There are many different ways to ship a motorcycle from one location to another.  Most people contract with a motorcycle specific transport company to move their motorcycle from one location to another.  Some people have their motorcycle crated and have it shipped through a freight company. Other people put their motorcycle in a container provided by a transport company and ship it through a freight company. A few people rent a trailer and transport the motorcycle themselves.

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There are a number of advantages to contracting with a motorcycle specific shipping company to move your motorcycle from one location to another. These motorcycle shippers usually have enclosed trailers that have a lift gate or a ramp gate for loading and unloading. The advantage of that type of equipment is you do not need a dock or forklift to load and unload the motorcycle. The driver simply loads and unloads the bike on their lift gate or rolls it on and off using their ramp gate.   Additionally, some shippers mount the bikes on pallets while they are in transit. The pallets either have wheels on them so they can be moved around with the bike attached or the shipper will have a pallet jack to move the palletized bike around with.

The shippers will have the proper soft tie down straps for securing a motorcycle within their trailer or on their pallets. The shippers that do not use a pallet use a method known as roll-on roll-off service. The roll-on roll-off service is the most common method of bike transport. With this method the bike is rolled into the trailer and usually positioned in the trailer sideways. There is a system called E-track that is in the floor and the walls of the trailer. The driver uses soft tie down straps on all four corners of the bike to secure the bike to the E-track system. This is a safe method to use to transport a motorcycle and so is the pallet shipping option.

As mentioned previously, some people put their motorcycles in a wooden crate to transport them from one location to another. You can either hire someone to provide the crate and crate the bike for you or you can build your own crate. The freight companies that ship crated motorcycles usually require the crate to be fairly robust and have plywood around all four sides and the top of the crate. There needs to be a gap underneath of the crate to be able to get a forklift under the crated bike. You usually have to drop the crated bike off at the shippers dock and pick it up at their dock also.

The container shipping option is not used very frequently to ship a motorcycle. Very few companies provide containers specifically designed for shipping motorcycles. This option usually requires you to bring the bike to the shippers facility and secure it within the container yourself. In most cases, you will have to retrieve the bike from the shippers facility at the delivery end also.

The other method to ship a motorcycle is to rent a trailer and transport the motorcycle yourself. Some people use this option but when you consider the cost of renting the trailer versus having a motorcycle specific transport company move the bike for you there usually is not a big difference in the overall cost. Additionally, you will need to provide your own tie downs if you rent a trailer so that is likely to be an additional expense.

There are many factors to consider When selecting a motorcycle transport company. There are a number of ways to ship a motorcycle and we will discuss various ways in this article. The most common method of motorcycle shipping is roll-on roll-off uncrated service. What that means is the driver of the truck physically rolls your bike on to either a ramp gate or a lift gate and rolls it into their trailer and secures the bike with soft ties within the trailer. They reverse the process at delivery.

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How to ship a motorcycle.

We provide a number of different motorcycle shipping options for our customers to consider. One of the motorcycle transport companies that we work with has a checklist they have developed to help customers prepare for shipping a motorcycle. Below are the steps that particular shippers customers must keep in mind and adhere to when using this motorcycle shippers service. These actions apply to most bike shippers that we work with but not all shippers have the same rules and requirements that this particular shipper has when transporting a motorcycles.

Please keep in mind that someone has to be available the day of pick up between 8-5 local time. The agent/driver will call within 24 hours prior to confirm their anticipated arrival. The driver may be able to give a window and a heads up call the day of pickup, but drivers do run ahead and behind schedule from time to time. The driver will not wait for your contact to meet him if it is not within a reasonable amount of time, such as 15 minutes. Keep your phone close by and check voice mail as needed. Remember that the driver often has a fully loaded truck and they make frequent pick ups and drop offs while transporting your motorcycle from point A to point B. Some trucks can transport over 30 motorcycles. If anyone is late meeting the driver there is a good chance it could impact many down stream pick ups and drop offs. If you are late to a predetermined pick up day and time it can have a dramatic affect on all the motorcycle shipment schedules on that truck. Since this is a fact of life in the shipping industry, shippers do not guaranty pick up or delivery time frames because there are many factors beyond the drivers control that can cause a pick up or delivery to be late or in some cases early. In some cases able bodied assistance might be required at the pick up and/or the delivery locations. If the bike needs to be push up a hill or the bike is a heavy bike the driver will usually need some help maneuvering the bike to the truck and on and off of the pallet. If you bike has very low ground clearance be sure to notify us of that fact prior to pick up because special handling might be require to load the bike on and off the pallet. The more details you can provide about the configuration of the bike the better. Additionally, if there is anything unique or unusual about the pick up or delivery locations that the driver should know about up-front please be sure to inform us about those conditions when you schedule your shipment with us.

