If you’re new to the whole car transport experience or you’re unfamiliar with the industry, you should understand that there are quite a few misconceptions and rumors floating around that prepare people the wrong way for their auto transport experience.
Many people have horror stories of working with an unreliable shipper, or else they know someone who did, and it’s frustrating to be in an industry fraught with misinformation and misconceptions. In this article we’re going to try to dispel some of the biggest myths and misconceptions regarding the act of transporting a vehicle, so as to better to prepare you, the customer, for your own interactions with your carriers.
Many people believe that working with a broker is a waste of time; they’d rather deal directly with the carrier and cut out the middleman. But the reality is that you’re going to have a hard time finding a carrier company that will be able to get your vehicle picked up as quickly and for as low a price as a broker, most likely.
This is because carriers – even the largest ones – can only have trucks in so many places at once. Not only that, but most carriers are one-or-two-man operations, a driver and a dispatcher back home finding loads.
Because of this, many carriers rely only on brokers to find them loads and move their vehicles; they let the brokers find the customers, and this is better for everyone because customers get access to thousands of nationwide carriers through a broker as opposed to a fleet of ten trucks scattered across the nation.
Not only that but it gives you, the customer, a reliable representative that can answer your questions and provide updates as necessary regarding your shipment. Carriers can’t talk often, which means reps generally talk to their dispatchers while the dispatchers typically talk to the drivers.
People also think that they can simply go with the lowest price that they find and they’ll end up with a great transportation experience, but this industry is just like anything else – the more you pay, the more you get.
Like Wal-Mart, you can spend $50 on a decent entertainment center that’ll last you a year or two. Or you can get a $500 entertainment center made of solid wood that’ll last until your unborn kids go to college (and withstand all the damage they’ll do to it in the meantime).
It’s the same with auto transportation: you can pay 0 to ship your car on a 0 route, but it’s not going to move. That’s the thing – money makes the car shipping industry go round like few other industries, and the more you pay, the better experience you’ll typically have.
Of course sometimes you can overpay, which is why we recommend getting multiple quotes and going with a company who’s price in in the middle, not too low but not too high. Too low means your vehicle won’t move (it’s not paying enough), while too high may move it more quickly but hurt your wallet more than it should.
If you need a quote to ship a vehicle, fill out our free online form. You’ll get a free quote immediately. If you’d prefer a more human approach, give us a call to speak to a live agent and get your quote over the phone right now. We price our shipments to move when you need it moved and we only work with top-rated, licensed and insured carriers.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
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