Transporting a sailboat from east coast to west coast.

[cpt_757]

Plan to purchasing a sailboat(30 ft.) early next year, but every boat I found is locating east coast or east coast Canada and I live in So Cal. I checked uShip.com and some of haulers were so cheap. I am not sure these price are reliable. Cheaper is better but...
Any suggestion about cross country trucking service please.
And if a boat's located in Canada, should I use a broker to taking care of importing paper work?
Thanks for advance.

[model 10]

When we moved our boat there was also a fuel surcharge on top of the hauling cost, $500 or something. 30' is pretty small so not as many oversize permits, travel restrictions etc. If it's a regular boat trucking company I wouldn't worry about getting a good deal. Who knows it might be a good deal for them as they like to keep their trucks loaded as they move around.

[tbodine88]

Who are some regular boat trucking companies?

[cpt_757]

I just using the online quote and getting idea.
uShip.com might be affordable but not sure those companies had experience with sailboat even all information about a boat submitted.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by cpt_757

Plan to purchasing a sailboat(30 ft.) early next year, but every boat I found is locating east coast or east coast Canada and I live in So Cal. I checked uShip.com and some of haulers were so cheap. I am not sure these price are reliable. Cheaper is better but...
Any suggestion about cross country trucking service please.
And if a boat's located in Canada, should I use a broker to taking care of importing paper work?
Thanks for advance.

Howdy!

First, I would be interested to know how much it winds up costing you to transport the boat from East Coast to West Coast, so IF you do decide to purchase a boat and do the truck transport, please come back to this thread and post the method and cost of the transport.

Trucking a boat across the country has been discussed several times in the forum, and I have read many of the previous comments, but I do like to keep adding to the knowledge base (my notes).

I did a quick Google Custom Search of CF for you using the term "transport" and came up with many threads if you want to do some reading of previous threads. The link will show you the list of threads.
transport - Google Search

Another term "trucking" and using a separate search. I think you will find some answers here:
http://cse.google.com/cse?cx=0114038...ing&gsc.page=1

[Cheechako]

I doubt a reliable shipper will be less than $10k. Look closely at anything lower. I'm not aware of Uship but there are many shipping brokers out there that are only middle men. I would not rely on their numbers.
Also, there was a thread last year here on CF about a guy that hired a cheap shipper to haul his boat. The Shipper disappeared with the boat and was holding it hostage for more money. This also occurs with people moving their household from coast to coast.
One long term known shipper I'm aware of is Associated Boat Transport.

http://www.associatedboat.com/
Bottom line is the cost of shipping a 30 footer coast to coast is prohibitive on most 30 footers.

[cpt_757]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Howdy!

First, I would be interested to know how much it winds up costing you to transport the boat from East Coast to West Coast, so IF you do decide to purchase a boat and do the truck transport, please come back to this thread and post the method and cost of the transport.

Trucking a boat across the country has been discussed several times in the forum, and I have read many of the previous comments, but I do like to keep adding to the knowledge base (my notes).

I did a quick Google Custom Search of CF for you using the term "transport" and came up with many threads if you want to do some reading of previous threads. The link will show you the list of threads.
transport - Google Search

Another term "trucking" and using a separate search. I think you will find some answers here:
trucking - Google Search

Thanks for the link,
I will post next year when I purchse a boat and exact cost.
Right now I had some estimates, those are vary between $1900 to 4500, quite big difference.

[cpt_757]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I doubt a reliable shipper will be less than $10k. Look closely at anything lower. I'm not aware of Uship but there are many shipping brokers out there that are only middle men. I would not rely on their numbers.
Also, there was a thread last year here on CF about a guy that hired a cheap shipper to haul his boat. The Shipper disappeared with the boat and was holding it hostage for more money. This also occurs with people moving their household from coast to coast.
One long term known shipper I'm aware of is Associated Boat Transport.


Bottom line is the cost of shipping a 30 footer coast to coast is prohibitive on most 30 footers.

Thanks,
I would research with known trucking company even higher cost, better than loosing boat.
I heard same thing before

[Cheechako]

With fuel prices down, my $10k MAY be a little high. I got a price of about $11k Florida to WA state in 2010... for a 30' trawler... no mast, shallow keel.

[cpt_757]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

With fuel prices down, my $10k MAY be a little high. I got a price of about $11k Florida to WA state in 2010... for a 30' trawler... no mast, shallow keel.

I got a quick quote by Yachtworld.com recently about 34ft from Jacksonville FL to LA was 4400, so I can't trust numbers from that quick quote...

[petrified]

Being in the trucking business, not boat transport, crossing the country for less than $2 a mile is ridiculous.
I would think $4 mile plus permits. Which can sometimes be outrageous.

[Don C L]

I thought about this a year and a half ago when I was looking for my boat. I think Cheechako is right, the cost for a 30 footer hardly makes it worth it unless you are looking for something especially unusual. Looking up and down the west coast may be a better option. For a 30 footer craigslist has 3 axle sailboat trailers once in a while for around $5000 for up to 15000# or so. (3 axles ride much better than two.) Maybe look to buy a trailer, rent your own truck to tow it and sell the trailer when finished? (I have a friend who may buy the trailer from you!) What kind of boat are you looking for?

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by cpt_757

Plan to purchasing a sailboat(30 ft.) early next year, but every boat I found is locating east coast or east coast Canada and I live in So Cal...

You're doing it wrong. Shop west coast, only. Then you can do the delivery yourself.

[scgilligan]

Originally Posted by petrified

Being in the trucking business, not boat transport, crossing the country for less than $2 a mile is ridiculous.
I would think $4 mile plus permits. Which can sometimes be outrageous.

Kinda my thoughts also. I have several truck driving friends and most in the Southeast still make better than .30-.40 per mile..just driver charges alone. Still have to think about costs associated with truck, preparation of boat, permits, unseen costs galore, etc. No way I'd look at a quote less than 4K as being legit.

[TacomaSailor]

Several comments and observations.:

A friend recently paid $3,000 to have a 32' boat/dual axle trailer towed from Miami to San Diego (2,600 miles). The beam was 9' so no permits were required. He owned the boat and trailer and was very flexible about the shipping date. The shipper used a big dually diesel pickup for the tow. My friend found the trucker thru U-Ship. The truck was from San Diego and was looking for a return trip from south Florida.

In late 2014 I used U-Ship to get several quotes to transport a 40' x 12' 10" sailboat from San Diego to SW Florida. I asked those guys a lot of questions and they seemed to know what they were doing. I've shipped my boat on a truck and helped two other friends prepare and ship their boats so have a good idea about picking a shipper.

The quotes all ranged from $10,500 to $13,000. But, I gave them a three month window to work in. All the offers were from companies based on the US east coast who wanted a back haul and were willing to make me a good deal.

A friend recently shipped a Freedom 30 from Portland, OR to Anacortes, WA and paid $2,000 (250 miles). The shipper provided the trailer but was able to use a one-ton dually diesel pickup rather than a standard tractor truck. The shipper said the pickup costs him 1/3 less to operate. He said he got 9 - 10 mpg with the pickup.

IF you can find a shipper with such a pickup and your boat is light enough/narrow enough and you are flexible in your timing and destination - then you might get the job done for less than $5,000.

There are currently 111 sailboats for sale in California between $1 and $75,000 and 28' to 32' and another 87 Washington and Oregon boats in that category.