Preparing Your Car for Shipping

The carrier is scheduled, the quote is confirmed, and your vehicle is headed across the country. But before the truck rolls up to your driveway, there's one more step that most people skip: properly preparing the car for shipment.

Preparation isn't complicated, but it matters — both for protecting your vehicle and for protecting you in the unlikely event something goes wrong. A well-prepared car loads faster, inspects cleanly, and arrives without any surprises. A poorly prepared car can cause delays, disputes, and headaches that could have been entirely avoided.

This guide walks through everything you need to do to prepare your car for shipping — from documenting pre-existing condition before pickup, to what to do on the actual day the driver arrives.

Why Preparation Matters

Auto transport companies move hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year without incident. But when something does go wrong — a scratch that appeared in transit, a missing item from the interior, a dispute about pre-existing damage — the outcome almost always comes down to one thing: documentation.

The driver who picks up your car will complete a Bill of Lading (BOL), a legal inspection document noting the vehicle's condition at pickup. What's on that BOL determines what can be claimed at delivery. If a ding is noted on the BOL at pickup, it can't be claimed as transport damage at delivery. If it's not noted and appears at delivery, the carrier is liable.

The practical implication: you need independent, time-stamped documentation of your car's pre-shipment condition — before the driver arrives. Your photos and records are what protect you if a dispute arises.

Beyond documentation, good preparation also prevents day-of delays. Carriers run tight schedules. A car with a dead battery, a blaring alarm no one can disable, or a trunk stuffed with items that push it over weight limits can throw off the entire pickup window and, in rare cases, result in the driver skipping your vehicle and rescheduling.

Photos & Documentation First

Before you do anything else — before you remove items, adjust fuel, or move the car — photograph it thoroughly. This is your insurance record, your proof of pre-existing condition, and your baseline for comparison at delivery.

What to Photograph

• All four sides: Front, rear, driver's side, passenger's side — standing back far enough to capture the full panel.
• All four corners: Diagonal shots from each corner catch damage that straight-on photos miss.
• Roof: Use a step stool if needed. Roof scratches and dents are common pre-existing damage that's easy to miss.
• All four wheel wells: Rust, scrapes, and rock damage hide here.
• Windshield and all glass: Existing chips and cracks need to be documented before transport.
• Interior: Front and rear seats, dashboard, headliner, cargo area.
• Odometer: A close-up of the current mileage reading.
• Any existing damage: Close-ups of every scratch, dent, scrape, or paint issue — even minor ones.

Store your photos somewhere accessible — cloud backup, email them to yourself, or save to a folder you won't accidentally delete. You may need them weeks later at delivery.

Fuel Level & Fluids

A commonly misunderstood rule: you do not want a full tank of gas when your car is shipped.

Fuel

Standard industry practice is to have your fuel level at 1/4 tank or less at pickup. Here's why: a full gas tank adds 90–130 lbs of weight to the vehicle. Carriers are weight-regulated, and extra fuel adds unnecessary load. Most carriers have a stated policy of 1/4 tank maximum, and some will refuse pickup or ask you to drain the tank if it's overfilled at time of pickup.

You do need some fuel — the driver needs to load and unload the vehicle under its own power (unless it's non-running). A 1/4 tank is plenty for this, and provides buffer for any on-site maneuvering at delivery.

Fluids

Check your oil, coolant, brake fluid, and power steering fluid levels. These don't need to be freshly serviced, but they shouldn't be critically low. A vehicle that develops a fluid leak during transport is the owner's responsibility — and a car running low on coolant that overheats during a brief drive-off moment at delivery is an avoidable problem.

If you have a known slow leak (oil, coolant, power steering), disclose it to your transport company when booking. Carriers need to know if the vehicle may leave stains or residue on the truck deck.

Personal Items & Cargo

Auto transport carriers are not moving companies. This is one of the most important distinctions to understand before packing your car for shipment.

Most carriers allow up to 100 lbs of personal items in the trunk or cargo area — but this varies by carrier, and some allow nothing. The items must be in the trunk or cargo area (not on seats or blocking sight lines), secured so they don't shift in transit, and declared in your order notes.

What's Allowed

• Boxes or bags of clothing in the trunk (under the weight limit)
• Small household items secured in the cargo area of an SUV or wagon
• Seasonal items (winter coats, golf bags) that won't fly around

What's Not Allowed

• Valuables: Electronics, jewelry, cash, documents — remove these without exception. Carrier liability for personal items is extremely limited (typically $0 to a nominal cap), and auto transport insurance explicitly excludes cargo inside the vehicle.
• Flammable or hazardous materials: No propane tanks, paint cans, cleaning chemicals, or anything that becomes a hazard in a hot enclosed trailer or near a flame.
• Items on seats or dashboard: These can become projectiles, obstruct the driver's loading sightlines, or shift and damage the interior.
• Firearms and ammunition: Always prohibited, regardless of what's legal in origin or destination states.

Exterior Preparation

A clean car photographs better and inspects faster — both of which work in your favor. You don't need a professional detail, but washing the exterior before pickup makes pre-existing scratches and damage visible (and documentable) rather than hidden under road grime.

