Carrier Broker: What They Are
A carrier broker is a company that brokers customer orders out the various carrier companies that are on the road today. A carrier broker is typically a company located in an office with a staff of highly trained and helpful customer service representatives that can handle many different open orders at one time. Dispatchers are used by almost every carrier broker to streamline finding carriers for their customers and their needs, and we highly recommend utilizing a broker for any auto transport services that you may need, as a) carriers are hard to find anyway, and b) they actually help save money on car transport services.
Carrier Broker: How They Keep Prices Low
A carrier broker is essential in streamlining your auto transport experience and making it easier for you to actually find a good auto transport carrier to ship your vehicle. As carriers don’t advertise online, a carrier broker makes it much easier for you to find a truck to ship your vehicle, as carrier brokers utilize large online load boards that both carriers and brokers can peruse and find each other. While the system isn’t perfect, it makes it much easier for both carriers and brokers to interact and work together to get your vehicle moved. A broker will use these load boards to post customers vehicles to, which carriers can then look at and select; they will also “call out” to trucks that are in your area and see if they are available to pick up another vehicle nearby. This method is much better than a carrier doing all the advertising and scheduling, as many times schedules are booked up to two weeks in advance by a carrier broker and finding last-minute pickup can be a hassle – and harder to do, if you’re shipping directly with a carrier.
A broker also helps to keep prices low because carriers need to be competitive otherwise they won’t find loads. Carriers like to charge as much as they can, and brokers, by utilizing giant load boards, can choose the cheapest options for their customers; if a broker wasn’t searching on your behalf, auto transport could easily be double what it normally costs, so be thankful for booking with a carrier broker as opposed to just a carrier.
Carrier Broker: Information You Need
A carrier broker will need some information from you; exact pickup and delivery addresses are a must, though if they’re in an area that a carrier can’t easily get to they may ask you to change them closer to pickup or delivery, so it’s not like the addresses are set in stone. They do, however, give your broker a good basis for which to build a price. This applies to the year, make and model of your vehicle; heavier and larger vehicles cost more than smaller, lighter vehicles, and your broker should include that in the quote they compile for you. Be sure to not just go with the cheapest quote, however, as sometimes brokers can actually give too low a quote for a certain route and your vehicle won’t move – just like prices can be too high, so too can prices be too low. It’s best to choose a broker whose price is in the middle, neither the lowest nor highest quote, and as always we recommend getting as many quotes from as many different brokers as possible to maximize your chances of getting the best company for your needs.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
- When to go with an Enclosed Transport - October 2, 2023
- Understanding California’s EV Mandate - August 1, 2023
- Top Reasons Auto Shippers Are Delayed - January 9, 2023