RoRo or container: which one your car actually needs

There are two ways to move a car across the Atlantic, and the cheaper one is the right answer more often than people expect — but not for the car you have probably set your heart on.

Roll-on, roll-off

RoRo means exactly what it says: the car is driven onto a vessel built as a floating car park, lashed down, and driven off at the other end. It is the cheapest way to move a vehicle and the fastest to load.

It also means the car must be driveable, insurable on deck, and empty. Nothing may travel inside it — not a spare wheel, not a box of parts, not the floor mats. Port staff will drive it. It shares a deck with hundreds of other vehicles and it is exposed to salt air for the crossing.

Container

A container is a sealed steel box. The car is strapped down inside, usually on its wheels, sometimes in a rack. It never sees weather, nobody drives it after loading, and parts may travel with it — which matters when you are importing something whose spares are not stocked in Europe.

A dedicated container costs more than RoRo. A shared one — two or three cars in a 40-foot box — splits the difference, at the cost of waiting for the box to fill.

How to choose

Choose RoRo when the car is a normal used vehicle, running and driving, and the saving matters more than the paintwork. Choose a container when the car is new, rare, low, non-running, freshly restored, or when you want parts to travel with it. A car that cannot be driven onto a ramp has made the decision for you.

One practical note: RoRo sailings are less frequent from some ports than others, so the cheaper freight occasionally costs you three weeks. We quote both and say which we would choose, and why.