Rental Car Shipping – Auto Transport for Car Rental Companies

1. Your Potential Options to Relocate Your Rental Cars (With the Pros and Cons of Each)
2. Have Your Employees Move Your Car
3. Hiring Professional Freelance Drivers to Move Your Car(s)
4. Using Renters to Move Cars
5. Working With Auto Transport Companies Directly
6. Reasons to Why Rental Car Shipping Companies Need Auto Transport Services
7. Replace Old Cars and Refresh Their Fleet
8. Meeting Consumer's Demands At a Specific Location
9. Buying OR Selling Rental Vehicles
10. Determining Which Rental Car Shipping Company is the Best for You in Three Easy Steps
11. Step 1 Consider Your Budget
12. Step 2 Understand What You Are Paying For
13. Step 3 Go Through Customer Service Ratings
14. Factors That Affect the Cost of Shipping a Rental Car
15. Expedited Delivery
16. Distance
17. Size and Weight of the Car
18. Make, Model, and the Condition of the Vehicle
19. Shipping Method
20. Why Car Rental Companies Pay Lesser Price to Transport, a Rental Car Than Individual Shippers?
21. Access to Commercial Shipping Rates
22. Discounts for Customer's Loyalty
23. Lower Cost of Shipping Multiple Cars to the Same Destination
24. Conclusion Should Car Rental Companies Collaborate With Auto Transport Carriers?

Running a car rental company can be chaotic at times, specifically now when the rental car industry has seen unprecedented changes in the last few years. Many rental car agencies have transformed their business models to align with the dynamic consumer demand these days. Besides making sure that their cars are well-maintained, repaired, clean, and full of gas to be rented out successfully, they also have to move their rental cars from one place to another.

Hence, they need a reliable logistics partner at their disposal that helps them cope with the evolving industry challenges for today and tomorrow.

This blog post will look at the different aspects of rental car auto transport when shipping a car interstate.

Let's start with different options for car rental companies to relocate their cars.

Your Potential Options to Relocate Your Rental Cars (With the Pros and Cons of Each)

Car rental companies often have four options to move their cars to the places where they can be rented out. Below we have mentioned all those car relocation options with their pros and cons.

Let's learn more about each of them one by one.

Have Your Employees Move Your Car

If your employees are licensed, and the distance they are to cover to deliver the car to the new location is reasonable, you can assign the task of shifting your rental car to your employees.

Pros:

• You are already paying your employees for their time. So, you won't have to spend extra money on the relocation of your car.
• They'll understand how important it is to deliver the car to where it is currently needed.
• They'll take care of the vehicle and drive carefully.

Cons:

• This method isn't suitable for shifting cars in bulk.

Hiring Professional Freelance Drivers to Move Your Car(s)

Freelance drivers are people who earn their side-hustles or are retirees earning full time by transferring vehicles from one location to another. Most of them will usually work for the same car rental companies repeatedly.

Pros:

• They are usually inexpensive.
• They, too, will stick to your delivery timeline and make sure your vehicle reaches its next location on time.

Cons:

• You won't be able to vet the freelance drivers.
• Mostly freelance drivers (whom you've already worked with and trust) might not be available when you need them.

Using Renters to Move Cars

You can also use your car renters to move your car from one place to another. You may also appeal to the renters to take your vehicle on a one-way trip to the delivery location by offering discounts.

Pros:

• While relocating your car from one branch to another, your renter will also travel along the path they would have crossed otherwise. So relocation won't put any extra mileage on your car.
• Your car will reach the place it's required in the set timeline.

Cons:

• There's no guarantee of the safety of your car.

Working With Auto Transport Companies Directly

The best bet for moving a single or more than one car to a new location for car rental companies is to work with auto transport services.

Pros:

• They have experience managing vehicles and working in fixed timelines.
• You can move your cars in bulk on carriers.
• The rental car shipping companies guarantee the safety of your cars.
• You may avail of significant discounts on shifting vehicles in size.
• The auto transport companies are often insured and have qualified truckers onboard.

Cons:

• It might cost you an arm and a leg (if you don't offer discounts).
• They may not have flexible departure timings.

After a thorough analysis of all possible options to relocate a rental car and weighing down the pros and cons of each method, it turns out that dealing with the auto transport companies is the best method to shift rental vehicles.

Still not convinced?

Hold on. We also have some rock-solid reasons whyrental car shipping companies need auto transport services. Scroll down.

3 Reasons to Why Rental Car Shipping Companies Need Auto Transport Services

Here are the three reasons rental car shipping companies may need auto transport services for shipping their cars. Such as:

Replace Old Cars and Refresh Their Fleet

Rental cars have an average life span of about 13 months.

Most of the rental cars are used for 4 to 22 months. This is because high-demand vehicles like SUVs and Sedans have a more frequent replacement rate than utility vehicles, for example, box trucks and moving vans.

Due to these often replacements and refreshing purposes, car rental companies need to relocate their fleet to rental locations. These relocations typically occur from the headquarters of car rental companies or the manufacturer's lots.

Meeting Consumer's Demands At a Specific Location

Here's a thing with car rental companies: They allow renters to drop off their rented car at any location they operate in.

Though, they allow doing so to make their renters' lives easy. But, this situation can create an imbalance in the availability of different vehicles like crazy.

Let us paint this picture for you with a broader brush.

For instance, a car rental company's operating center at one location may have 10 SUVs, a couple of sedans or minivans available to rent. And somewhere at location B of the same car rental company, they are short on SUVs, but they hit up clients with the SUV demand.

