Tipping Cross Country Car Shippers

One question that we get once in awhile: how should you tip a cross-country car shipper? Tipping is not required when you ship your car; drivers do not rely on tips for their income the way servers in a restaurant do. That said, however, a driver on a car carrier will be highly appreciative if they do receive a tip, even if it is a small one. Some customers tip drivers as little as $5, while others may tip as much as $200-$300. It all depends on what you feel is appropriate given the level of service that you receive when you ship your car with us.

If you want to acknowledge the helpfulness of your driver and do not have extra cash on hand for a tip, you can also call our customer service center and give them positive feedback—if you do so, be sure to let us know who your driver was. It is important to us that we know how our drivers interact with our customers (whether the feedback is good or bad), but we especially appreciate hearing when our customers have positive experiences. Of course, we expect all of our drivers to perform at a high level and provide service worthy of a large tip every time, whether you give a gratuity or not.

Tipping Cross-Country Drivers

One other question that sometimes comes up: how do you manage the tipping if your car is being shipped coast-to-coast, especially if the person receiving the car from the driver will be different from the person who hands the keys over to the driver? Since no tip is required, this is not a big issue.  It is of course perfectly acceptable to tip only at the end after the car is delivered. Many customers find it easier to evaluate the level of service after having been through the entire process of shipping the car. However, if you are so moved and feel that the driver provided excellent service from the first moment—as we hope you will!—there is nothing stopping you from tipping on both ends of the journey.

Factors for Tipping Your Driver

How do you decide how much to tip your driver? Here are a few things that factor into the level of service you should expect from our drivers.

• Communication. Did your driver stay proactively in communication with you and keep you up to date with anything you needed to know, from the moment he/she was assigned to transport your vehicle?
• Promptness. Did your driver arrive on time to pick up and drop off your vehicle—and give you a call in the event of any unexpected delays?
• Courtesy. Was your driver polite and friendly to you throughout the course of shipping your vehicle, in person and on the phone?
• Professionalism. Did your driver show up prepared with everything that was needed to ensure that your car shipping process would go smoothly?

We are confident that you will say a resounding “yes” to all of the above, because that’s how we’ve built our company. At Riley, we don’t settle for anything less than outstanding customer service.