What can stay in the car: questions and answers

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. Loose items the contract does not allow should come out before pickup. Ask the company you hire for the sentence, in writing, before you pack.

Whatever that contract allows, and nothing it forbids. Ask three things: whether items are allowed, where they may sit, and the weight limit. A carrier can allow a small trunk load and refuse bags on the seats, or refuse items entirely. Do not copy a pound figure from another company's ad. If the paper is blank, treat items as not allowed until they write a number. Hazardous materials that are not the car's own closed fuel tank have to meet the hazardous-materials rules in 49 CFR 173.220. When in doubt, take them out.

Ask the ocean line, not a highway broker, and get the answer in that line's rules. A truck contract and a ship contract are different. Alaska Marine Lines, for example, says personal effects are allowed on its Alaska vehicle service but are not permitted in the front seat or on the floor. That is one operator. Matson and Pasha publish their own vehicle pages. Read the page for the sailing you booked. If the line forbids items, cargo coverage will not save a box you hid.

Only if the contract says so. Usual practice puts a small amount in the trunk, not on the seats, because seat piles block the driver, hide damage, and can become projectiles. Do not assume the trunk rule and the seat rule are the same. Ask. If the contract is silent, do not leave bags on the seats and do not fill the trunk either. Photograph the empty cabin before pickup so the condition report matches the car the driver sees. RideShipper's checklist tool can remind you. It is not the carrier's permission.

No single federal pound limit turned up in the rules checked for this page. The carrier's contract sets the limit, or it forbids items. 49 CFR 373.101 says a for-hire carrier's bill of lading includes a description of the freight and, if it applies to the rating, the weight. That is a paperwork rule, not a nationwide allowance of a set number of pounds in the trunk. If the contract names no weight, do not invent one and pack to it. Ask the company to write the number. Until it does, leave the car empty.

Treat items as not allowed until the company writes the rule. Silence is not a yes. Email or text the company you hired and ask whether items are allowed, where they may sit, and the weight. Keep the reply. Do not rely on a phone promise the contract does not mention. If they refuse to write it, unpack the car. A driver who arrives to a full trunk can refuse the load or can leave you arguing about damage later.

Often no. Personal items are frequently excluded in the same contract that limits them. Read that exclusion before you pack. Cargo terms cover the vehicle under the bill of lading, and 49 USC 14706 allows a carrier to limit liability in writing. An exclusion for household goods in the car means a claim for a lost bag can fail even if the car itself is covered. Ask for the sentence. Your homeowners or renters policy is a separate question for that insurer, not a fact this page can decide.

Yes, if anything besides the car stays. 49 CFR 373.101 says the bill of lading includes a description of the freight. An unlisted box is an argument later about whether it was even there. Write the items, or attach a short list the driver signs, at pickup. Photograph them in the trunk first. If the driver will not note them, do not leave them. The condition report is also where you note existing chips on the car. The carrier at the curb does.

The carrier needs a key if the car is driven on and off the trailer. Ask whether the fob is handed to the driver or locked in a place the contract names. Do not mail a lone fob to a stranger, and do not hide a spare and forget to say so. A key fob is not a separate freight shipment this site arranges. At delivery, get the key back with the car and confirm the count of fobs on the paperwork. If a car has no working key, say that before dispatch. It can turn a running car into a car they cannot unload.

No. A shipped car is not a household-goods shipment. Movers who haul household goods work under a different set of rules and a different contract. A car carrier is hauling the vehicle. The usual practice is a small trunk load only if that carrier allows it, not a cabin filled with boxes. Weight over the contract limit can be refused at pickup. Take furniture, clothes you can spare, and anything you cannot afford to lose out of the car and into the move, or leave them behind. Read the personal-items sentence first.