Book a driver when the vehicle can leave today
Trade plate delivery is the right choice when the vehicle can legally be driven. If it is salvage, has no MOT or will not run, a transporter is the better option.
For a detailed side by side comparison with a loaded truck, read when a trade plate driver beats a transporter. This guide covers when a driver is the right booking and when it is not.
Typical jobs include dealer stock moving between sites, retail handovers, auction lots once released, fleet vehicles that still run and hold an MOT and trade sales that must arrive exactly as described.
Our customers are the motor trade: dealers, dealer groups, auction buyers, fleets, leasing and remarketing firms and trade sellers. Find out more on our trade plate movements homepage.
- you have one car or van, or a handful you are happy to book as separate driven jobs
- each vehicle has a valid MOT and is drivable
- it needs to go from one address to another without a depot in between
- waiting for a truck to fill would cost you time, storage or a customer
- you want a condition record in case anyone questions it later
When the vehicle needs a transporter instead
A transporter is the right choice when the vehicle cannot legally be driven, or when enough vehicles are going the same way on flexible dates to fill a deck.
That covers vehicles with no MOT, non runners, salvage and write offs that cannot go on the public road, along with groups of cars heading the same way with no rush. These jobs need a different method altogether.
We will always tell you if that is the case. We would rather turn a job down than send a driver to a car that will not start or a compound that will not release it.
If you are still deciding between the two, our comparison guide sets out the differences in full.
What you get when you book
A driver we have chosen for the job rather than a marketplace listing, with booking, tracking and sign off handled in our own software. Your roadworthy car or van travels on our trade plates with road risk cover. Photographs, the mileage and a signature are recorded, and digital proof arrives when the job closes.
Fuel or charging is included and there is no rate card. Distance, the vehicle, timing and what happens at each end all shape the price, so an auction gate or a retail walkaround is priced differently from a quick key swap at a dealer compound.
Find out more about what a driven trade plate vehicle movement involves, see the proof you receive in vehicle collection and delivery with POC and POD, read about release and storage in auction collection after release and compare site and door jobs in site transfers and retail handovers.
Each of those guides goes deeper into one part of the service.
Trade plate deliveries for cars and vans
What you do not need to book
You do not need your town to be listed. We cover the whole country from our Glasgow office, priced on your two postcodes.
You do not need an account. The registration and both postcodes are enough for a quote.
You do not need to arrange plates or insurance, because our driver brings the plates and our motor trade policy covers the movement.
What you do need is a vehicle that is legal to drive, a confirmed release wherever a third party holds the keys and a person at each end who knows we are coming.
How to book, or when to choose a transporter
If trade plate delivery suits your vehicle, get an instant quote online with the date you need, your name, company, phone and email. The Instant Quote shows your price on screen, and our Glasgow office handles the rest.
If you are not sure it is the right fit, call 0141 459 1302 and talk it through. We will tell you if a transporter is the better choice rather than take a booking we cannot complete.
Email [email protected] for planned work, and pick up the phone if the car is already running up storage or a customer is waiting.
Site transfer or a customer's door
Trade plate delivery covers both, but they are different bookings.
Stock moving between your own sites is a site transfer, while a named buyer at a home address is a retail handover. Tell us which on the quote, and read more in site transfers and retail handovers.
Collecting once the compound releases it
An auction lot can be collected on trade plates once the site confirms its release.
Winning the lot does not give you collection authority on its own. Our guide to auction collection after release explains how compound collections work.
A valid MOT is essential
Trade plate vehicle delivery needs a valid MOT. Without one, the vehicle cannot be driven.
That applies equally to a short hop between dealers and a run to the other end of the country. Salvage always goes on a truck.
One car or one van per booking
Most bookings are for one registration, and a van counts as one vehicle as long as it is legal to drive.
Tell us the height and weight when you ask for a quote, since a high roof van is priced differently from a large car. Rigid trucks are outside our service.
When a transporter is the right choice
