The process of receiving auto transport quotes can be a bit overwhelming, especially for first time consumers. You’ll typically receive between 6-10 quotes with a wide range of prices for the same service. But it is important that you know how to select the right quote for you before making your decision, as selecting the wrong quote can wind up costing you time and money.

Most auto transport companies are, despite what they may initially tell you, brokers. In this industry, brokers play the role of the middle man between the driver and the customer. A broker’s job is to find someone to transport your vehicle and then take a small cut of the total price.

Ideally, brokers should offer you a fair price (i.e. a price that will have your vehicle picked up within the time frame that you’ve agreed on. In practice, however, brokers tend to knowingly offer customers prices lower than what it will take to get the vehicle moved.

This is an all-around unfortunate way to business. For customers, this means that you’ll more than likely be wasting your time. For transporters, the opportunity to actually perform the service agreed upon is equally dubious. Customers should NEVER select the lowest bid for this very reason. Transporters, however, may or may not be incentivized to do business this way, depending on how they get paid.

Any company worth using does not get paid before they have rendered you service. Once the service is rendered, then the transporter has done him or her job and is then entitled for payment. Lesser companies will charge you beforehand, and keep your money whether or not they perform service.

One can glean a lot about a given transporter by what their quotes look like in relation to the others that you’ve received. Make sure to remove the lowest and highest bid from your mind, as to better determine the true going-rate for a given route.

It is also an extremely important step to learn about how your transporter does business. American Auto Transport does business a little differently than most auto transporters. We work with drivers directly off of flat rates. That means that the prices that we give are already confirmed as being accurate, so any one of our drivers will pick your vehicle up at the price that we initially offer you. We never charge you until we have a driver confirmed to pick you up on a particular date, so you’ll only pay the upfront portion once the driver is on his way out to pick your vehicle up.

Selecting a transporter is an important step to having your vehicle picked up. Pricing can tell you a lot about the company you’re thinking of working with. Remember that the lowest price is almost always too good to be true. One should make an effort to find a company that has neither too high or low a price and that doesn’t make any upfront charges to your card without confirmation. And finally, make sure that you select a transporter that works with drivers directly, preferably on flat rates.

American Auto Transport offers all of this and more. If you’re looking for a competitively priced quote for auto shipping, then you should seriously consider using a company like American Auto Transport. Don’t waste your time with brokers that don’t know what they’re doing. Make the right choice: chooser American Auto Transport. Call us at (866) 327-7863 to make your reservation with the right auto transporter today!