Car Transport: Types of Car Carriers and Planning

Car transport (also called vehicle transport) is the movement of cars, vans and other vehicles on purpose-built trucks known as car carriers or vehicle transporters, instead of driving them to their destination. Manufacturers, importers, dealers, leasing and rental companies and private owners use it to move vehicles without adding kilometres or wear. For a road carrier it is a specialised branch of road freight with its own equipment, loading routine and damage risk.

Types of car carriers

• Open multi-car transporter: the most common type on long routes. A tractor with a semi-trailer, or a rigid truck with a drawbar trailer, carries several cars on two decks, loaded over hydraulic ramps. It is the cheapest option per vehicle.
• Enclosed transporter: a closed trailer that protects the cars from weather, stone chips and prying eyes. It is used for premium, classic or prototype vehicles and costs more per car.
• Single-car or small transporter: a flatbed or tow truck that carries one or two vehicles, typical for dealer transfers, short local moves and broken-down cars.

How a car transport job runs

The order names each vehicle by its registration or chassis number (VIN), the pickup and delivery addresses, opening hours and who hands over the keys. At pickup the driver walks around every car, records existing scratches and dents with photos, and loads the vehicles in reverse order of delivery, so the cars for the first drop are the first to come off the ramps. Each car is secured at the wheels with straps or chocks so it cannot roll or bounce.

At delivery the same inspection runs the other way: the receiver checks each car, signs for it, and notes any new damage on the documents before the truck leaves.

Height, length and route planning

For international traffic in the EU, Directive 96/53/EC sets a maximum height of 4.00 m for any vehicle and a maximum length of 16.50 m for a tractor with semi-trailer and 18.75 m for a road train. Member states may allow higher vehicles for national transport, so the limit that binds a cross-border tour is the strictest one along it. Many long-distance car transporters are articulated trucks, a tractor unit pulling a semi-trailer, and fall under the 16.50 m limit; a rigid truck with a drawbar trailer counts as a road train.

Height is the figure that changes from load to load. A double-deck transporter carrying small hatchbacks on top sits lower than the same truck carrying vans or SUVs, so the loaded height, not the empty height, decides which bridges and underpasses the route can use.

Damage checks and the CMR note

On an international road job the vehicles travel under the CMR consignment note that governs cross-border road carriage. Under Article 8 of the CMR Convention, the carrier checks the apparent condition of the goods when taking them over and enters any reservations, with the grounds, on the consignment note. Article 9 adds the consequence: where the note carries no specific reservations, the goods and their packaging are presumed to have appeared in good condition when the carrier took them over, unless the contrary is proved.

For car transport this means a scratch that nobody wrote down at loading counts against the carrier at delivery, unless the carrier can prove it was already there. A careful inspection record at pickup, referenced on the CMR note and backed by photos, is the cheapest insurance a car transport driver has.

Car transport in a carrier's planning

For the carrier who takes on the transport contract, car transport is planned like any other road freight tour with pickups, drops and tolls along the route, with three differences. The equipment is built for vehicles only, so a return trip pays only if it carries vehicles too. Delivery points are often dealerships with fixed opening hours, so time windows shape the stop sequence. And because each car is a separate item with its own number, the loading order and the paperwork have to match car by car.

Carriers that run car transporters next to full loads, part loads or bulk work need all of it in one plan. IMPARGO gives an overview of its TMS solution for each truck transport type, from FTL and LTL to silo and ADR.