What if you could drive a vehicle to your Florida spring break destination basically for free? Or perhaps a free two-week recreational vehicle rental to Alaska would better fit your vacation plans? These scenarios and more are very possible when you utilize the driveaway opportunities offered by companies who need drivers to transport vehicles. Here are some places to start looking to find the right driveaway for your trip.
Drive Someone Else’s Car to Your Destination
Autodriveaway has been offering the transportation of vehicles such as passenger cars, trucks, RVs and vans across the country since 1952. They offer three methods of transport, including transporting the vehicle on the back of a flatbed truck, having a professional driver drive the vehicle, or have a qualified driver drive the vehicle. The third option is where they look for drivers with good driving records to transport the vehicle to its destination (one-way). This could be you. You need to be 23 years of age or older with a valid driver’s license and put down a security deposit. You’ll receive the first full tank of gas, a requirement of a certain number of days to make the trip and an approximate amount of miles. An example of an opportunity currently would be the Acura TSX waiting in San Diego needing to be driven to the Northeast mid-March. Sounds like the perfect road trip to me!
Snowbird Migration Creates Driveaway Opportunities
There are two companies in Canada that offer vehicle transport and use one-way drivers. Toronto Drive-Away considers drivers who are 30 years of age or older and specializes in warm weather destinations, such as Arizona, Florida, and California, from Canada. Cars to Florida also provides transport services from Canada and looks for drivers to the warm weather areas of the United States. As you can anticipate, these opportunities are seasonal, mostly in the fall and spring, due to the surge in relocation of snowbirds (people who spend winters in warm weather and summers in the north).
Deliver a Motorhome and Vacation for Cheap or Free
When motorhomes come off the manufacturing line, they need to be transported to their destinations. As a result, the manufacturers offer significant discounts for one-way rentals in order to move the vehicles to their intended locations. This usually happens in the spring, but manufacturers start looking for drivers in the winter. An example of the savings would be a motorhome (that would rent for over $900 per week) listed for $280 as a one-way rental from Chicago to Seattle under this program. Each extra day you would like to keep the vehicle is $40. Motorhome Experts has all the details. If you would like to look at some sample dates, destinations and prices, here’s the current list published on their site. Another recreational vehicle opportunity is offered by a manufacturer in Elkhart, Indiana. They look for drivers to transport the RVs to Alaska and provide a 14-day rental for free. You’ll have to pay for your own fuel, but insurance is included. Here is the information for signing up.
A New Option in the United States
Cars to Florida previously offered only Canadian driveaways, but they have expanded and launched in the United States. You can now find opportunities to drive vehicles one-way from the northern states to the warm weather states and vice versa. The company has been around since 2007 and has positive testimonials. Driver requirements are specified here. One difference with this Canadian company is that they do pay you, which will help offset gas and other expenses.
Scoring a one-way driving opportunity obviously depends on timing, preference, flexibility and your motivation for finding the deal. I found plenty of potential options for driving someone else’s vehicle to a preferred destination and doing it on the cheap. Occasionally, the opportunities are very close to home. For example, if you live in a northern state, start asking around in the fall for potential one-way drive opportunities to the South, and in the spring those of you in the South can find transport headed north. Many car dealerships also look for car delivery drivers. Don’t forget to ask your friends, as mine was flying to Florida for the winter and would have liked to have had someone drive her car there. She didn’t find a driver in time and ended up renting a vehicle in Florida. Word of mouth can result in nice driveaway opportunities.
Have you ever done a one-way driveaway experience, and if so, how did it go?
[Image via Getty]
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