Anyone know anything about Roadrunner transporters or Montway? I need a vehicle transported halfway across the US and need some references. Any company really, since I know nothing about them. Thanks
Lots of threads on this. One going right now. At least 3 Hamb members with excellent reps for transport. Use the search function and you'll get all kinds of info. Maybe not on Roadrunner or Montway but more than enough info to allow you to make an informed decision.
If you live in the Midwest/sunbelt, the HAMB guys will be a good choice. If you're in the NE or NW, none of them are interested so you'll have to look elsewhere.
I am sorry Steve, but that is just NOT the case! Over the last two weeks I have dropped off or loaded vehicles in New York (NO NYC or Long Island!), New Jersey, M***, New Hampshire, Connecticut, & Rhode Island. I was also on the West Coast 11 times last year, several in Oregon & Washington. However I do NOT cross the Northern or Central Rocky Mountain P***es during the winter months. It is just not safe for my customers vehicles, myself or my equipment. I am way past the point where I want to be somewhere that I need to install tire chains. Since I offer personalized single car service (open or enclosed) I can only do so many! This keeps me booked 3-8 weeks in advance all year round, although I try to squeeze ones in between if at all possible. God Bless Bill Squires(owner) Bill's Auto Works https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/
Bill, when I needed a car transported from central California to Washington 3-4 years ago I tried contacting every car hauler listed in the HAMB cl***ifieds, you included. In all but one case I had to leave messages. A**** the ones I left messages with, to your credit you were the only one to return my call but politely turned me down flat, saying you didn't like going over the Rockies (this was spring, not winter). The one guy I did initially get hold of told me 'not interested' and hung up. Another guy local to me needed a move from Wisconsin to Washington, he had more-or-less the same results. We both ended up using bonded commercial haulers with very satisfactory results. Look, I get it; as far as I can tell all of you guys are sunbelt/midwest based. Deadheading to a distant location for pickup then probably having to do the same thing once you deliver it isn't a prescription for making money, particularly for a single-car trailer operator. When the weather is nice here, we're out driving our cars. It's when the weather is ****py is when we buy/sell/work on cars. It doesn't help that the volume of cars here is probably lower than other parts of the country either.
Steve, I am sorry I was not able to help you, but I do get to Washington at least a couple of times per year. My policy for the Rockies hasn't changed in more than a decade. Oct 15th thru April 1st I do not cross them . As far as the deadhead, I have been blessed with a very large customer base & generally don't drive empty more than a few hundred miles between unloading & loading. I'll bet I know EXACTLY who hung up on you! He is NOT one of the 3 Quality Transporters here on the Hamb & is despised on pretty much every forum he is on! I do understand about wanting to drive your cars in the good weather & get different ones in the bad. Same here in Ohio, but no mountains! LOL God Bless Bill
Washington is all about mountains... LOL. And it's a bit of local (here) vs 'flatlander' viewpoint... LOL. This always reminds me of a incident from my youth. My Dad was working in central Tennessee at the time and I went down and visited for the summer while I was out of school. My Mother decided this would be a good time to visit relatives/friends in her birthplace of Norman OK. So we make the drive, and when we get there she wants to revisit the old homestead to see what's left. We get an address and 'local style' directions and go looking. Of course we get lost, my Mothers memory is no good as it's been 30+ years since she left, so we stop and ask a local who's out in his yard. No problem the man says, straight down this road to such-and-such hill and turn left while pointing. I look, and I don't see any hill. What hill I say.. He points again, the hill! We go back and forth a few more times, I don't see any hill and he's getting agitated. My mother finally leans over and say he means that little bump you can see (maybe 4' high!!)... Yep, that 'hill'... LOL. Around here, a 'hill' won't get a name unless there's a least a few hundred feet difference in elevation... LOLOL....
I've had good luck with an outfit called "uShip". It's a broker/bulletin board service. A huge list of independent haulers use it. It's easy to find on the 'net. It's simple to post your details and you can be as specific or open as you want. For example, if the vehicle runs and can drive on a trailer, say so. If it can't, you really have to be clear about that. If you want to go 'enclosed', say so. You will start receiving "bids" at your email inbox right away. Be prepared for a couple of dozen quotes and a range of prices. There is a rating system with feedback from past customers for each particular hauler so it does have a comfort factor well as the cost factor. The deposit goes to the broker and the rest you pay directly to the hauler. I was 'receiving' so I paid-on-delivery. (I'm not sure about when you pay if you're the 'sender' as well as 'payer'.) I found that if I post a little early and give myself a time cushion, some of the haulers will start bidding lower against their early bids. When it gets close to their time to make a run, I guess a discount is better than an empty space on the trailer.
That's not always possible. Sometime the car is sold because the seller needs the room. Or there's no secure storage available wherever it's at.
Let me add this: In 2013, I had Bill haul my aunt's O/T but very cool car from Concord, NH to central PA. It was an original she bought in 1965 and treasured since. Bill was very kind that day while a bunch of old ladies took pictures of the goodbye party. Delivery went flawlessly. Fast forward to 2020, my aunt p***ed away at 93. I mentioned it to Bill since he had been so kind. Immediately, he not only sent condolences but remembered the haul and sent me a great photo he'd taken of my aunt and the car. NOW, who do you really want to haul your car?
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