Shipping your car to Alaska
The requirements for shipping your car to Alaska
Conclusion
Shipping your car to Alaska
If you need to ship your car to Alaska, you do not need to worry as shipping your car there is as easy and uncomplicated as it has ever been. You just need to do a few simple things, most of which are just checking on certain things, prior to your vehicle being picked up for shipping.
The two biggest things people usually want to know are how much shipping a car to Alaska costs and how long it will take to ship a car to Alaska. These things depend on a few different factors.
When it comes to the cost of shipping a car to Alaska, the distance you are shipping your car, what type of car it is, and what time during the year that you are shipping it are the primary factors. There are other factors such as the current cost of fuel as well as carrier availability, but you cannot personally do anything to change those.
As far as how long your shipment will take, distance of your shipment and the time of year that you are shipping are the biggest factors. Things like carrier availability and weather also affect your transit time.
To give you a better idea of what your shipment might cost as well as how long it might take for your car to be dropped off, lets take a look at a specific example.
If you had a 2014 Ford Focus that you were shipping from New York City to the Anchorage port in Alaska, and you were shipping it at the beginning of September 2019 (about a month after this post was written) it would cost about $3,500. The shipment would take about two weeks total to arrive at the port where you would pick it up.
Now, keep in mind that both of those things could change based on the difficult-to-predict factors we mentioned earlier. Car shipping quotes are as accurate as possible but, in the end, they are still just data-based estimates. So, if the price is higher or lower by a hundred bucks and the shipment arrives a day or two later or earlier, realize that is the margin of error you normally deal with when getting a car shipping estimate.
The requirements for shipping your car to Alaska
As we mentioned above, there are a few things that you need to get done before your car gets picked up for its shipment to Alaska. The following are the requirements for shipping your car to Alaska:
- Your car must be completely ready to drive – This means that your car has to be operational with no issues such as fluid leaks, underinflated tires, broken windows etc.
- The car must be clean – When your car is picked up to be shipped, the auto carrier driver will need to perform an inspection in order to check for any pre-existing damage. To be able to do this, the exterior of your car needs to be completely cleaned.
- Your car must be under a certain size – Your car cannot exceed twenty-one and a half feet in length, seven feet in width and seven feet in height. It also cannot weigh more than 4,000 pounds. If you have questions about this, you can call (907) 331-3100.
- Your gas tank must not be more than a quarter full – In order to be able to ship your car to Alaska, you need to have enough gas in your tank for the auto carrier driver to drive the car on and off the truck as well as the ship. However, fire regulations stipulate that every cars gas tanks on the ship must not have more than a quarter tank of gas.
- Personal items – You might be able to ship some personal items in your car during your shipment. However, this needs to be discussed with your auto transport company beforehand. You also will be charged extra for this. Keep in mind that these items will not be covered by your auto transport insurance if the items are lost or damaged. Items that you cannot ship include firearms of any kind, fire extinguishers, or drugs of any kind. You can ask your car shipping representative about specific items.
- Alarms – You must give your auto transport driver the remote for the alarm or the alarm must be disconnected before transport.
- Valid ID – You will need valid picture identification when your car gets picked up or when you drop it off. Examples of valid ID include your unexpired license or unexpired passport.
- Car registration – You will need to have the current vehicle registration with you when you have your car picked up/dropped off.
- Keys – You obviously need to hand over your keys, so the driver is able to drive your car on and off of the carrier. However, you also need to supply keys to any other locking compartment in the car such as the glove box or trunk if those take separate keys.
Conclusion
That list might seem like a lot but, realistically, you can get all of that stuff done and prepared for your shipment in just a few hours’ time. Either way, it is very important that you do go through that list and make sure that your car is ready for shipment, otherwise it might not be able to ship and then you would need to start the entire booking and preparation process over again.
Remember, if you have questions or concerns that are specific to your shipment or a shipment that you are planning on, you can always call Alaska Car Transport at (907) 331-3100.
