The destination sets it. Essex is six miles from Burlington, so it draws on the same carrier capacity the whole Chittenden County area draws on. The distance you are going decides which of our published national bands you start from. Roughly $450 to $900 under 500 miles and $900 to $1,600 from 500 to 1,500. Where you land inside a band comes down to your dates and your direction. Put both zip codes and the vehicle into the calculator and you have the real figure in about a minute, or call and we will work it through with you.

Because Vermont is a small market and a published number would be wrong too often to be useful. On a busy corridor prices barely move week to week. Here, what you pay depends on how well your dates line up with a run a driver is already making. We would rather give you a real figure in a minute than a printed one you cannot hold us to. The national bands on our cost page are the honest starting point, and the calculator does the rest.

They are two separate municipalities that share a name. Essex Junction voted to leave the Town of Essex and became a city on July 1, 2022. The Junction is the older center, with the train station, the Champlain Valley Exposition and the GlobalFoundries plant. The Town wraps around it and runs out past Essex Center toward Jericho and Westford. For us it changes nothing about the service. Give the full street address and zip code, and tell us which of the two you are in, and the driver arrives in the right place first time.

Almost always, yes. Essex is the easiest part of the Burlington area for a full-size trailer. The subdivisions off VT-289, Essex Center, Butlers Corners, Pages Corner and the streets running out toward Jericho all have room to turn and load. Most addresses here have a driveway rather than a curb space. The one place drivers avoid is the Five Corners area in the middle of the village, where five roads meet and the blocks around it are narrow. If you are near there we will agree a meeting point a few minutes out, at no extra cost.

Count the pickup window first, then the road. The window is six days on standard and three on expedited, from the date you name. Once the car is loaded, figure one to three days down the East Coast to Boston, New York or Washington. Two to four to Raleigh. Three to four to Chicago. Seven to ten to California or Washington state. Federal hours-of-service rules cap the miles a driver can cover in a day, and no service level changes that.

A range of days rather than a single appointment. Standard is six days, expedited is three, and both count forward from the date you give us. It exists because a carrier is building a load of nine or ten cars and fitting them into one route. The driver calls you the day before with a time, so you are not sitting waiting. The wider the window you can give in a market like this one, the better your options look.

Two to three weeks is the honest answer, and three to four in midwinter or around the last week of August when the Champlain Valley Fair is on. Fewer trucks pass through Vermont than through southern New England, so the ones that do are worth planning around. If your dates are tight, say so when you call and we will tell you straight away what is realistic rather than after you have booked.

It helps a lot. A driver working Chittenden County treats Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Williston and Essex as one stop rather than six. You ride whatever capacity comes into the area. The bonus is that Essex loads faster once the truck arrives, because the streets are wider and the driveways are longer than they are in central Burlington.

Everywhere in the state. Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Williston, Shelburne, Milton, St. Albans and Jericho are all routine from the same runs. So are Montpelier, Barre, Stowe, Waterbury, Middlebury, Rutland, White River Junction, Brattleboro and Bennington. The Northeast Kingdom is regular work as well and simply wants a few more days of notice.

Vermont planned a beltway around the Burlington area and built one piece of it. VT-289 is a 3.94-mile limited-access highway that starts at VT-2A and finishes at VT-117, all inside Essex, and the rest of the project was cancelled in 2011. So it never reached I-89. In practice it matters very little. Trucks come off I-89 at Williston and run north on VT-2A, or come through Winooski on VT-15. Both are a few minutes of well-traveled road, and VT-289 gives a driver a clean way across town.

Often, yes, and it is one of the more common reasons cars come to Essex. The plant is the largest private employer in Vermont, with about 3,000 people. Hiring there runs all year rather than in a season. That makes booking the date you actually want easier here than in a student town. A lot of people fly or take the train in and have the car follow. The Vermonter stops in Essex Junction daily on its run to Washington.

Less than people expect. VT-2A and VT-15 are commuter roads, so they are cleared early and stay open through the season. A storm shifts a pickup by a day now and then. What helps most is the last hundred feet. Clear the driveway and the apron at the road before the driver arrives, so the ramps go down on solid ground. Then brush the snow off the car so the condition report is accurate.

Open for almost everything. It is how new cars reach dealerships and it is what nine out of ten customers choose. Enclosed runs about 80 percent more, because a hard-sided trailer carries two to six cars instead of ten. It earns its money on a classic, an exotic, fresh paint, or a car leaving Vermont between December and March, when every road south of here is salted.

Yes, with one honest caveat that has nothing to do with Essex specifically. A loaded carrier is about 75 feet long and 13 and a half feet tall, and it has to be able to turn around and get clear. Most of Essex is fine for that. Where a street is too tight, the driver agrees a wide spot nearby with you, usually a few minutes away, and there is no extra charge for it.

Yes. The carrier hauling your vehicle holds Carrier Cargo Insurance and it applies for the whole trip. Once a truck is assigned we hold that carrier's certificate of insurance and will send you a copy on request. You can also check any carrier yourself on FMCSA SAFER, a free public lookup: enter a USDOT number and it returns operating authority and insurance on file. Ours is USDOT 2887232 and MC 969368.

Usually yes, within reason. Most drivers will take a few things as a courtesy. Keep it under about 100 pounds, pack it neatly, and keep it out of sight from outside the car. Think a few boxes in the trunk rather than a carload. The one thing to know is that you are paying to move the vehicle, so the carrier's insurance covers the car itself. Keep anything you would hate to lose with you.

Yes, provided the wheels turn, the steering works and the brakes hold, and provided the trailer has a winch on it. No set surcharge, but budget $200 upward of the running price. Flag it when you ask for the quote so we send a winch truck rather than find out on the driveway. A car that has sat through a Vermont winter is worth mentioning even if you are fairly sure it will start.

Wash it, so the driver can see what he is writing down. Run the tank down to about a quarter. Fold the mirrors, take the roof bars off, empty the cabin. He needs one key and nothing else. Take your own photos before he pulls up, which is two minutes well spent. Say at booking if the car sits low or has been modified. In winter, clear the snow off first so the condition report is accurate.

A deposit is due when you book and the balance goes to the driver at delivery, usually by cashier's check, money order or cash. You can also put the whole amount on a card at booking. If you need to cancel before a carrier has been assigned to your order, there is no charge. Once a truck is assigned and dispatched, tell us as early as you can and we will do what we can for you.

Someone does, but it does not have to be you. Both ends sign the condition report, and that document is what protects you. So it wants a real pair of eyes, not a neighbor waving the truck off. A friend, a relative or a colleague is fine. Give us their name and number at booking so the driver calls the right person.