Shipping your Viper? Do not use NAAT or Werner!

NAAT was one of the recommended transport companies from this site. They sub-contracted the job to Werner Trans, and the outcome has been very poor. Here's the story:

My 94 Viper was purchased by Bryan Pickeral in Maryland. Since I live in Illinois, Bryan and I searched thru this website to get recommendations for a shipping company. NAAT was one of them, they gave Bryan a good quote, and he contracted with them to pick up the car and deliver it to him.

The job got subcontracted to Werner Trans, and the driver showed up by himself with an enclosed trailer. Since it takes 2 people to load a car, I asked the driver if he wanted to drive the car in (with me guiding) or should I drive (with him guiding). He stated it made no difference. Since I'm familiar with the clutch, I opted to drive the car into the trailer with him guiding me. We got almost all the way in (with the driver guiding me back and forth many times) and then heard a "crunch". Once we got the car situated, I surveyed the damage: the right side sill was severely crushed just forward of the tailpipe. The driver for Werner stated (in front of me and my wife) that he was guiding me in by looking at the wheels. He said he did not look at the side sills and didn't realize they stuck out a couple inches beyond the wheels. When my wife and I asked him if his insurance would cover the damage, he said they would because it was his fault that the damage had occurred.

Fast forward 1 month. Werner Trans and their insurance company refuse to accept the claim, even though their driver admitted negligence. Their stance is that I was driving the car so I'm totally liable for the damage. Both Bryan and I have gone back and forth with Werner and their insurance agent multiple times, to no avail. Bryan and I also spoke once with NAAT, and they seemed like they were willing to get involved and help. However, NAAT has subsequently refused to take our direct calls and will not return any of our messages. I have submitted the claim on my insurance, and my insurance company is certainly going to turn around and go after Werner. My insurance adjuster could not believe the situation.

2 lessons for you all:

1. Avoid NAAT and Werner at all costs.
2. Never touch your car once a transport company arrives. Even if they only have one person, let them be 100% responsible for loading the car.

Thanks for the heads up and the tips. Sorry you had to go through this. Insurance companies are the WORST and most of them are crooks.

See what you get for trying to be a nice guy and help the driver out.......... TROUBLE. That's unfortunate they're not stepping up and taking care of that for you. Very unprofessional on their part. But good on you for getting your insurance to cover it for now. Some sellers would leave it up to the buyer to take care of. Best of luck!

I had a similar encounter with DAS (dependable auto shippers). I had blue paint transfer from their trucks onto my '95 Emerald Green Rt/10. The wheels were damaged so bad, there were shards of aluminum sticking out from the lip of the wheels. It took a lot of trouble to get the repairs up to my standards - even though I had the transport fully insured through DAS. I feel your pain....

I've heard nothing but good things about using FedEx for shipping, and in turn I went with them to ship my Viper cross country. Everything went smooth.

http://passport.fedex.com

And if possible, I personally think it's a good idea to ship it from a Dodge dealer to a Dodge dealer if possible, as that way you can have it checked out before and after, and there are witnesses to the car's condition.

Plus dealers deal with loading and unloading cars day in a day out. It's fairly easy to have it picked up from one service dept and delivered to another. My 2 cents.

Thank ***** bro, I'm in the process of buying a Viper right now, some of the cars I'm looking at are out of state, your story makes me think I should stay local.

I would also add- The driver should have a pair of cotton coveralls on and remove all jewelry. Also If he is bigger than your car he is going to run into problems exiting the vehicle. Had a driver show up wearing a big Belt buckle to load my Ferrari 512bbi, bent the window frame as he leveraged himself out of the car, could barely squeeze out of the truck, scratched the car with the belt buckle on the way out. And this was the carrier Ferrari uses nationwide !!! Take pictures of your car before shipping. Better yet have your insurance agent inspect the car the day before.

All I can say is "Gary Almond". He is not only very careful, he's a Viper owner himself. I highly recommend him and wouldn't hesitate to call him for my next delivery.

jgfurr said:

NAAT was one of the recommended transport companies from this site. They sub-contracted the job to Werner Trans, and the outcome has been very poor. Here's the story:

My 94 Viper was purchased by Bryan Pickeral in Maryland. Since I live in Illinois, Bryan and I searched thru this website to get recommendations for a shipping company. NAAT was one of them, they gave Bryan a good quote, and he contracted with them to pick up the car and deliver it to him.

