Unloading a Vehicle from the Truck Rental’s Car Carrier

If you choose a do-it-yourself or truck rental move, you'll probably need to use a car carrier to transport your vehicle if moving long-distance.  When renting the car carrier from the truck rental company, you'll be instructed in how to properly attach and transport your car.  And you'll be told how to properly unload your vehicle from the carrier as well.  But since the time that elapses from the moment you're instructed in how to unload your vehicle until you arrive at your new place can be quite long (up to a couple weeks for a cross-country truck rental move), it's important to drill those instructions into your memory.  Here are the basics.

First Remove the car from the carrier

Before detaching the car carrier from the truck rental, you need to first remove the vehicle from the carrier.  You accomplish this by first parking the truck rental and car carrier on a level surface and apply the truck's hand brake (even though it's not on a hill).  Then, remove the straps from the vehicle so that it is no longer attached to the carrier.  Once that's done, you can then release the latch on the ramp and then completely pull out the ramps, and then finally, lower the ramps to the ground.  Don't forget to unhook the safety chains that are hooked up to the frame of the car. 

Now, with the ramps on the ground, you're ready to release the car's parking brake.  Then, start driving the car slowly down in reverse, and make sure that you have plenty of room to back up.  Ideally, there should be someone assisting you when you drive the car in reverse.  Be careful that the underside of your car doesn't hit the carrier's ramps, as it can easily damage the underbelly of your vehicle. 

Finally, place the carrier ramps back into the original position along with the safety chains and unhitch the car carrier to the truck.  Once this is accomplished, you'll be ready to unload your belongings from your truck rental.