When transporting a vehicle, one of the most common questions we are asked is whether or not you can put stuff in the trunk of your vehicle while it is being transported. The technical answer to this question really is no: as auto transporters are not licensed to transport any household goods, anything in the vehicle is technically not allowed – not even garbage (which is why you are required to have a completely clean cab come transport time). However, a commonly used loophole is the “junk in the trunk” rule – that is, anything put in the trunk of the car will be ignored, as the trunk will not be opened unless required by law. Transporters keep out of your car unless they are loading or unloading the vehicle; therefore, they won’t care if there’s a bit of stuff in the trunk so long as it’s out of sight and out of mind.
There are some things that you need to be aware of, however, when it comes to putting personal items in your vehicle, particularly the fact that you can only put so much in there. As auto transporters have to go through weigh stations while traveling across the country, letting people put whatever they want into their vehicles can actually push them overweight and cause some pretty severe delays. If a truck is overweight all the vehicles on the car must be searched for anything illegal, and if stuff is found in the trunk of your car they’re going to take it all out and leave it at the weigh station more like than not. Anything you put in the trunk is also not insured, which is why we recommend only putting items that are not valuable and are not altogether that heavy – generally blankets and clothes totaling 50 pounds or less is sufficient. And of course, please refrain from putting any firearms or explosives in the car, as transportation of those across state lines is heavily regulated and you could get a lot of people in a lot of trouble – including yourself – if you ignore that. Give us a call at 888-333-6343 or fill out our free online quote form for more information about transporting vehicles with stuff in the trunk.
