What you may leave in a car you ship

You can leave items in a shipped car only within the limit that carrier states. The usual practice is one modest set of goods in the trunk, under a weight written in the contract, not piled on the seats. This page does not invent that weight. If your contract has no number and no permission, do not pack the car.

The contract is the rule#

Find the personal-items sentence before you pack. It should say three things: whether items are allowed, where they may sit, and any weight cap. Photograph that clause. The explainer for the sentence itself is the personal-items clause.

If the clause forbids items, the exclusion from coverage is often the same sentence. Read personal items are not the cargo before you decide a laptop is "probably fine." 49 USC 14706 makes the carrier liable for loss or damage to the property it received, and it also allows a written limit on that liability when the limit is reasonable under the circumstances. A contract that says personal items are not covered is the sentence a claim will meet. RideShipper does not insure the trunk.

What people usually leave, and what they should not#

Usual, when the contract allows a small amount:

• Factory floor mats, the spare tire, and the jack that came with the car.
• A small box of clothes or linens in the trunk, under the stated weight, with nothing loose that can fly forward if the car is braced hard.
• Owner's manuals.

Take these with you, even if a rep says the trunk is "fine":

• Medications you need during the trip.
• The only copies of the title, registration, passports, and bank papers. A copy in the glovebox is still a document in a car you cannot see.
• Cash, jewelry, laptops, and firearms. Weapons, medication, and original documents have their own page: what should never stay in the car. This guide is not a how-to for moving a firearm.
• Hazardous materials that are not part of the car. 49 CFR 173.220(f)(2) says other hazardous materials must be packaged and transported under the hazardous-materials rules. A gas can, propane, or loose lithium packs in a hatchback are not personal items. Integral parts of the car, such as a fire extinguisher installed for the car, are a different sentence in that section.

There is no pound figure on this page#

Federal motor-carrier rules opened for this guide require a receipt that describes the freight. They do not set a universal trunk allowance for personal goods in a car. 49 CFR 373.101 says the receipt includes a description of the freight and the weight, volume, or measurement if that measurement applies to the rating. That is a reason to list what you left. It is not a national 100-pound permit.

If a website, a call script, or a forum gives you a pound number, ask the carrier to put the same number in your contract. Until they do, it is not your limit. Companies differ. Some allow nothing. Some allow items only in the trunk, not the cabin, because stuff on the seats becomes a projectile or blocks the driver's check of the interior.

A car is not a household shipment#

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, with the move arranged and paid for by the individual shipper or by another individual on the shipper's behalf. The household-goods rules apply to that kind of shipment. They are not a back door for filling a car on an auto carrier and calling it a move.

If you need the furniture moved, hire a household mover under that contract, and ship the car under the auto contract. Coordinating the dates is in coordinating the car with the move. Do not split one living room across the back seat to save a mover.

If the carrier says yes, write the list down#

1. Pack only what fits the clause. Keep the cabin clear enough that the driver can see the seats and the dash.
2. Put items low in the trunk, not on the parcel shelf.
3. Make a plain list: what it is, and that it was in the car at pickup.
4. Ask the driver to note the list, or attach it, on the bill of lading. A description of the freight belongs on that receipt.
5. Photograph the trunk before it closes, with the list in the frame.
6. At delivery, open the trunk before you sign. Missing items go on the delivery copy the same day.

The pre-pickup checklist has a blank line for the carrier's weight limit. Fill it from the contract. Leave it blank rather than guessing. The glossary entry for personal effects is the short version of this page: items in the car are not the same thing as cargo coverage on the car.

RideShipper will not tell a carrier to accept your boxes. The company you book sets the rule. Get it in writing before the window opens.

Questions to ask before you pack anything#

Send these in writing. A spoken "a few things are fine" is how a driver later refuses the trunk.

• Does this contract allow personal items at all?
• If yes, what is the weight limit, and is it the whole car or the trunk only?
• Are items in the passenger compartment allowed, or only the trunk?
• Will the items be listed on the bill of lading?
• Does the cargo limit exclude them even if they are allowed?
• What happens at pickup if the driver says the load is over the limit? Do you unload, or does the car get refused?

Keep the reply with the contract. If the reply contradicts the contract, ask which one controls. Do not pack to the friendlier of the two.

What is part of the car, and what is cargo you added#

A spare tire, a jack, and floor mats that shipped with the car are equipment of the vehicle. A box of dishes is not. Carriers talk about those differently, and your contract may too. Do not describe a packed trunk as "just the spare." If you leave a child seat, a tool box, or winter tires that are not mounted, name them.

Loose items on the parcel shelf or on the seats can shift when the car is tied down and the trailer brakes. Keep the cabin clear enough that pedals, the steering wheel, and the seats are visible. The driver may need to sit in the car to drive it onto the trailer. A car you have packed so the driver cannot sit is not ready, even if the contract allowed "some items."

If the driver will not take the items#

You still control the car until you sign and hand over the keys. If the driver says the trunk is over the written limit, take items out until it matches the contract. Do not pay a new "item fee" that is not in the order without the steps in the price-change guide. A fee you never saw in writing is a new price.

If you cannot unload because you are not the person at the curb, the stand-in needs the same instruction: match the trunk to the contract, do not invent a compromise. That is another reason to name an adult who can make a phone call, not a minor.

At delivery, open the trunk first#

Before you sign the delivery line, open the trunk and compare it to the pickup photo and the list. Missing items get written on the delivery copy the same way a new dent does. A signature that says the car was received complete is a hard sentence to undo if the box is gone. If the contract excluded items from coverage, say that plainly to yourself before you file a claim. You may still report a theft or a loss. You should not expect the cargo sentence to pay for something it excludes. Your own insurer is the other place to ask. This page cannot tell you that a home policy or a renters policy responds. Read that policy or ask that insurer.

A household move is the wrong trunk#

People shipping a car as part of a move are the ones most tempted to fill it. The furniture, the kitchen, and the boxes belong on the household bill if you hired a mover. The car belongs on the auto bill. Mixing them does not transfer the mover's inventory rules onto the car carrier. If you are coordinating both, keep the dates separate and keep the contents separate. One trunk of clothes under a written limit is the usual practice. A car loaded like a storage unit is a different shipment, and most auto contracts are not written for it.

If the carrier's number is lower than what you hoped to move, the rest goes with you, with the mover, or stays behind. There is no federal top-up that forces the carrier to accept the overflow.