Door-to-door transport means the carrier picks up at your origin address and delivers to your destination address, instead of terminal-to-terminal where you deliver and collect the vehicle yourself. So what is door-to-door transport in practical terms? It's the arrangement most Canadian shippers picture when they book a move — a driver arrives where the vehicle or freight currently sits, loads it, and brings it directly to the address you specify at the other end. There's no separate trip to a rail yard or carrier depot on either side of the shipment.
Red Foot Haulers runs door-to-door service across our Canadian shipping routes as the default option, with terminal-to-terminal available where it makes sense for the route or the load. Which one applies to your shipment usually comes down to street access, not carrier preference.
What It Means in Practice
Door-to-door doesn't mean the truck physically enters your driveway every time. Full-size car haulers, flatdecks, and multi-unit trailers are long — often 70 to 90 feet with the tractor — and many residential streets, downtown cores, condo parkades, and rural laneways simply can't accommodate that length or turning radius. When this happens, the driver calls ahead and arranges a short meet point nearby: the end of a wide street, a mall parking lot, a gas station lot on a main arterial road. You drive or walk a few minutes to meet the truck instead of the truck coming to your exact door. This is still classified as door-to-door service — the distinction that matters is that you are not required to drop the vehicle off at a distant carrier terminal and return later to collect it at the far end. The meet point is local to your address, arranged for that specific pickup or delivery, and coordinated directly with your driver rather than a fixed depot schedule.
When It Matters for Your Quote
Terminal-to-terminal service sometimes gets offered instead of door-to-door when a route runs through a carrier's regular corridor and a yard drop lowers cost, or when an address has access restrictions serious enough that repeated attempts at true curbside delivery aren't practical — think narrow lane housing, low parkade clearances, or gated communities with size restrictions. When you request a quote, tell the carrier about anything unusual at either address: low-clearance parkades, narrow or dead-end streets, steep driveways, gravel access roads, overhead wires, or gate codes and buzzer access. This lets the dispatcher plan the right routing before pickup day rather than discovering an access problem when the driver is already on-site. It also helps confirm whether standard door-to-door applies cleanly or whether a nearby meet point should be pre-arranged as part of your shipping process.
Related Terms and Services
Door-to-door is best understood next to terminal-to-terminal service, where both pickup and delivery happen at fixed carrier yards instead of at your addresses. The equipment used for your move can also affect how flexible door-to-door delivery is — a tow-away transport setup behaves differently on tight streets than a full trailer, and the choice between flatdeck vs. step-deck equipment can influence loading access at either end. For oversized or heavy equipment, RGN lowboy trailer service and beam width limits are worth reviewing alongside your door-to-door request, since wider or taller loads are more likely to need a meet point rather than a true curbside stop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is door-to-door always possible at my house?
If the truck can legally and safely reach the address, yes. Otherwise the driver arranges a short meet nearby.
How is this different from terminal-to-terminal?
Terminal-to-terminal means you drop off and pick up at carrier yards. Door-to-door removes that leg for you.