Anytime you contact an auto shipping company to move your car, you need be sure that the car transport company good safety rating. It is unfortunate, but it is your primary job to ensure your car will be treated as it should by the vehicle transport company. After your car is loaded onto the auto shipping trailer, you car will need to be secured to the trailer. How that happens will make a big difference in the potential of damage by the car shipping company. There are two ways a vehicle shipping company will do this. One is by chains and one is by straps. From our experience, tire straps are the best option, but you may pay more for it. Some simple some research, will show you that many enclosed auto transport companies use tire straps and only a few open car transport companies use them.

What’s wrong with auto shipping with chains?

When the vehicle transport driver has adequate experience at applying chains, you will probably not have any issues, in fact, many car manufacturers actually build the car with a place to hook these chains. The issues arise when a new auto shipping driver applies them or one that is either lazy or inexperienced. Here are the potential issues:

Chains Too Tight: When a car shipping company applies the chains too tight, there is a chance that they may bend the frame, causing permanent and unfixable damage. Bending a frame with a chain will cause the car to be “de-valued” and in some cases, the car will have to be “salvaged”. When your vehicle transport driver does this it may cause the car to tear away from the frame causing additional damage because the car will move around during transport.

Wrong Hooks: The auto transport company can uses improper hooks. Either they do not have the right ones, which shows that they you should not use them or they are just too lazy to go get them from storage. Either way, damage can occur.

Wrong holes: If the car transport driver puts the hooks in the wrong holes the chains can either tear the frame or simply fall off. Either way, the car can move in transit and get more damage.

What about straps?

Applying straps are simple and easy. They connected directly to the tires by the vehicle transport company. The only potential for damage is when the auto shipping driver doesn’t use them correctly. When properly applied, the only possible damage is to the rim of the tire and it can be fixed inexpensively.

Auto Shipping And Chains vs. Tire Straps:

You now have all the information you need to understand the difference between chains versus straps in car shipping. The choice is yours and it totally depends on you wanting to spend the extra money on tire straps. It does cost more, but can be a life saver in terms of stress and money; if the frame is damaged, you will not know until it is too late because the Bill of Lading is already signed. Tire straps will give you the peace of mind that your car was not damaged. To ask any questions you may have about chains versus straps, call our office today!