The same rules above apply for the delivery.

Origin and destination need to be tractor trailer accessible in most cases. Some areas, such as New York City are serviced with a straight truck. If you have seen other tractor trailer type trucks at your origin and destination chances are good that the driver can pick up and or deliver right to your door. If not, the driver will meet you as close nearby as possible that is tractor trailer accessible based on the drivers discretion. Some areas restrict tractor trailer traffic so it is a good idea to check with your local city transpiration planners to make sure tractor trailer traffic is allowed in your area. Additionally, the driver will push the bike a reasonable distance from your door to the truck. Drivers are not allowed to leave eye sight of the truck and customers are not on the truck due to liability insurance concerns that could arise if the customer gets injured while on the truck.

Send keys, title, and registration separately, not with the bike. If you really need to send the keys with it, please zip tie them to the handlebar. Make sure the motorcycle is in rolling, maneuverable condition. The tires should have air in them and the handlebars need to be able to turn left and right. Make sure the motorcycle is not leaking any fluids. If it is leaking fluids you will need to either fix the leak or remove the fluid that is leaking prior to pick up. You should also make sure the battery is does not have corrosion built up on the terminals and make sure the battery is not leaking acid. It is a good idea to remove the battery for shipping but in most cases that is not a requirement.

Gas needs to be down to one quarter of a tank or less. No extra boxes or parts can go with the bike. If your motorcycle has a pet-cock you should place the pet-cock in the off position while the bike is in transit.

If there is an alarm please disable it. We are not responsible for a dead battery. If you have any other device on the vehicle that could potentially drain the battery while the bike is in transit, please be sure to disconnect or disable those items prior to the bike being picked up by the driver.

Do not leave an E-Z pass or I Pass or a toll pass card on the bike. If the trucks go through any tolls, they will get charged. We are not responsible for any tolls that might result from customers failing to turn off their E-Z pass or I Pass or toll pass card.

Please do not leave a GPS unit or anything that is easily removed attached to the bike. These types of aftermarket items are not covered by our transit coverage for damage or theft.

Unlock forks so that the bike can be rolled on to the lift gate and secured to the pallet. In most cases, the motorcycle will stay on the same pallet the entire time in transit. If the pallet develops a problem there is a chance the motorcycle will be moved to another pallet so the original pallet can be repaired.

You can leave items in a saddle bag, as long as you can lock them up. They are shipped at your own risk. It is never recommended to ship expensive or rare items along with the motorcycle in the saddle bags. Items such helmets, riding gear small parts, etc. are commonly transported in saddle bags. Remember that any extra items in the saddle bags are not covered for theft or damage so use care in what you ship in the saddle bags.

Helmets must be locked on to the bike, not bungeed to the bike, or the driver will not take them. Do not bungee cord extra bags or equipment onto the bike. We also request that you look over the bike thoroughly to make sure there are no loose items or loose fasteners.

The bike will be inspected at pickup and any scratches, dings or dents will be noted on the inventory sheet. The driver usually has you sign the inspection report and both the pick up and the delivery locations along with the bill of lading. They usually will provide you with a copy of each document for your records.

It is very important that whoever receives the bike at delivery does a thorough inspection at delivery and that any scratches, dings, dents, are noted on their inventory sheet, even if they are already noted on the pickup sheet, before signing for the bike. It is very difficult to make a claim if you should need to if the bike is signed for and nothing is noted.

The person that releases the bike at pickup and the person receiving the bike at delivery should both be given a copy of the inventory sheet/sheets, and a copy of the bill of lading.

If one is not offered be sure to ask for one.

Your credit card will be charged after the bike loads. We must have payment before the bike(s) can deliver.

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