Fleet Vehicle Transport & Logistics

Businesses, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations all need to manage their assets carefully. Maintaining, monitoring, and assessing whether to repair or replace these assets can have a dramatic impact on any organization’s bottom line.

Vehicles are among the most important assets owned by many organizations—vehicles owned and maintained by an organization are known as “fleet vehicles”. The term is broad—anything from police cruisers to transit buses can be considered fleet vehicles. Cars used by salespeople for business-related travel? You guessed it—fleet vehicles.

Organizations need to transport fleet vehicles for any number of reasons, including:

• Bringing new acquisitions to their facilities

• Relocating vehicles to a new facility

• Moving vehicles to be repaired, maintained, or upgraded

• Asset disposal

• Sales tours

• And more

The logistics required for moving even a few vehicles can be fairly involved, even over small distances. Drivers must be secured for each vehicle—in many cases, those drivers will also need transportation back home. When dozens or hundreds of vehicles need to be transported, the logistics can be almost unfathomably complex—and that’s where professional vehicle transportation services come into play.

In this article, we’re going to analyze the benefits of choosing professional fleet vehicle transportation services. We’ll also look at some of the factors you need to consider when selecting a fleet vehicle transportation service and how your organization and the vehicle transportation service can keep your fleet safe and secure.

Benefits of Professional Fleet Vehicle Transport

Efficient Fleet Management

Multi-level car carriers can transport 9 or more vehicles at once with a single driver. You won’t have to worry about transporting drivers home, and the process takes far less fuel than if you were to drive several cars to their destination. This makes professional fleet transportation a much more cost-efficient service, even if you’re only transporting vehicles over a short distance.

Streamlined Coordination

When managing assets, it’s important to be able to evaluate, inventory, maintain, and repair those assets as close to simultaneously as possible—the quality of each vehicle will impact how your organization evaluates the value of the other vehicles. To perform operations as efficiently as possible, having your vehicles arrive at as close to the same time as possible is key.

When you hire a fleet transportation service, all of these logistics are handled for you to ensure that your vehicles are picked up and dropped off on time. This can drastically reduce idle time and help you get your vehicles back on the road as soon as possible. 

Specialized Services for Fleet Transportation

We’ve talked a lot about car transport services—but what about transporting buses or heavy machinery? 

Many fleet transportation companies offer specialized services—large carriers that allow them to move multiple large vehicles at once. They may also offer discounts and insurance for fleet vehicles they’re transporting—it never hurts to ask! 

Factors To Consider in Fleet Vehicle Transport

Cost Management & Budgeting

Outside of simplifying logistics, reducing cost is one of the best reasons to hire a fleet vehicle transportation service. When it comes to transporting vehicles for repair or even for sales tours, it’s important to include the cost of transportation in your assessments. You may find it’s more cost-effective to sell old vehicles instead of repairing them or even renting vehicles for your team. 

That’s not always the case, however, and vehicle transport services can dramatically reduce the cost of transporting your fleet. 

Insurance Considerations

Most fleet transport services offer insurance for the vehicles in their care. This can dramatically reduce an organization’s financial concerns, as they may no longer have to pay deductibles or a percentage of the costs should an accident occur. 

Documentation & Paperwork

A fleet transportation company can help you understand all the documentation and paperwork you need to transport your fleet—this is especially important for interprovincial and international vehicle transportation. You’ll still need to prepare documents for the vehicle transportation service, but they’ll help you determine which documents will be needed and where you can find them. 

Ensuring Vehicle Safety & Security

Vehicle Inspection & Preparation

Vehicles should be inspected before they’re given to the vehicle transportation service. Realistically, many of these vehicles are being transported in order to be inspected, either for maintenance or repairs—this means that while the inspection doesn’t have to be comprehensive, it should be thorough:

• Personal items should be removed from the vehicles.

• Any defects that could impede transportation should be related to the fleet transportation company.

• The make and model of the vehicle, as well as any modifications, should also be relayed.

Tracking & Monitoring Systems

Reputable fleet transportation services will use tracking and monitoring systems to keep you aware of your fleet’s arrival time. This will help you coordinate staff for the arrival of the fleet and warn you of any potential delays. 

Safety Measures During Transportation

A good fleet transportation service will take several safety measures to ensure your fleet arrives without any damage, including:

• The use of straps to keep vehicles secured

• Pre-trip inspections of the carrier and inspections en route for longer trips

• The use of modern carriers equipped with electronic blind-spot monitoring and stability control

• Careful route planning and weather monitoring

• The use of snow tires when necessary

• Tracking and communication to keep both headquarters and the fleet owner aware of any changes

• And more

Choosing the Right Fleet Vehicle Transport Provider

Researching & Comparing Providers

There are several vehicle transportation services in Canada. You can compare these providers on several fronts, including:

• Cost (per vehicle, per kilometre)

• Specialization (can they transport larger vehicles)

• Experience with fleet transportation

• Availability

• Capacity

• Safety record

• And more

You can find these transportation services on Google, but you may not be able to see all the information you need on their websites. Consider using Better Business Bureau and similar websites to evaluate their safety record, and contact the company directly for more information.

Experience & Expertise

As mentioned above, expertise is one of the most important factors—not every vehicle transportation service has the capacity or logistical experience to transport a whole fleet of vehicles. Fleet transportation is somewhat niche, and both cost and capacity can vary widely between companies—it’s best to contact these transportation agencies directly.

Customer Reviews & Testimonials

While some of the information available online may be limited, customer reviews and testimonials are often readily available—even through Google. Look at these reviews, look on their websites for testimonials, and consider contacting other organizations to see which fleet transportation services they use.

At Professional Car Carriers, we offer comprehensive fleet transportation services. Interested in learning more? Contact us directly—we’ll be happy to offer more information based on your needs.