Remove Exterior Accessories

• Roof cargo boxes and bike racks: These add height and width that may exceed carrier clearances. Remove them before pickup.
• Roof antennas: Retract or remove any extended antennas that could catch on the carrier frame during loading.
• Custom spoilers or splitters: If you have aftermarket bodywork that reduces ground clearance, notify the carrier when booking. Some lowered vehicles require specialized ramp loading.
• Spare tire carriers (on trucks/SUVs): External spare tire mounts that extend beyond the vehicle's standard profile should be flagged to the carrier.
• Trailer hitches with ball mounts: Remove the ball mount itself — it sticks out and can catch on ramps or adjacent vehicles during loading.

Tire Pressure

Check that all four tires (plus the spare, if accessible) are inflated to the manufacturer's recommended PSI. Under-inflated tires can cause problems during loading onto a carrier ramp and may be flagged by the driver at inspection. This is a 5-minute check that prevents a pickup-day headache.

Alarms, Electronics & Keys

Car Alarm

This is a frequently overlooked item that causes real problems. Your car alarm will trigger during transport — the vibration of a moving carrier, the jostling on ramps, and the angle changes at loading are all enough to set off a motion-sensitive alarm. A car alarm blaring for 6 hours in a closed trailer is not something the driver can easily address, and it drains the battery.

Before pickup: disable your car alarm entirely or set it to the most permissive sensitivity mode. If you can't disable it, provide the driver with the override code and written instructions. Most alarm systems can be put into "valet mode" which disables motion triggers while allowing the key to operate normally.

Toll Transponders and GPS Trackers

Remove or cover your toll transponder (E-ZPass, SunPass, etc.). A transponder in transit can rack up inadvertent charges as the carrier passes toll plazas — even though you're not the one driving. Most carriers travel routes that pass through toll infrastructure, and a transponder pinging in the back of the trailer can generate erroneous charges on your account.

If you have an aftermarket GPS tracker (LoJack, Bouncie, etc.), you don't need to remove it — but let your transport company know. Some older tracking devices have motion alerts that trigger false stolen-vehicle reports when the car is loaded at odd angles or moved unexpectedly.

Keys

Provide a physical working key (not just a key fob) for each vehicle. The driver needs to start the car, maneuver it, and turn it off independently. If you only have one key, have a spare cut before pickup — losing your only key while the car is 1,500 miles away is an avoidable nightmare. Label keys clearly if you're shipping multiple vehicles.

Mechanical Checks

Your car doesn't need to be freshly serviced to be shipped. But it does need to be operable and safe to load:

• Battery: The battery must hold a charge. The driver needs to start the car at pickup and unload it at delivery. A dead or dying battery that fails at either end creates a significant logistical problem. If your battery is marginal, charge it or have it tested before pickup.
• Brakes: The vehicle must be able to stop under its own power during loading and unloading. Non-functional brakes make a vehicle effectively non-running for transport purposes.
• Transmission: The car must move forward, reverse, and stop normally. Transmission issues that limit drivability affect how the car can be loaded and positioned on the carrier.
• Warning lights: Note any active dashboard warning lights and disclose them. A check engine light doesn't prevent shipment, but a warning indicating low oil pressure, overheating, or brake failure should be addressed before the car travels.

Paperwork You'll Need

At pickup, the driver will need to verify your identity and the vehicle. Have the following ready:

• Your government-issued ID (driver's license is fine)
• Vehicle registration or title — the driver may need to verify the VIN matches the order
• Order confirmation from your transport company — either printed or accessible on your phone
• Any release authorization if someone else is releasing the vehicle on your behalf

If you won't be present at pickup or delivery, the person acting as your authorized agent needs a written release authorization from you — a simple signed note with the VIN, your name, their name, and the date is typically sufficient. Some carriers have their own release form.

Day-of-Pickup Tips

The day the driver arrives, a few final checks keep things running smoothly:

• Be present and on time. Drivers operate tight schedules. Being available at the start of your pickup window prevents delays and avoids rescheduling fees some companies charge for missed windows.
• Walk the car with the driver. Don't just hand over the keys. Walk around the vehicle together and review the Bill of Lading. If you see a scratch or dent the driver missed, point it out — it should be noted on the BOL before loading.
• Don't sign a blank or incomplete BOL. The BOL is your legal record. If the condition section is blank, fill it in or ask the driver to note existing damage before signing. Once you sign, that's the baseline used at delivery.
• Take a final photo of the loaded vehicle on the carrier. A quick snapshot of your car loaded on the truck — ideally capturing the carrier's license plate — gives you additional documentation of the state of the vehicle and which carrier had it.
• Confirm delivery contact info. Make sure the driver and your transport company have the correct phone number for the person receiving the vehicle. Delivery drivers call ahead, and a missed call can turn into a missed delivery window.

Full Pre-Shipment Checklist

Preparing your car for shipment takes an hour or two at most — but the peace of mind it provides lasts through the entire transit. Good documentation, a clean and ready vehicle, and a clear inspection at pickup mean that if anything does go wrong in transit, you have everything you need to resolve it quickly and fairly.

At Lepke Auto Transport, we walk every customer through the preparation process before pickup. Our transport specialists answer questions, flag anything that might cause a hiccup on pickup day, and make sure you know exactly what to expect from start to finish.