In that case, they can send their SUVs to their other operating location – from point A to B – to meet their clients' demands.

Buying OR Selling Rental Vehicles

As mentioned earlier, most car rental companies would stop using their vehicles after a specific period. Then, when the cars in their fleet are no longer suitable for continual use, they'll sell the cars. Either to individual buyers or large car dealerships.

Auto transport companies here come in handy in helping the car rental shipping companies to transport their vehicles to the buyer's destination.

When car rental companies sell some cars from their fleets, they make room to buy new vehicles in their rental cars' collection. When these companies buy new vehicles, again, they'll need help from a car carrier shipping service to transport their newly-purchased vehicle(s) to a particular rental destination.

Determining Which Rental Car Shipping Company is the Best for You in Three Easy Steps

Rental car shipping companies might all appear alike initially. However, there are multiple things that you should look for in deciding for a car shipping company to move your rental cars or fleets.

Step 1: Consider Your Budget

With so many auto transport companies offering rental car shipping services, you should choose the one that does the feat of delivering your car(s) in pristine condition at fair prices.

Step 2: Understand What You Are Paying For

Before collaborating with an auto transportation service, understand what you pay for. Look for rental car shipping providers who offer their services at the charges they ask for upfront.

Step 3: Go Through Customer Service Ratings

Check for the customer service ratings of the rental car shipping companies. You get to know about the services of the auto transportation company through the experience of other buyers. Reading reviews and running your eyes through customers' ratings can help you save time and money.

5 Factors That Affect the Cost of Shipping a Rental Car:

Car shipping rates vary based on total mileage and a few other specifics.

Curious to learn about all the specifics that affect the cost of shipping a rental car? Go ahead and look at some of the factors that make up the final prices of shipping the rental vehicle(s).

Expedited Delivery:

Getting your rental car delivered in a specific time frame is critical to running the rental business. But, expedited shipping can shoot up the charges of your car's shipping. However, having a flexible time frame for your rental car's delivery can save you money.

Sadly car rental companies don't have a flexible delivery timeline. But they can avail of discounts while shipping several cars at once to the same delivery point.

Distance:

The distance between the points of origin to the end of the delivery is a major deciding factor of the potential cost of shipping. Here we can follow a general rule of thumb, "the more the miles, the more the cost."

Transporting rental cars from major cities where more car carriers are available cuts the cost of overall shipping. On the other hand, pickup and delivery from remote locations can add up the cost as the carriers have to deviate from the main routes. In long-distance auto hauling, other factors like fuel, labor cost, and toll charges also increase the shipping price.

Size and Weight of the Car:

A commercial auto carrier can fit in five SUVs/trucks or nine regular-sized vehicles on average.

Larger vehicles occupy more space, and therefore, their transit charges will be more than the regular-sized vehicles.

The weight of the car also matters in determining the final shipping cost. As per the US Department of Transportation, the maximum load an auto car carrier can accommodate is 80,000 lbs. Hence, the heavier the vehicles, the fewer cars the page can fit in. Resultantly, the overall price to ship more heavy vehicles increases based on their weight.

Make, Model, and the Condition of the Vehicle:

Luxury vehicles and vintage cars need more care and attention during transportation than regular cars. Thus, shipping luxury and vintage vehicles will be more expensive than transitioning standard cars.

Moreover, the condition of the vehicle also impacts the shipping prices. For example, an operable car is easy to load, whereas an inoperable vehicle needs more effort and equipment to load/unload, leading to a high shipping price tag.

Shipping Method:

Open shipping carriers can accommodate more vehicles. Hence, they cost less, but your car is exposed to dirt and elements. Inversely, enclosed shipping carriers have a relatively lesser capacity to fit the vehicles. They also protect the vehicles from the elements, dirt, and debris. Thus, it's a pricey car shipping method.

Did you know? Car rental companies pay a lesser price than individual shippers for moving their vehicles.

Why Car Rental Companies Pay Lesser Price to Transport, a Rental Car Than Individual Shippers?

Taking help from auto transport isn't only handy for car rental companies, but it also benefits them in price. The reasons why car rental companies pay lesser than individuals include:

Access to Commercial Shipping Rates:

Commercial car shippers like car rental companies get car shipping services from auto transport companies at a fraction of prices because they use the services at commercial rates. All thanks to the economy of scale!

Discounts for Customer's Loyalty:

Auto transport services know that car rental companies are loyal customers who'll keep returning to them. That's why they are willing to adjust their prices for them compared to individual car shippers.

Even some auto transport services offer unique discounts to larger companies that ship more than a certain number of cars per year. In return, these more significant discounts help car shipping companies retain their clients and boost customer loyalty.

Lower Cost of Shipping Multiple Cars to the Same Destination:

Car rental companies often transport more than one car to one delivery destination. Hence, they avail of more significant discounts on their shipments.

Conclusion: Should Car Rental Companies Collaborate With Auto Transport Carriers?

There are no second thoughts that auto transport companies are the best option to relocate rental cars. But, should a car rental company collaborate with an auto transport carrier? That's wholly another thing and depends on a few factors.

You should partner with auto transport carriers if:

• You often have to move cars from one branch to another simultaneously.
• You have maxed out the capacity of employees that qualify to drive vehicles from smaller units to larger ones.

Partnering with a car transport company for a longer term can take a lot of burden off the shoulders of car renters. If you are a car rental business, once you partner with a shipping service, you only have to look into what vehicles have to go where and when, and the auto transport company will manage the rest.

Hence, you can focus on things that matter the most for you, like growing your rental business, rather than consuming your energy on relocating your cars.