The job got subcontracted to Werner Trans, and the driver showed up by himself with an enclosed trailer. Since it takes 2 people to load a car, I asked the driver if he wanted to drive the car in (with me guiding) or should I drive (with him guiding). He stated it made no difference. Since I'm familiar with the clutch, I opted to drive the car into the trailer with him guiding me. We got almost all the way in (with the driver guiding me back and forth many times) and then heard a "crunch". Once we got the car situated, I surveyed the damage: the right side sill was severely crushed just forward of the tailpipe. The driver for Werner stated (in front of me and my wife) that he was guiding me in by looking at the wheels. He said he did not look at the side sills and didn't realize they stuck out a couple inches beyond the wheels. When my wife and I asked him if his insurance would cover the damage, he said they would because it was his fault that the damage had occurred.

Fast forward 1 month. Werner Trans and their insurance company refuse to accept the claim, even though their driver admitted negligence. Their stance is that I was driving the car so I'm totally liable for the damage. Both Bryan and I have gone back and forth with Werner and their insurance agent multiple times, to no avail. Bryan and I also spoke once with NAAT, and they seemed like they were willing to get involved and help. However, NAAT has subsequently refused to take our direct calls and will not return any of our messages. I have submitted the claim on my insurance, and my insurance company is certainly going to turn around and go after Werner. My insurance adjuster could not believe the situation.

2 lessons for you all:

1. Avoid NAAT and Werner at all costs.
2. Never touch your car once a transport company arrives. Even if they only have one person, let them be 100% responsible for loading the car.

Click to expand...

If I were you I would also contact the Commissioner of Insurance for the state of Illinois in case your insurance company runs into any snags. They are there to help you. Google it for your state and good luck with the claim.

I am the recipient of this wonderful car owned and maintained by Jon Furr. He took meticulous care of this car and to experience what we did from a PROFESSIONAL transport company is unimaginable. North American Auto Transport (http://naatransport.com/) states on their website that they are fully insured though they didn’t even ship the car! I was never told that the shipping would be contracted out to another shipping company. I tried to work with North American Auto Transport via emails, faxes, and telephone calls to no avail. I would hear excuses that the adjuster just went home, was sick, never received my faxes, need to talk to someone else. I could tell the secretary was being told what to say in the background. Eventually I was told to talk to Mark. I’m thinking Mark who? Mark from Werner transport. I called Mark and he flat out denied any wrong doing on his part and said he is not liable. I tried to reason with him that being a professional auto transport company they MUST be following some type of procedures for loading/unloading. Both Jon and I were steaming….

On another note, Jon has claimed the damage on his policy and his insurance company is going to take care of the crushed exhaust sill. Jon is a stand up guy and I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another Viper from him. Hopefully he gets a 08 and wants to sell in a few years, hint!!

Also, I had tried to get Gary Almond to do the shipping but he was unavailable. He did call me afterwards to see if I still needed help and I explained what had happened. He offered great advice as to parts/repairs. He was also several hundred dollars cheaper than NAATransport!!!

Above all, remember Jon’s 2 lessons;

1. Avoid NAAT and Werner at all costs.
2. Never touch your car once a transport company arrives. Even if they only have one person, let them be 100% responsible for loading the car.

pickeralbc said:

I am the recipient of this wonderful car owned and maintained by Jon Furr. He took meticulous care of this car and to experience what we did from a PROFESSIONAL transport company is unimaginable. North American Auto Transport (http://naatransport.com/) states on their website that they are fully insured though they didn’t even ship the car! I was never told that the shipping would be contracted out to another shipping company. I tried to work with North American Auto Transport via emails, faxes, and telephone calls to no avail. I would hear excuses that the adjuster just went home, was sick, never received my faxes, need to talk to someone else. I could tell the secretary was being told what to say in the background. Eventually I was told to talk to Mark. I’m thinking Mark who? Mark from Werner transport. I called Mark and he flat out denied any wrong doing on his part and said he is not liable. I tried to reason with him that being a professional auto transport company they MUST be following some type of procedures for loading/unloading. Both Jon and I were steaming….

On another note, Jon has claimed the damage on his policy and his insurance company is going to take care of the crushed exhaust sill. Jon is a stand up guy and I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another Viper from him. Hopefully he gets a 08 and wants to sell in a few years, hint!!

Also, I had tried to get Gary Almond to do the shipping but he was unavailable. He did call me afterwards to see if I still needed help and I explained what had happened. He offered great advice as to parts/repairs. He was also several hundred dollars cheaper than NAATransport!!!

Above all, remember Jon’s 2 lessons;

1. Avoid NAAT and Werner at all costs.
2. Never touch your car once a transport company arrives. Even if they only have one person, let them be 100% responsible for loading the car.

Click to expand...

Sorry about the rough start, but... welcome to the party pal!

