What is RORO Car Shipping?
In the world of auto transport, there are a handful of terms that are not well understood to those outside of the industry, or those that are unfamiliar with how the process works. One of these terms, which is very commonly used, especially when talking about international car shipping, is the term “RORO.” RORO is an acronym that stands for “roll on, roll off” and refers to the process by which vehicles are loaded and unloaded onto a shipping carrier; in this case, literally a large ship.
Aside from Hawaii and Alaska, RORO transport is used almost exclusively for shipping vehicles to other countries that can only be accessed by sea (there are also some instances in which it is simply easier or more convenient to ship by boat as well). When you ship a vehicle by boat, RORO is not the only method that is used, however. There are many times when shipments of vehicles are transported in a shipping container, which has some advantages. Shipping containers, often referred to as intermodal containers, can be easily transferred from semi truck to boat and vice versa, making it more convenient for delivery purposes. This transferability between different modes of transport is very helpful when cargo needs to be shipped by boat to a location and then moved overland using a truck. The container is simply lifted off the boat and secured to a truck for the remainder of the trip.
While RORO transport doesn’t offer the ease of transition that containerized shipping might, it’s still relatively easy to load onto an open transport carrier.
When you ship a car using the RORO method, the vehicle is literally driven (rolled on, if you will) to a storage area on the boat where it is secured in compartments designed for protecting and delivering cars. The securing mechanisms are similar to those used in containerized transport, but done so without the need to use the container (in fact, some larger vehicles may not be suitable to ship in a container). Once the ship arrives at the port of destination, the vehicles are removed from the mechanisms keeping them in place and driven off (rolled off) the ship.
Once off the ship, the vehicles can either be picked up directly from the port or a nearby terminal, or in some cases, can be loaded onto an open air carrier to transport them to their final destination. This is often the case when several cars are headed to the same location, like a dealership or an auction lot.
The roll on, roll off method of transporting cars overseas is the most frequently used of the two methods since it provides a quicker and less labor intensive process than shipping using a container, plus it has the added benefit of being able to pick up your car and get on the road quicker than having to wait for the unloading of the numerous cargo containers that transport ships generally haul, which often includes various types of shipments besides vehicles.
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