Man, that thing about "consistent thickness" is exactly why I feel for you. I've been burned by foam clay so many times where one batch is way thicker than the last and my pauldrons come out all lumpy. The mats being flat and even from the start sounds like a lifesaver. Moving blankets underneath is a solid idea too, I used an old yoga mat once and it left weird texture marks I had to sand for hours. Hope this works out for you, that four pack deal is a steal compared to the clay I keep overpaying for.

Figured the same thing at first but my experience was totally different. Paid for open transport from Houston to Denver and got a nice rock chip on the hood plus some bird droppings baked into the paint that took forever to clean off. Maybe you just got lucky with your route and the weather that day.

Feels paper is safer honestly. My notebook never randomly locks me out.

Man, that's rough. A cracked windshield and rock chips from an open carrier... that hurts. But I think you might be blaming the wrong thing here. Open carriers move thousands of cars a day without damage, it's usually the condition of the truck and how they strap things down that matters. A cheap open carrier company that doesn't replace their mud flaps or uses old tarps can do that kind of damage real easy. I've moved a few cars on open trailers with zero issues, just gotta find a company that actually takes care of their equipment. Going enclosed is the safest bet if you have the cash, but it's not like every open carrier is out to destroy your paint...

Oh man, I gotta say you're wrong about one thing. The Columbia Taper is decent but it's not the best out there. I had the same attitude about auto-tapers for years until I tried a Level 5 tool on a big warehouse job. That thing laid mud so even I barely had to touch it up. The Columbia works fine for small basements but if you ever get a high production gig, you'll see what I mean. Different tools for different jobs.