Also Do Not Use D.a.s. (dependable Auto Shipers) They Have A Horrible Customer Service, I Just Shiped 2 Dodge Vipers And A Solstise To U.k And Both Viper Got Stolen, They Recover Them Like 4 Days Later With Damages, To Make A Long Story Short, The Worst That Could Happen Was Just That And They Didnt Even Offer An Apology None Or Less A Compensation For A Damages, Lost Of Business And Time Lost.

revived_gearhead said:

All I can say is "Gary Almond". He is not only very careful, he's a Viper owner himself. I highly recommend him and wouldn't hesitate to call him for my next delivery.

Click to expand...

I am trying as hard as possible to find out how to contact Gary Almond to have my newly purchased 99 gts transported to me from ST Louis,Mo to here in Central Va. Do you or anyone know how i can contact him?
Thanks

musclenutz said:

I am trying as hard as possible to find out how to contact Gary Almond to have my newly purchased 99 gts transported to me from ST Louis,Mo to here in Central Va. Do you or anyone know how i can contact him?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Try 240-994-1343.

ETA: You might find out if Woodhouse has any trailers coming this way or can hook you up. Give Bill P a call.

InterCity Lines is very good as well

I used Fed-Ex Florida to NY enclosed $1271.00 to my front door.

I will offer my services. Experienced Driver owner, Transporting in an enclosed trailer.
Available for Weekend runs....

Stay away from G-Force Logistics. They have terrible customer service.

The same damaged happened to my 97 RT/10 on the right side sill, tried to go after the 3rd party transport co. and couldnt get anywhere. Biggest advice to anyone shipping a vehicle is do a thorough inspection before and after with a fine tooth comb. Dont accept or sign your name on any paper until the post inspection is done and if you find damage have it documented. Get any admission of guilt from driver on the paperwork and get copy of it and call shipping company ASAP. I personally wont ever use a shipper the contracts it out to a 3rd party. Reliable Carriers use there own trucks and drivers.

So sorry you had such terrible loading and delivery problems, but I don't recall ever hearing about either Werner or NAAT on the VCA forums, and I'm quite thankful for that.

I have used UNReliable and FedEx Passport, and I had a pleasurable experience with FedEx Passport and would certainly use and recommend them again.

After hearing a lot of positive feedback, I just used Intercity Lines for the first time this year. They were EXCEPTIONAL and their prices were very reasonable. Their drivers are listed on the website and many have been with the company for many years. Very professional. I would do it again.

musclenutz said:

I am trying as hard as possible to find out how to contact Gary Almond to have my newly purchased 99 gts transported to me from ST Louis,Mo to here in Central Va. Do you or anyone know how i can contact him?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Congrats. What are the details on your new car?

Warfang said:

Thanks for the heads up and the tips. Sorry you had to go through this. Insurance companies are the WORST and most of them are crooks.

Click to expand...

Especially USAA. I thought Reliable was the only way to go, used at all past VOIs and used by the factory.

Did any of you notice the date on this thread??!!

I just love it when old threads get revisited, proves the search feature is working!

As it is an old thread and as an FYI to everyone - Gary Almond does not do his own transporting. He does contract out with other parties (not saying it to be negative, just want everyone to have all the information). I shipped a vehicle with Gary and although the car arrived safe and sound, scheduling was a nightmare including several delays while we waited for the contracted party for various reasons. Second time around, I shipped with Reliable and could not have been happier. They were actually were able to pick the vehicle up earlier than expected and had less transport time than quoted (its nice to under promise and over deliver for once!) and the driver could not have been nicer or more professional.

Bad experience with High End Transport. Car was supposed to arrive thursday and is now monday with a new ETA of wednesday. Cant seem to contact the dispatcher who tells me excuses like the transport got into an accident right before pickup (WHAT?!?!?!). Requested lift gate and even gave them an extra $50 just to be careful. President of the company Angel was a delight to deal with and as soon as my money was taken, phone calls and emails are left unanswered.

DO NOT USE HIGH END AUTO TRANSPORTS from Ft. Lauderdale. They do not care about the customer because they are only brokers.

we should create a sticky of transport companies that are good or bad. Makes me think of getting into the business as there are so many bad eggs, I'm sure a good one would shine out.

Some friendly advice from a guy whose been in trucking his entire life:

NOT ALL CARRIERS ARE CREATED EQUAL

Using Werner as an example from one of the stories here. Werner is NOT primarily a car hauler, they are in the truck load business.

BEWARE OF BROKERS IN THE CAR HAULING BUSINESS

They will tell you they have trucks and buildings, hell, they will even show you pictures of the brick and mortar.
They are usually some guy or girl(to be fair) sitting at a home office(dark damp basement in an old bath robe smoking a butt) trying to make money without using their money.

They search the net and look for carriers with the lowest rate and then tack on 10% or more, just for making a phone call.

