In this article, we explain how to request and understand a quote to ship your car and the entire transport process, from beginning to end. The contents of this article are specific to our process and quoting estimates at American Auto Transport.

  • All of the quotes you get from an Auto Transport Company are actually from brokers.
  • Brokers do not own the trucks; they locate them for you according to your route, schedule, and budget.
  • Since carrier drivers do not have the time or manpower to call, follow up & email customers/shippers, a broker takes care of the overhead and specific details to manage new requests and customer support.
  • Every quote includes a broker and carrier fee. Most broker fees are a fixed rate and vary according to each company.
  • Every broker and carrier uses the same National Dispatching Board. Brokers post the vehicle and the carrier uses the board to book space on their truck.
  • The Auto shipping industry is an open market bidding system, much like a bidding system (eBay). The vehicle with the highest-priced carrier pay on the board gets priority, leaving the vehicle with lower rates behind.

To learn how we determine your quote, please review our Auto Transport Guide.

We feel it’s important for you to know how a quote is determined. Quotes are based on what the market demands for cars to be moved at a given time. Each quote is compared with the current rates on the National Load Board before being sent to our customers and will be reviewed periodically throughout the process.

Other companies might offer you a lower price to obtain your business. This method is ineffective because if the car does not pay the correct amount of money, it will run the probability of not getting loaded or transported on time.

You will not get this information from our competitors. Truck drivers always take the loads that pay the most first, leaving the loads that are improperly priced to be moved last or not at all.

We work hard to avoid this with our customers by quoting a fair but realistic quote upfront.

How to Compare Brokers

Customers who have shipped a vehicle in the past will typically leave feedback about their experience on the company’s Google Business profile. Please take a moment to read what our past clients have said about their experience with us here

2 Steps for a Stress-Free Move

  • Do not pay an upfront deposit without a confirmed carrier
  • Reference everyone with a check on their Google reviews

Feel free to contact us so we can provide you with a better explanation of how the industry works and what to expect when looking for the right company to ship your car.

How a Broker Locates a Carrier for You

We would like to explain a bit about how individuals go about shipping a vehicle. Every quote that you are receiving from your request on the internet is coming from a broker. Brokers do not have any physical carrier trucks. These estimates you are receiving, whether it be by phone or email, are all estimates, and not at all a hard price. In order to find a carrier for you, there is only one place for brokers to go, Central Dispatch (National Dispatch Board for Auto Transport).

Any company you choose to do business with will post your vehicle to The National Dispatch Board, and on the other end are 5,000 drivers who are seeing what vehicles are available on their route, and are shipping whichever vehicles are offering the most money.

Since every broker is accessing all the same carriers to ship your vehicle. Choosing the right broker is vital to getting a reputable carrier for the lowest price possible. Not all brokers are created equal in this talent. As such, I highly recommend working with a broker you feel is reputable, and one that you can trust.

American Auto Transport’s function is to find the most reputable driver, that will accept the lowest price possible. Our company does an intense background check on each reputable carrier that has made an offer. We will check their ratings and references, and in addition, we verify a certified copy of their insurance certificate, directly from the government agency that it is on file with, just to ensure that everything is in proper order.

We also see if any past clients have lodged any complaints against the carrier. There are no contracts to be signed until you have accepted a firm price from a reputable carrier. When you do accept an offer, we will immediately send you a contract that the carrier has signed that guarantees door-to-door service, guarantees 100% bumper-to-bumper insurance, and most importantly guarantees a firm price, so that there are no surprises at delivery.

What We Will Need From You?

An open line of communication will be the most important thing.

What we do is call our network of carriers that frequent this route regularly. At the same time, we post your vehicle to the National Board so your vehicle is exposed to literally every auto carrier in the country.

The only problem we foresee is that when a carrier calls on your order, we need your approval or disapproval on choosing the best carrier for the best price meeting your pickup and delivery dates. Now most carriers will not wait a day or two for a decision, they will just pick up the next available vehicle on that route, so this is where the open line of communication comes in.

Once we locate a carrier we will reserve a spot on his trailer after you approve the final logistics. At that point with your permission, your down payment (aka deposit fee) would be through us with Visa, Master Card, American Express, or Discover. The remainder is due to the driver in cash or money order on delivery.

Just so you know, this is how we work with everyone, so if I can keep an open line of communication with you, this will be very simple to handle. My job is to do all the work, your job is to approve or disapprove of my work. Nothing gets done without your approval so there are no surprises, just smooth, hassle-free transport.

The estimate we provide you is what it will cost to have a driver agree to ship your vehicle, however, we can start with a slightly lower price, in the hopes of finding a reputable carrier that will pick up your vehicle for a lower rate.

In addition to providing 9 AM to 9 PM customer service, we pride ourselves in educating all our clients, potential or otherwise.

Please contact us with any questions you might have, we look forward to hearing from you.