When researching auto transport companies and services, there may be two types of professionals that pop up in your search: auto transport carriers and auto transport brokers.
To a lot of new customers who never used professional auto shipping services before, it may sound confusing differentiating between the two.
This article will explain what makes them similar and different, and what kind of services they provide to make their car shipping process easy and convenient.
Auto transport carriers
Auto transport carriers work for their individual auto transport companies and are the ones who operate the trucks. They are the ones who will be shipping your car from state to state. Some carriers have a single truck and haul cars as a solo carrier, and others work for a larger company that owns multiple trucks.
Sometimes carriers will act alone to schedule bookings for deliveries without a broker or an agent in-between.
Auto transport brokers
On the other hand, auto transport brokers are essentially the "middlemen" that connect the customer with the auto transport company. The brokers work with various companies (large or small) and carriers to get the customer the best option they need.
Some licensed brokers will have their own supply of trucks, which means that these brokers will also act as carriers. Some brokers will be a part of their own transport company, which advertise their services to customers as brokers and also deliver cars as carriers for customers.
Which one should you choose?
It may sound confusing to the customer because there are similarities between brokers and carriers, and there are pros and cons to using both.
Pros of using a broker
Brokers deal with multiple companies and different supplies of trucks, so they are very flexible to the customer's requests. If one company has a high demand and they have no trucks to ship a vehicle for the customer, they can search among many other companies to get the customer what they need.
Another benefit of using a broker is that they will guarantee great customer service. Some smaller companies or sole carriers do not have a good customer service department, because they are often hauling, booking, and talking to the customers all on their own.
The customer does not have to worry about getting their shipment late or not being able to reach the carrier if something goes wrong. If the transport trailer breaks down on the road, the broker can contact another company and have the car transported on another truck in no time.
Pros of using a carrier
When customers ship directly through a carrier, the shipping services will often be cheaper than using a broker. The customer would need to pay for the shipping services and hiring a broker, so it would be cheaper to go directly to a carrier.
Sometimes when hiring a broker as a middle-man, the broker can miscommunicate with the carrier. There may be problems that arise if something goes wrong on the road and the truck breaks down. Sometimes there may be communicative errors about shipping delays and this can cause confusion on all three sides.
Hiring a carrier can be straightforward and the customer can contact the carrier directly. When hiring a broker, the customer often has to go through the broker and can't speak to the carrier directly. Therefore, ordering services from a carrier can be more fast and convenient
Comments
Post a Comment