We here at American Auto Transport often receive a common question: "Are you a broker?" Although we hear this question countless times a day, it's not completely clear that most of our customers know what this means. It's important for all prospective auto transport customers to understand what brokers do so that they can make their own choices and judgments about using car shipping brokers.

First, one needs to understand how the auto transport industry works. The auto transport industry is in large part run by brokers. If you speak to 20 auto transport companies over the phone, the chances are that 19 of them operate as brokers. The other side of the auto transport industry is the actual service providers. These are the drivers that provide the vessels and service that you've requested. Many people consider working with brokers to be inferior to working with drivers directly. However, we believe that this opinion is misguided.

Of course, there are both pros and cons associated with using auto shipping brokers. For instance, using a broker can provide you with faster service. Brokers can almost always get your vehicle picked up faster that working with drivers directly. Drivers operate on volume; they need to get their vehicles filled up quickly in order to stay profitable. In order to get their trucks filled quickly, they turn to logistics companies. These logistic companies are commonly referred to as auto transport brokers. We have the means to properly organize the vast amounts of requests for auto transport that we receive every day into manageable loads for drivers all over the nation. This is how American Auto Transport is able to get vehicles transported so quickly.

Another benefit to using auto transport brokers is that we have a wider range. Most drivers only operate along particular routes, like the Southeast to the Northeast for example. By using an auto transport broker, you can easily get service to anywhere in the country, not just one particular region or the other. And perhaps the best benefit is that auto transport brokers are more widely available than the trucking companies. It's extremely difficult for individuals to find driver to work with directly, and unless you have a good deal of free, you'll be hard-pressed to do so.

Naturally, there are also cons associated with using brokers as well. First, it is generally slightly more expensive to use brokers. The job of the broker is to find you a driver, so brokers make their money in the form of a commission. This typically ranges between $100-200 and is generally included in the quoted price of shipping. Another problem with brokers is that they can only provide estimates. As where drivers have their own equipment and timelines, brokers do not; they merely act as an intermediary between the driver and customer. Many customers have recited horror stories of bad brokers, and we know all too well ourselves what bad brokers are capable of. But there are bad trucking companies, too. The key is to choose the right kind of company to do the job.

So if you decide to do auto shipping using car shipping brokers, make sure that you choose wisely. You should not automatically rule out brokers because they are brokers. Take time to examine the pros and cons of auto shipping with brokers, and then make a smart choice.

Just make sure that you choose wisely. Choose the company that can do the job the right way the first time around. Choose a company that will be open and honest with you about auto shipping. And choose the best. Choose American Auto Transport. Call us today at (866) 327-7863 and make your auto shipping reservations with the best company in the industry!