Table of Contents
Brokers, Carriers, and Customers
The most important thing you need to know when shipping your car is what Brokers are.
They are a middleman between you and the Carrier. Customers need Brokers because finding a Carrier can be difficult and verifying valid operating authority and insurance can be tricky. Without Brokers Carriers would have empty spots on their trailers and Customers could be searching for months for an expensive and inconvenient Carrier.
With MiG you get the best of both worlds because we are both a Carrier and a Broker.
Finding an Auto Transport Company
Price, timing, and your overall satisfaction will be affected by this decision.
Most auto transport companies are based online nowadays so do a quick Google search and choose a few companies that have good reviews and have been in business for a while.
Make sure to stay away from any sites that offer to give you ten quotes from ten different companies or something like that. These companies are Lead Generators. They sell your information to as many companies as possible and you’ll be bombarded with phone calls and emails.
Price
Your price will be based on distance, popularity of the route, type of vehicle, and time of year. Generally, shipping a larger, older, or inoperable vehicle a longer distance will be more costly. But, if a longer route is more popular with truckers or if the time of year is favorable then this might not be true.
For example, Houston to Los Angeles is typically a cheaper route to ship on than Houston to Omaha even though Los Angeles is 650 miles further away. This is because Houston to Los Angeles is a much more popular route. But, at the beginning of winter, shipping to Omaha could be cheaper because of the winter price fluctuations. At the beginning of winter shipment from cold northern areas to warm southern areas becomes very expensive while shipment the other way around becomes very cheap. At the end of winter this reverses.
This price shift is caused by seasonal vacationers called snow birds. When it starts to get cold these people travel to warmer climates in the south and return home north when the weather warms up.
A good auto transport company will take all of these factors into account when giving you a price.
Choosing an Auto Transport Company
Call the company you have decided on or use the quote page on their website.
Your main criteria when choosing a company should be good service, not cost.
The big secret in auto transport is that your circumstances decide your price not the company. You will get basically the same final price regardless of which company you choose, even if one company quotes you much lower initially. More on this in the next section.
AT MiG our prices can sometimes be higher because our prices are always guaranteed. Unlike most companies we never change the price after we give you a quote. Price should be your second consideration in this industry, making sure you are using a reliable company is much more important.
Extremely Low Quotes
A very low initial quote is a bad sign. Low estimates are a tactic used by shady companies to lure in customers. They excite people with the low price, have them pay a deposit and sign a contract, and later tell you they couldn’t actually find a driver at that price and that they have to charge you more.
When dealing with a shady companies the best thing that can happen is you pay the same amount you would with anyone else and deal with the bad service. The worst scenario is you end up paying a lot more than the average or you lose the money that you initially deposited because a deadline passes, the cost becomes too high, or incompetence on the company’s part. Save yourself the trouble and be wary of extremely low prices.
Signing an Auto Transport Contract
An auto transport contract will review the details of the shipment and establish legal terms. It is important to read everything you sign, but pay close attention to sections about leaving items inside of your vehicle, insurance, and changing or canceling the shipment.
Personal Items
Auto transport contracts will prohibit leaving personal possessions inside of your car during the transport because auto transport companies are not licensed to ship personal items, only vehicles. But this is frequently overlooked. Carriers allow up to 100 pounds of items inside the cars free of charge and a fee can typically be worked out to ship more than that. Keep in mind though that since the carriers are not licensed to ship these items it is not possible to have insurance. Anything left in the car is done at your risk!
Bill of Lading/Inspection Report
Vehicle shipments are legally required to be completely insured by the carrier, but it is crucial that you handle the paperwork correctly so that your claim is approved if damage occurs.
The Bill of Lading is the primary document involved in the event of damage and it is sometimes also called the Inspection Report. When the driver picks up your car they’ll mark all of the existing dents and scratches on this form and the person releasing the car will have to sign it saying the inspection was accurate. If the car arrives without any new damage then the person receiving the car will be required to sign the Bill of Lading again verifying the car arrived in the same condition it was picked up in and releasing the Carrier from liability. This is done in addition to the drivers taking pictures at both pick up and delivery.
Make sure to get a copy of this document at the point of pick up. If there are new damages at delivery make sure to mark them on the Bill of Lading. We also recommend taking your own pictures at the time of pick up and delivery.
In the case of damage MiG will assist you in making a claim with the insurance company and getting paid!
Cancelling
At MiG we making cancelling very simple: if your car hasn’t been picked up yet you can cancel any time for a full refund.
If you would like to learn even more check out our blog. You can find more information there!
Get a Quote
If you have read this guide you are prepared to ship your car. Aside from learning how auto transport works finding a reliable auto transport company is the most invaluable thing you can do for yourself, especially if you are shipping for the first time. Call us at (904) 900-2471 or click here to get a quote.