The auto shipping industry is big business. There are thousands of auto transport companies and the market itself is worth an estimated $5 billion dollars a year. With so much money involved, it’s no wonder that there’s a lot of competition for business.
Unfortunately however, this has attracted some less than reliable companies into the market who are more interested in making money than looking after their customers and providing a good service. If you’re looking to move your car across the country, and you’re currently looking at car transporters, it might pay you to be aware of some of the dirty little tricks of the auto shipping industry that they don’t want you to know.
Table of Contents
Direct Carrier
When most people are looking to entrust their pride and joy to an auto shipping company, they prefer the reassurance of knowing that the person who takes the booking and the truck driver who will transport the car all work for the same company. However, this isn’t always the case and some companies that advertise themselves as ‘direct carriers’, with their own trucks and drivers, sometimes aren’t.
They may have some trucks and employ a number of drivers, but they might also sub-contract a lot of their vehicle transportation to third party companies who you know nothing about. Some unscrupulous business will actually tell customers they are direct carriers when they are really nothing more than brokers, and simply farm the job out to whichever car transporters will charge the least, so they can make more money.
Auto Shipping Upgrades
In order to win business companies have to make sure their car transport rates are competitive, which means they have to find other ways to make more profit. Charging standard car transport rates in line with all the other companies is one way to attract customers, and selling them upgrades is a good way to make more profit.
While paying extra for enclosed car transport or top load placement because it will offer your car more protection might sound like a good idea, once you’ve paid for these upgrades there’s no guarantee that you will actually get them. Some less reliable companies will simply take your money and ship your car normally, knowing that your very unlikely to find out.
Dirty Tactics
If your car gets damaged during transport, some companies will go to great lengths to try and get out of accepting responsibility and having to put it right. If your car turns up and seems to be excessively dirty from it’s road trip, or it can’t be delivered until after dark, it might be an unscrupulous driver trying to make it harder for you to discover the damage until after the final inspection, when they’re no longer responsible for putting it right.
As with any industry, there will always be those companies who care more about making money than providing a good service, and the auto shipping industry is no different. It’s an unfortunate fact that there may be unreliable business offering vehicle transportation services, and for a lot of customers the only time they find out that they’ve made the wrong choice is when it’s too late.
However, forewarned is forearmed, and now you know some of the dirty little secrets the unreliable car shippers don’t want you to know, you’re less likely to get caught out.
There are plenty of excellent auto transport companies across the country, and as long as you ask the right questions and take the time to check them out thoroughly, you should find that getting your car from one state to another is a straightforward, inexpensive, and hassle free experience.
