Mixed experience with DAS

MD Submitted this review about Dependable Auto Shippers
Review made Live: 1/26/2012 12:42:00 PM
My experience with DAS was mixed. I work for the largest transportation company in the United States and am familiar with the logistics of positioning limited resources around the country in order to ship goods on a schedule. DAS seems to struggle with similar logistics. Anyway, here's a breakdown: ... Car was a new 2012 Shelby GT500. ... SHIPPING LOGISTICS: Poor. Car was picked up on time (from the dealer showroom) and then sat outdoors for 13 days prior to leaving origin. I requested enclosed transport because I did not want the car exposed to the elements except as necessary. I understand a couple of days for staging at each terminal. I don't understand picking the car up on Jan 4 and then letting it sit outside until Jan 17 when it finally leaves. When you know the scheduled outbound truck will arrive at terminal on day X, you go pick up the car on day X minus 1. Not 13 days prior. ... TRANSIT TIME: Once moving, the car made it here relatively quickly. Total actual truck time was only 4 days. The other 17 days were spent sitting outdoors in terminals. Proper logistics should have cut that to 4-6 days, and would have avoided a snow storm - during which the car was sitting outside in the DAS lot - in Chicago (though obviously that is an observation that can be made only in hindsight). ... CAR CARE: Car was covered in black-ish dust/grime when it arrived, but local terminal (a small towing company) gave it a quick wash. Driver's side floor mat was soiled with dirt and sand/gravel. There were no protective sheets/bags on the carpet, mats, or seat. DAS really should provide those at origin. I understand that the truck drivers don't have time to be wiping their feet every time they have to load/unload/position the car, but DAS could mitigate the dirt by just putting down some plastic and putting a seat bag on the driver's seat. The driver's side door sill was scuffed and has a permanent mark - unfortunately discovered after I had left the destination terminal. It's minor, but annoying. The origin inspection report listed "rubs" all across the front bumper. There are no rubs on the front bumpers, which is a good thing but also makes me wonder if DAS wasn't covering its butt by reporting rubs that weren't there. Dealer was there during inspection, though, so who knows. Maybe a small spot of dust counts as a "rub". No dents or dings in the body, and no damage to the low-profile tires or alloy rims. So all in all, the car arrived in good condition, if a little dirty. Somehow the car gained 7.3 miles - and enough to kick the supercharger out of its "dealer transport" mode and into "full horsepower" mode - while in transit. Makes me go hmmmm... ... CUSTOMER SERVICE: Very pleasant, easy to get a real person on the phone. They usually did have some extra info beyond what the tracking web page showed, which was nice. Unfortunately the extra info usually was about continued delays. The local towing yard that serves as the DAS terminal was very nice to work with. They promised to put my car inside until I picked it up - even moving the owner's car out of their small garage to fit mine in. That was very much appreciated. ... In summary, although the people at DAS were all very pleasant and arranging the transport was quite easy, they fell down in the actual business of moving my car. I probably would not choose DAS in the future.