Auto transport update

[440Magnum]

I while back, I posted asking for experience with auto transport companies- thanks for all the input. I thought I would follow up with what happened.

I wound up using E-ship as a the broker to find a carrier. They were generally responsive and helpful, though I think my original sales rep must have quit between the time I placed the order and shipping time came. The company responded quickly with a new rep when I stopped getting responses, but they didn't make it exactly seamless (on the other hand, being the impatient sort, I didn't really give them a chance before I acted).

They asked for a pick-up window and drop-off window, and found a carrier that matched up... almost. As people had warned me (and a quick moment to think about how the system works confirms), there's some slop in the timing almost by necessity. Once they found a carrier and confirmed that I was able to arrange for my father-in-law to hand over the keys, all the interaction shifted over to the trucking company.

They contracted Auto Movers, and IMO they were extremely professional. When I called for status, they responded immediately with where the driver's GPS was on the map. Ultimately, the pickup happened 2 days later than my first choice. But on the good side, the driver made it from Texas to California much faster than I did\ and was only about 12 hours behind my "first pick" time for delivery. The delivery was painless- I just picked a hardware store with a big parking lot, he unloaded in the street, and had the car waiting in the parking lot when I called. Other than being dirty (open transport with rain along the route), the car was in perfect condition.

Overall, not bad. Not ideal, but from what I hear it doesn't get much better than that unless you triple the cost for more personalized service. This is an 18 year old Jeep, so that kind of treatment just wasn't warranted.

 

[Kira]

I missed the earlier posts on this event.
Glad your vehicle was delivered intact and that you're happy.
But Oh my heavens! What a bunch silly sounding hoops one must jump through to ship a car!
What did all this cost?
Wouldn't it have been cheaper to have a friend drive it for you (assuming it was a drivable vehicle) and pay him + motel costs + return passage home?
Would've been quicker.

And what's this stuff about dropping the car in some hardware store's parking lot? They surely could've called the cops (trespassing offense) and had the derelict vehicle towed.

Could you link to the first post so I can read the details?

Cheers, Kira

 

[dareo]

Auto Transport is a network of reselling brokers that will then sell your load to an actual trucking company or owner operator that is willing to pick it up. When i bought my Golf, i ordered it on the phone like a pizza, and paid like $400 to get it picked up and shipped from CA to UT. The actual driver's company only got like 300 of that.

I filled out one of those online forms where you are looking for shipping quotes. I got dozens of calls. Bids all over from high 300 to low 500 range. Some brokers needed more money than others i guess.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I missed the earlier posts on this event.
Glad your vehicle was delivered intact and that you're happy.
But Oh my heavens! What a bunch silly sounding hoops one must jump through to ship a car!
What did all this cost?
Wouldn't it have been cheaper to have a friend drive it for you (assuming it was a drivable vehicle) and pay him + motel costs + return passage home?
Would've been quicker.

And what's this stuff about dropping the car in some hardware store's parking lot? They surely could've called the cops (trespassing offense) and had the derelict vehicle towed.

Could you link to the first post so I can read the details?

Cheers, Kira


The first post was just asking for experiences, but here you go:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4174475/1

The total cost was $700, and I figured the fuel cost of just driving it (nevermind other wear and tear, etc.) would have been $200-250, so this was same order of magnitude as paying to have it driven by someone else once you factor in paying their lodging or a return airfare. Yes, my daughter and I could have driven it and wife driven the truck with the household wares without anymore lodging costs than we already had, but that would have been a bit of a hassle- plus we enjoyed the time together in the truck just sightseeing and relaxing with 3 drivers in the rotation. Plus quite frankly an XJ is far from an enjoyable vehicle to take on a 1600-mile "get-there-as-fast-as-you-can" road trip, especially on some of the sad-condition freeways once we got into California.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: dareo
Auto Transport is a network of reselling brokers that will then sell your load to an actual trucking company or owner operator that is willing to pick it up.


In this case I used E-ship as the broker, and Auto Movers (not "Auto Transport") was the actual working trucking company that they handed the task over to after I approved the schedule delay.

If time isn't so much an issue, you could save the broker fee by picking the trucking company yourself and just wait until they have a truck passing along the route you need (or pay for one of the high-end companies like Pilot that will come when you call). Where the broker earns his keep is being able to scan all the trucking companies quickly to find one that most closely matches your schedule needs for a run-of-the-mill vehicle you don't insist on sending via enclosed/personalized service. I picked E-ship based on customer reviews. Yes, they have some negatives- but this is a business where just about everyone will. But they were generally positive, and had fewer complaints about seriously blown schedules, overly high broker fees, etc.

 

[dareo]

I did try contacting a few companies directly, and this is a very common car delivery pathway mind you, and they all wanted more than the brokers did. Since this was a new car purchase i had a lot of flexibility in when they picked up and delivered and that helped get the cost as low as possible.

Its really a game of getting a lot of bids and going with your gut on who is the best, not necessarily the cheapest of all bids. Kinda like most things in life.