need movers for household goods. It starts unchecked. Leave it unchecked if you do not. If you check it, you add a home size, and a second, separate request goes out. That request is MoveAdvisor's. World Media Group LLC owns RideShipper and MoveAdvisor. The relationship is stated on ownership.
The movers request does not book a van, does not take a deposit for RideShipper, and does not fold the car into the mover's bill. The car request and the movers request are separate. You can opt out of contact by asking not to be contacted or by contacting RideShipper.
The planner that lines up the dates is the car plus household move planner. Use it to see the two timelines on one page. It does not replace either contract.
After the car arrives
Registering and insuring the car in the new state is not part of the bill of lading. Start with registering a car after you move and the state motor vehicle agency. Do not copy a deadline from a forum. The state page is the one that can charge a penalty.
Keep the auto bill of lading and the mover's inventory in different folders. A scratch on the car is a claim to the auto carrier. A broken table is a claim to the mover. Mixing the phone calls is how both claims stall.
RideShipper does not schedule the mover, the flight, or the closing. It can show a range for the car. If you ask for quotes, licensed auto transport companies that serve the route contact you. The movers request goes out only if you check that box.
An example week, which is not an average
This is one invented calendar so the rows above have a shape. It is not a claim about how long moves take.
- Monday: house keys transfer at noon. The car cannot sit in that driveway after noon.
- So the car's last pickup day has to be the Friday before, or you have a different legal place to store it.
- You set the first available date ten days before that Friday, only if the contract's window is short enough to end by Friday. If the window is "within seven days," a first available date of the prior Friday ends the following Friday. Count it on a paper calendar.
- People fly Saturday, after the car is either gone or sitting in a place you still control.
- The destination lease starts the next Thursday. Delivery has to be that Thursday or later, at an address that exists that day, or at a lot you have already paid.
- Days on the road sit between pickup and that Thursday. If the planning floor plus slack does not fit, the car leaves earlier or you accept a storage bill. The floor is in the timing guide. It is not a promise.
Change every date to yours. The point is that closing, flight, and lease are fixed by other people, and the car window is the flexible piece you must pin down in the auto contract.
Where the car sleeps between the two houses
If pickup is days before you leave, you need a car until you leave, or you need another way to the airport. If delivery is days after you arrive, you need a ride at the destination, and the car needs a legal place to be unloaded. A friend, a paid lot, or a building that has already given you the key are the usual answers. "The driver will wait until I land" is not one of them. Drivers are under the hours rule in 49 CFR 395.3. They will not hold a loaded trailer for your flight.
Name the adult at each end before you book the flight. The origin adult releases the car. The destination adult inspects and pays only the contract balance. Give both the dispatch when it exists, not your flight number as a substitute for a carrier name.
Two phone numbers, written on the fridge you are about to load
Write the mover's dispatch number and the auto company's number on the same card, and say which claim goes where. A scratch on the bumper is the auto carrier. A broken mirror inside a wardrobe box is the mover. Calling the wrong one costs days you may not have in a new city. Keep the auto bill of lading in your personal bag, not in a box on the moving truck. You cannot note delivery damage with a form that is still in transit on the other truck.
Questions
Can the moving company just put the car on their truck?
Only if their contract says they are hauling the car, and they are set up to do it. Many moves use a household carrier for boxes and a car carrier for the vehicle. Ask which bill of lading the car will appear on. The rules that follow are the rules for that bill.
Should I ship the car before or after the movers load?
Leave yourself a way to live until both are gone. People often want the car available until the house is empty, then forget that the car's pickup is a window of days, not an hour. Pick the sequence in writing. Do not set both trucks for the morning of closing unless both contracts promise that hour.
Who is MoveAdvisor?
MoveAdvisor is the optional household-movers request on the same quote step. The box starts unchecked. [[setting key="site.legal_entity"]] owns RideShipper and MoveAdvisor. If you check the box, a second lead goes out. It does not dispatch a van.
When do I register the car in the new state?
After it arrives, on that state's timetable. Shipping does not register it. Deadlines and fees are on the state motor vehicle agency's site. This page does not print a number of days.