Quote:
Originally Posted by caideN
Anyone have direct contact with trucking companies that are NOT brokers?
Any personal experiences with shipping a big full size van?
I tried getting quotes and all I get are spam emails and false promises over the phone from brokers.
At this time I can't do a fly and drive back.
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The way it works is that the brokers all use a central database that jobs come up on. If you transport it just make sure you get the bonded hauler with the door to door price all inclusive, you will pay the broker his fee up front then the hauler on delivery after inspection. (Or at least that was the short version- I always assume there is more going on behind the scenes- Call me dubious! )
The transport company bids on a job (ie my van) then the broker who contacts you adds his 'fee'. You can tell the broker to negotiate with the hauler but of course it gets tedious. Although I thought I had researched hauling fees prior to buying my van, I had not read enough and it cost almost twice what I had planned for. At least I got a heads up on the scams from the dealer I purchased HellBetty from.
I fired one broker for being greedy when I realized he was adding a high $700 fee for sitting on the phone and feeding me bs about my route. So then apparently all the transporters had seen my job rate and I really could not get a much better price. He also tagged my job as being under contract when I had not actually signed off on his papers. Grr. Live and learn.
Either way I'm in agreement with steelhead about getting it inspected and preferably also a look over by an impartial contact. It was somewhat time consuming doing a remote buy due to time spent reaching out for out-of-state mechanics etc and my time online and phone lining up transport but it is what it is. I guess I did plenty of logistics at my job so not a huge deal to me.
If you don't take DIG up on his offer and still need a transport service I will look up the one I used and also the ones to avoid- I was happy with mine, he kept me informed during the entire contract period. Let me know if I can help!