Trucking a yacht

[Steve W]

For comparison, I just shipped a 30,000# machine from Pensacola, FL to northern CA, 2600 miles, on a dedicated double drop flatbed trailer. 10' wide, requiring a wide load permit, but not escorts. Trucker told me that he cannot legally run at night with the wide load permits. He left our plant at noon on Tuesday and arrived at the customers site at noon on Friday. Total shipping cost was $8,100.00, about $3.11/mile.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by capt.bobfm

It's usually not a good idea to truck a boat when sailing it is an option. The bottom line is that a boat was not designed to travel over land. The action on the highway is detramental to the boat at best and can do some major damage (although sometimes not apparent right away). Check out what it would cost to sail it home. If it is about the same cost or even 10% more or, it's worth it.

I've just got to disagree. In the past couple of months I've seen several large boats being trucked through my home turf and I live in Montana. I caught one at a truck stop. It was about a 40' mono. It was wrapped up so I couldn't really tell much more. The truck said wide load and I didn't see escorts although they might have been there. Don't the factories truck them all over new? Surely they don't sail them through the canal to get from one coast to another. All you need is the right trucker. BOB

[drewzn]

I just shipped my 31', 16,000lb sailboat from Charleston, SC to Rockland, ME. It cost me $4,200 through Journey's End (in Rockland) and they even unloaded it and took it to a different storage yard for me.

I have a friend who has also had success with uShip - The Online Shipping Marketplace - Ship Freight, Furniture, Cars or Moves

[Sand crab]

This 40' tri just came up on Ebay and I just couldn't resist posting this pic. After all it is "Trucking a Yacht" BOB

[sailcruiser]

I second USHIP. You post details and companies respond with a no obligation quote. Flexibility is your friend when shipping. If you can find a hauler dead heading home it's much cheaper. SC

[ssanzone]

were i in your situation, i would consider doing a bit of work at the point of sale, sailing her into mexico for the bulk of the work and then thru the canal to the end point. the $$ you will (likely) save having the bulk of the work done in mexico would cover airfare and expenses to mexico for you to inspect and supervise the work in progress.

it really comes down to time and money. do you pay a yard in CA? pay a shipping company? vs do you want your boat in TX in a week? can you wait a month?

personally, in would avoid putting my boat on a truck until i had exhausted all other options.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I was just looking at uShip bids and there are a few listed for large boats wanting to travel between East and West coast. The bids I saw were ranging between $6900-11k