How Carriers Book Their Loads

A lot of questions about auto transport can be answered by understanding how drivers book their loads.

The first thing to understand is that drivers do not make their plans very far in advance. Truckers, especially auto transporters, have to deal with unforeseen delays everyday and this makes guaranteeing dates very difficult. They are at the mercy of their customers, their truck, the weather, the roads, the brokers, etc. Planning in advance just isn’t possible. Most drivers will drop off all of their cars or at least arrive at their destination before they start planning their next trip. Carriers operating on shorter routes may book a little before this time but carriers on longer routes will almost always finish their drop offs first.

The second thing to understand is that drivers want as much money as possible per trip so initially they will be booking only very high prices. They won’t book low paying cars until they absolutely have to, and that can mean as little as a few hours notice for you. This is why very specific schedules don’t mix well with low prices. Only a very small window exists that a carrier might book the car in and when that window passes so does your due date, your chance of success is exceptionally small. This is why finding a broker you can trust is extremely important, you have to be confident that your broker has your best interests at heart and is doing everything he can to get you the lowest price possible. That is the secret to auto transport.

This might make it seem like getting a low price in advance is impossible, but these are generalizations. Every truck is in a different situation. They might have room for only a certain kind of car, they might like moving a certain kind of car, maybe they just want to book everything in advance and relax for a couple days. Aiming for a low rate is always worth a try because you never know what is going on with the truckers in the area, but don’t get attached to that rate unless you have a lot of time. Average rates are average rates for a reason.