Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again! The Christmas season is upon us, and now is as good a time as ever to get your affairs in order, especially in terms of the centerpiece for your living room. Finding the right Christmas tree for your house can sometimes be a challenge, but often, an even greater challenge is getting it home from the farm. To help you with this, our Carville’s Auto Mart team has put together some helpful tips for driving while carrying a Christmas tree on top of your vehicle. Be safe and enjoy the holiday season!
How to fasten your tree to your vehicle
It should go without saying, but we recommend that you use an SUV or crossover model to take care of this job – this is because most of them come with cross-rails that can make it much easier to get your tree secure. First, you should ensure that your desired tree is tied together by rope, a netting, or any other substitute before placing it on top of your vehicle. This way, you won’t have to deal with any branches coming loose and making matters difficult for you or the other drivers on the road.
Many don’t know this, but your tree can cause some problems for your vehicle when it comes to the wind resistance that it can undertake. For this reason, you should place the thinner, stump end of your tree at the front of your model; Next, take some twine and tie the tree down using your vehicle’s cross-rails in a pattern that resembles a figure 8, or shoelaces. Make sure that it’s tight enough that your tree won’t move around, but not too tight that a snap could occur.
Driving tips while transporting a tree
Obviously, driving with a tree on top of your vehicle means that you need to take extra precautions to make sure everyone is safe. For starters, it’s perfectly acceptable to drive at a speed that’s comfortable for you. Because of this, you should aim to take lesser traveled roads back home so you have more time to keep tabs on your tree!
More Travel Safety Tips: How to keep your dogs safe on long car rides
Contact us at Carville’s Auto Mart
We hope you all stay safe while carrying your decorations this holiday season! Don’t forget that we also have a wide line of strong and capable SUVs that would be more than happy to help you with your tree-carrying endeavors and so much more. Contact us today to schedule a test drive!