A vehicle inspection report is the written and photographic record of a car's condition taken by the driver at pickup and again at delivery. It documents existing scratches, dents, chips, cracks, rust, mileage, and whether the vehicle runs. It lives on the bill of lading and is the evidence any damage claim is decided on. The driver walks the vehicle with you before loading. On our trucks that takes 10 to 20 minutes and produces two things: coded marks on a car outline diagram, and photos. Standard damage codes across the industry: Each code is placed on the diagram by panel — left front fender, right rear quarter, hood, roof, and so on. The driver also records the odometer, notes whether the car starts and drives, and flags anything unusual: aftermarket body kits, low ground clearance, a loose bumper cover, a cracked windshield that will spread.
Photos are the modern half of the report. A thorough pickup inspection is 20 to 40 timestamped images: all four corners, both full sides, roof, hood, trunk, wheels, undercarriage front lip, interior, and close-ups of anything already damaged. Ask the driver to send them to you, and take your own set on your phone in the same session.
Delivery is the mirror image. You compare the car to the pickup diagram and photos, panel by panel. Anything new gets written on the delivery copy in the exceptions area and signed by both parties before the driver leaves. Two edge cases. A car that has run 1,400 miles on open transport arrives dirty, and dirt hides fine scratches — wash it or inspect it in strong daylight. And on a night delivery, use a flashlight held at a low angle across each panel; that is how body shops find dents.
This is the document that decides whether damage gets paid. Cargo insurance adjusters do not visit your driveway. They compare the pickup report to the delivery report. If a scratch appears on the delivery report and not the pickup report, it happened in transit. If it appears on neither, it did not happen as far as the claim file is concerned.
It also protects you the other direction. A pickup report that honestly records the rock chip that has been on your hood since 2023 keeps you from paying for a claim investigation over damage that was already there. Most disputes in auto transport are not about bad faith. They are about a rushed inspection at one end or the other. Five careful minutes at each end removes almost all of it. If you are booking snowbird transport and someone else is receiving the car in Naples, brief them on exactly this.
Letting the driver do the inspection alone. It happens when the truck arrives early, or the customer leaves keys with a neighbor, or the pickup is in a parking lot two blocks away because the street cannot take a 75-foot rig. An unwitnessed pickup inspection means you are accepting the driver's assessment of your car's starting condition without seeing it. An unwitnessed delivery is worse — someone else signs, and their signature binds you. If you truly cannot be present, at minimum photograph the car yourself the morning of pickup with a timestamp, and require photos from both ends. Every Baier pickup includes a full walk-around with the customer and a photo set you keep. Our drivers, our trucks, our name on the report — Seabrook NH, BBB A+, 250,000+ vehicles moved. Get a quote for your lane.