What is an Auto Transport Carrier?
What is an Auto Transport Carrier?
What is an Auto Transport Carrier?Whether you are an auto transport veteran or this is your first time shipping a car, you need to have a basic understanding of the car transport industry so you can make an informed decision. We have already talked about the types of companies in the car shipping world, but for the sake of review
There are three types of auto transport companies:
1. Auto Transport Carrier: This is the company that owns trucks and in most cases is going to ship your car.
2. Auto Transport Broker: This is a company that doesn't own trucks and will use a network of auto transport carriers to move your vehicle.
3. Auto Transport Carrier/Broker: This is the company that owns trucks and in some cases will ship your car, BUT they also may use their network for carriers to transport your car.
All of these companies can get your vehicle shipped from point A to point B, but with the investment of a little time and research, you can be assured that you will find the perfect fit for all your car transport needs.
Auto transport carriers are independently owned and operated companies that exist to move cars. There is no standard for how they do business or how they are set up. They may have an office and an entire fleet of trucks and deliver cars to all states or they may be a small family operated business with one or two employees and work out of their house or even their truck. Each car shipping company delivers to different states, some may run from Midwest to West Coast, others focus on East Coast "snow birds", some may run from Florida to Texas to California and back. There are even some that stay "in state", maybe California, Texas or Florida only.
To be able to move cars there are some things they need to have, like liability insurance and Department of Transportation Authority. This authority is given to them from the government and is based upon the states they want to operate in. Before you work with these car shipping carriers, its important to make sure they have all their paperwork in order and up to date. In the unlikely event of an accident, this will be your life vest!
Car shipping companies vary in their approach to growing their auto transport business. They may try to get new customers through their website by advertising on the internet, networking with car dealerships, auction companies and moving companies. Others may have a solid customer base because they have been shipping cars for 20-30 years. Because of the cost, many auto transport carrierstypically don't invest the time and resources into advertising. Typically, they rely on word of mouth or local advertising to bolster the business. Some car shipping carriers don't try to get work themselves, they just rely on brokers (middle men) to do it for them or use internet based auto transport load boards (online directory of cars that need to be moved).
Auto transport carriers usually only transport vehicles to specific places and may not be able to legally operate in the state your car need to be shipped to. If they don't run the route you need, they either won't be able to help you or they'll charge a very large fee to deviate from their route. Keep this in mind when you are shopping for prices.
Regardless of how they are set up, how they market and where they run to, these auto transport carriers are the ones that get the work done and physically move the cars. If you choose to deal with the car shipping carriers direct, you can go to sites like gotruckgo.com and do a state to state search for carriers that run in your area. Good luck and happy moving!