STAY AWAY FROM THEM! (unless you know someone personally who has used them)

OWNER OPERATORS
Can be OK, if you know them and they have been recommended by some one you know or by some one here on the site. (I know we have a few good guys here)

They usually have only one truck and trailer, and work with brokers who try and fill them up. This is not your best route, as things happen in trucking.

Example: the power unit (tractor/pick up/toter) breaks down and it's a Thursday, your event starts Friday evening. They can't get the part til Monday. How does this guy recover? Maybe if its a tractor he can go to Ryder or Penske and rent one. If it's a pick up with a goose neck...lots of luck. When you go with a larger Carrier, they have ways of recovering because they have a large fleet, and alternatives.

DON"T MESS AROUND! Go with a known entity!

When I put the bid out for the VOI 11, I went with the guys who have been doing this kind of work for years.

The Carriers such as Reliable, Intercity Lines, Pilot Transport etc.

All of which are excellent Carriers, but Passport perks and rates were one I couldn't pass up.

Passport was lower in price than all of it's competition for 95% of the lanes I gave them. I was surprised at how long it took some of the Carriers to get back to me on a quote.

Intercity and Passport were 2 I didn't have to chase for month's. They were professional and had my quotes in the time I allotted. The others who I would of expected to take care of our community... not so good! I even met with one of them, along with the 3 other National Officers in person in January. They didn't get back to me with a quote until late April early May. Why? Because they thought they had the business in the bag. I explained to them that they were going to have the first shot, but needed to come to the table with a sharp pencil and that I planned on looking for competitive bids.

Well, they gave me pricing 10 to 20% higher than Passport and couldn't justify why!

I had some cheaper bids than Passport, but I like to sleep at night. I wanted a Carrier that was going to take care of our members


I'm going to use our official Carrier of VOI 11 ,Passport, as an example. Passport owns over 40 trailers that were built for transporting Exotic/Classic/Muscle etc cars. They don't use converted moving vans, Passports trailers are built using specs given to the trailer manufacturer by Passport. These specs came from years of car hauling experience.

Passport has FREE tracking on the trailer, so you can see where your car is 24/7. Some Carriers have it on the power unit, so the trailer could be in a yard while the tractor is somewhere else.

Passport also took out this ad in the Du Pont Registry using our club in the ad! Everyone who uses Passport will get a free 1 year subscription to the magazine as well

By the way, I saw a statement that you need 2 people to load a car, NOT TRUE!

You need 1 professional transport driver and the right equipment.

Also, I want to note as the Official Carrier, Passport will have access to the host Hotel Property that others won't. The hotel has made arrangements with us to use the secure hotel parking garage prior to the event and after to accomodate delivery/pick up of the cars.

So at the end of the day, don't go with an unknown entity

You paid a nice price for your baby, don't give it to just anybody.

Go with a Carrier who will Deliver!

I recently had a car shipped from CA via Reliable. The seller on the other end made the arrangements.

The day the car was picked up, we were told that the driver would be contacting us in a few days to give us the day they would arrive here in PA. A few days went by...nothing. We called and were told the car was moved to their warehouse in CA. Again, we were told to await a phone call.

When none came...we called again. Now, the car was being picked up and that we would again hear from the driver. After hearing nothing again...we called. Now the car is in the AZ warehouse and they have no idea when it will ship. They also advised that we should expect a 4 week window for shipping.

We wait a number of days and call again. Now, the car is going to be picked up and we'll hear from the driver. (See where this is going?) I explained my concern about the car being loaded, unloaded, loaded, etc. They explain how professional they are, etc.

Next we call again and find out the car is en route Eastbound...except it needs to go to the MI warehouse since the truck it is in has been paid for by someone shipping multiple cars. It seems that having another car (apparently it's not full) in the truck could upset this other shipper.

Finally, the delivery driver calls and the car makes it to me.

So...the car was on multiple trucks, was in at least three Reliable warehouses....and took over three weeks. I can't be upset with the seller as it was out of their hands.

I did learn some though. Many of Reliable's drivers own the trucks. Each driver is personally responsible for the first amount of damage to any car. I don't recall the exact figure but $20,000 comes to mind...so it's in the driver's interest to make sure the cars are safe. The driver that brought my car seemed like a good guy.

I'm sure that many folks waiting on a new car are anxious and that many carriers may get a bad rap for being a bit late. But heck, stuff happens and travelling cross country is no picnic. I was under the impression it would be 7-10 days...and it was over 3 weeks. Yet, many times we were told it was "on the truck and you'll hear from the driver". I suppose if we were given a realistic time for transport it would have been different.

Yep, thats why its called Unreliable, and sounds exactly like my last "chore" with the first and last time I dealt with Unreliable.

guess Im lucky. I bought mine in cali and used PASHA to have it shipped from their to me in hawaii on a boat...Pretty easy compared to what you guys go through