The Differences Between a Broker and a Carrier
In the car shipping industry, there are two different types of auto transport companies that you can book your shipment with. These two companies are known as auto transport brokers and auto carriers, and each provides auto transport services, but in vastly different ways, and knowing which services are the best fit for your specific needs is important. In this informative article you’ll learn how carriers differ from brokers, what services they provide, and how they can help you.
An auto transport broker is a company specifically designed to handle a lot of auto shipping customers at one time. Brokers operate out of stable offices, with teams of representatives that coordinate transportation services between the customers that book with them and the carriers they’re tasked with finding for their customers. Brokers, in a sense, are middlemen, but they are very important because there are literally thousands of carriers traversing the country and they never stay in one place for longer than a few days. All brokers are required to be fully licensed and bonded by federal law, and many of them are members of the Better Business Bureau.
If you book your order with a broker you’ll find that the process will be much easier and more streamlined than if you were to book straight with a carrier. They will take all the shipping information, including addresses for both pickup and delivery, as well as your vehicle information, contact information, and payment information. They will then dispatch your order to a carrier company and schedule pickup of your vehicle, all the while alerting you at each step of the way. During transportation they serve as your main contact for information regarding the status of your vehicle, as well as any additional questions you may have.
Carriers, on the other hand, are the physical shippers of your vehicle and they form the backbone of the auto transport industry. Carriers are required to be licensed and insured by federal law, and are also required to carry a federally-mandated minimum insurance policy that covers every single vehicle being transported, as well as their truck itself. Ultimately, a carrier has a lot of say in regards to how much auto transportation will cost. That’s why it is so important to receive an accurate free auto transport quote. A quote that is too low may not be a high enough priority for the carrier and may cause your car to sit for weeks. There’s also a chance that the quote given to you by the broker may not take added fees into account, which could be tacked on at the time of pickup. While such contrasts between quote and actual price don’t happen often, it’s possible due to the fact carrier and broker are essentially different entities.
Many carriers rely on brokers to find their loads, because they don’t have the time to spend talking to their customers all day. This is because many carriers don’t have a physical location that they work out of. Instead they can be on the road for ten hours a day or more, traveling hundreds of miles during that time, and while they are driving they are not allowed to operate a cellular telephone per federal law. Therefore, most of their over-the-phone conversations are with the brokers that booked loads through them, and occasionally a customer, but only during pickup or delivery of their vehicle. There are, however, some brokers which also operate their own carrier service. While these companies are rarer, having your vehicle shipped by a carrier/broker hybrid can make for a smoother and more consistent auto transport experience.
Brokers and carriers are important-and they are numerous. With thousands of each out there, finding one in your area that can ship your vehicle in a reasonable amount of time, for a reasonable amount of money, can be difficult. But working with a good broker will streamline your car shipping experience, and they’ll be available to you whenever you need them. And if they do their job well, your vehicle will be transported by a carrier that’s reliable and professional.
This article was written by John Costelac, owner of Direct Connect Auto Transportation. Direct Connect Auto is one of the leading auto shipping companies in the United States. As a carrier-broker we’re able to optimize loads and use our knowledge as a carrier to provide pricing which will get each car shipped on time.
