Preparation takes about an hour and prevents most of the things that go wrong on pickup day. The short version: wash it, empty it, leave about a quarter tank of fuel, disable the alarm, remove anything that can come loose, and be ready to walk around it with the driver.
The reasoning behind each step is worth knowing, because it tells you what to do when your situation does not match the checklist.
The week before
Wash the exterior. This is not cosmetic. Road film hides exactly the scratches and chips that a damage claim later depends on, and a driver who cannot see a scuff will not record it. Skip this and you weaken your own condition baseline before the truck arrives.
Deal with fluid leaks. If your car leaves a spot on the driveway, mention it when you book and get it addressed if you can. Vehicles on a trailer sit directly above other people's cars. A carrier who discovers an active leak at pickup may load the vehicle on the bottom deck, or may decline it.
Check tire pressure. Properly inflated tires load, roll, and secure correctly. Soft tires make ramp loading harder and complicate wheel-strap securement.
Check the battery. The vehicle needs to start at pickup and again at delivery, potentially a week or more later. A battery already struggling in your driveway will not survive eight days of sitting.
Note existing damage yourself. Walk the car, photograph every panel, and know what is already there. You want no surprises when the driver writes their report.
The day before
Reduce fuel to about a quarter tank. The standard request across the industry, and there is a real reason: fuel is weight. A full tank on a large SUV adds meaningfully to a load already running against federal weight limits, multiplied across nine vehicles on a trailer. A quarter tank is enough to load, unload, and drive away at the other end.
Remove all personal belongings. Most carriers allow a limited amount in the trunk, typically around 100 pounds, but nothing inside the vehicle is covered by cargo insurance and the rules vary by carrier. If you are considering packing, read what carriers actually allow inside a shipped vehicle first.
Remove your toll transponder. This one is left off most checklists and it costs people real money. Your transponder does not know it is on a truck. It will register at every gantry the carrier passes, across however many states the route crosses, and the charges are yours.
Remove or secure loose exterior items. Aftermarket antennas, bike and ski racks, spoilers that are not factory-mounted, hood ornaments, magnetic signage, and anything held on with adhesive. Highway airflow on an open trailer is more aggressive than anything these parts see in normal driving.
Retract or secure a convertible top. Soft tops should be fully closed and latched. An aging top that does not seal well is a genuine argument for a covered trailer rather than an open one.
Fold in the mirrors if they fold. Vehicles sit close together on a trailer.
The morning of pickup
Disable the alarm, or show the driver how. The practical problem is not noise in your driveway. It is a driver at a truck stop at 2 a.m. who needs to reposition your car to load someone else's, and cannot do it without setting off a siren they have no way to silence. If the alarm cannot be disabled without disabling the immobilizer, write down the disarm procedure and hand it to the driver.
Provide a working key. One key for the driver. Keep your spare. Confirm it actually works, especially if it is a backup fob that has been in a drawer.
Explain anything unusual. A sticky ignition, a manual transmission with a specific reverse pattern, a hood release in a strange place, a car that needs the pedal held down to start. The driver has thirty seconds with your vehicle and will not figure it out on their own.
Make sure the car is accessible. Not blocked in a garage, not behind two other vehicles, not in a spot that needs a gate code nobody has.
Be reachable. Drivers coordinate by phone. Missed calls become rescheduled pickups.
Have someone present who can sign. You or a designated adult. Whoever it is will inspect the vehicle with the driver and sign the condition report, which is the document that governs any later damage claim. If it will not be you, brief them properly first: our guide to the pickup and delivery inspection covers what they should be looking at.
Things people get wrong
Emptying the tank completely. Quarter tank means quarter tank. A vehicle that runs dry on the trailer is a problem for the driver and for you.
Assuming a full detail is required. A basic wash is enough. You are making damage visible, not preparing for a show.
Leaving the car locked with no key access. Carriers generally need to be able to get into the vehicle, because it may need repositioning mid-route.
Adding fuel stabilizer for a domestic shipment. Reasonable for a vehicle going into long-term storage. Unnecessary for a week on a truck.
Waiting to disclose a mechanical issue. If the car does not start reliably, or does not roll, steer, and brake, that changes the equipment the carrier needs to dispatch. Say so at booking, not at pickup.
If the vehicle is older, modified, or does not run
The standard checklist assumes a modern, running, unmodified vehicle. Three situations need different handling.
Vintage and collector vehicles have their own preparation requirements around fuel systems, batteries, tires, and driver instructions. Those are covered separately in our classic vehicle preparation guide.
Lifted, lowered, or heavily modified vehicles need accurate measurements disclosed at booking, because the dimensions determine which trailers can carry them at all.
Non-running vehicles need the carrier to know before dispatch, because winch loading requires specific equipment. A standard carrier that arrives to find an inoperable vehicle cannot take it.
Preparation is the easy part once you know what happens on either end of it. Our car shipping overview walks through the full sequence from booking through delivery, including what the driver will need from you on the day. ---