How to prepare a car for shipping

Prepare the car in one sequence, a day or more before the pickup window, not in the street while the driver waits. The goal is simple. The driver can see the paint. The car is safe to load. Loose items match the contract. You have your own photos.

The printable companion, with blanks instead of a second article, is the pre-pickup checklist.

Do the steps in this order#

1. Read the carrier's prep sheet and your contract. Note what they say about fuel, alarms, personal items, and whether the car must roll, steer, and brake. If those papers disagree, ask the company you booked, in writing, which one controls.
2. Wash the outside enough to see the paint, glass, and wheels. You are not detailing. You are making damage visible. Clean the spots you will photograph: bumpers, rockers, and each corner.
3. Look for leaks under the car where you can do it safely. Oil, coolant, or fuel on the ground is a fact to report before dispatch. A leak can turn a running car into a refused load. More is in fuel, fluids, and leaks.
4. Set the fuel. For a vehicle hauled by motor vehicle, 49 CFR 173.220(b)(4) allows more than 500 milliliters (17 ounces) of flammable liquid to remain in the tank if the tank is securely closed. The tighter "drain to 500 milliliters" line is the baseline when that exception does not apply. Diesel in a self-propelled vehicle is excepted from the drain requirement if there is room in the tank for expansion and the cap is closed, under 173.220(b)(1). Close the cap. Then follow the carrier's practical instruction so the car can be driven onto the trailer and off again. Do not treat a quarter-tank slogan as the regulation.
5. Leave the battery installed and secure. 49 CFR 173.220(c) says batteries must be securely installed, wet batteries must be fastened upright, and batteries must be protected against a dangerous evolution of heat, short circuits, damage to the terminals, and leakage. Remove a battery only if you package it under the section the rule cites, which is not a driveway project. If an alarm or a telematics unit will chirp for days, ask the carrier before you disconnect anything. That conversation is in battery, alarm, and electronics.
6. Take out loose items the contract does not allow. What may stay is in what you may leave in a shipped car. If the contract is silent, assume valuables, documents, and anything you cannot afford to lose come out. Do not invent a weight limit the carrier did not write.
7. Fold mirrors if the carrier asks. Remove or secure add-ons that stick out: bike racks, suction-cup mounts, and toll tags you still need. A toll tag left in the car can bill you for roads the truck drives. Take it.
8. Photograph the car in a walk around, then put the key where the contract says. The shot list is photos and the condition record.
9. Confirm who will meet the truck. That adult needs the keys and the right to sign. Tell the company their name before dispatch.

Fuel is different if the car boards a ship#

The highway exception above is for transportation by motor vehicle. 49 CFR 173.220 points vessel shipments to a different section, 49 CFR 176.905. This page does not restate that vessel rule. If the car is going to Hawaii, Alaska by ship, or Puerto Rico, follow the ocean carrier's written fuel instructions. A full tank that is legal on a trailer can be refused at a port. Those trips are not a longer version of a driveway pickup.

What "runs" must mean before the driver arrives#

A car that starts, steers, brakes, and rolls can be driven onto a trailer. If any of those fail, say so before dispatch. A dead battery, a car stuck in park, or brakes you would not trust on a ramp are facts the carrier uses to choose a winch truck. Surprising the driver is how a pickup becomes a new price. Describe the fault in writing. Do not let a stand-in discover it.

An electric car can be "on" in ways a gasoline car is not. If the maker publishes a transport mode or a charge level for shipping, follow that page for your model. This guide will not invent a state-of-charge percent. Ask the carrier what they require, and keep their answer with the contract.

The inspection is the point of the prep#

You wash and clear the car so the condition notes are accurate. For an interstate move covered by 49 USC 14706, the carrier issues a receipt or bill of lading, and liability for loss or damage runs with that receipt, subject to any written limit in the contract. Marks you did not write down are harder to argue later. Prep is how you walk into that signature with the car looking like itself.

RideShipper does not prepare the car and does not send anyone to the curb. The checklist tool prints a list around your pickup date. It does not replace the carrier's instructions when those instructions are stricter than the steps above.

The day before, in the order you will forget otherwise#

Do the wash and the photos in daylight. A night-before flashlight pass misses glass chips. Then:

• Charge or replace a weak 12-volt battery if the car must start to drive onto the trailer. A car that only clicks is an inoperable car for that morning, even if it ran last week. Tell the carrier if you are not sure.
• Remove the toll tag and any garage remote you will need at the destination. A tag left in the windshield can bill your account for roads the truck uses.
• Take personal papers out of the glovebox if you will need them while the car is gone. The bill of lading is not a title. You can ship a car without stuffing the title in the glovebox. You should not ship the only copy if a bank or a motor vehicle office will ask you for it before the car arrives.
• Set the parking brake the way the carrier asks, and know how to leave the transmission in the position they want. If you do not know, ask before pickup, not when the car is half on the ramp.
• Put the key, the contract, and the carrier's phone number in one place the stand-in can find. A key hidden "where I always leave it" is not a plan for another adult.

If an alarm arms itself when the door shuts, ask the carrier whether they want it off. A horn that sounds for days on a trailer is a reason some carriers refuse the car at the next stop. Get their instruction in writing. Do not pull fuses from a diagram you found in a forum.

What you are handing the driver#

The driver needs a car that starts or a car they already agreed to winch, a tank that will not leak, and a body they can mark. They do not need a trunk full of boxes the contract does not allow. They do not need you to detail the interior. They do need the VIN on the dash to match the VIN on the order.

Walk the car once after you think you are done. Look for a suction-cup mount, a phone cable, a parking pass, and a cracked lens you meant to mention. Add the lens to your notes before the driver writes a code you do not understand. Then you are prepared. The signature is still a separate act. Prep makes that signature honest. It does not make the carrier responsible for marks you hid under dirt.

If the pickup window is several days long, the car has to stay in this condition across the window, or you have to be willing to repeat the wash. A car that sits outside for a week collects the dust you just removed. Do the last look on the morning the driver calls, in the light you have, and say on the form if that light was poor.