Seasonal

The Snowbird Playbook: Booking Seasonal Transport Before the Lanes Fill

Southbound in the fall, northbound in the spring, and everyone calling in the same two weeks. How to time a seasonal move so you are not paying peak rates for leftover capacity.

July 7, 2026 · 7 min read

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Verify before you book

Two minutes on the FMCSA website tells you who you're really dealing with

You do not have to take any company's word for it. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration keeps free public records on every licensed brokerage and carrier in the country. Here is exactly what to ask for and where to verify it:

1.Ask for the MC and USDOT numbers
Every legitimate brokerage and carrier must provide both on request. Our numbers: USDOT #2273104 and MC #774106. If a company hesitates or deflects, stop.
2.Look them up on the FMCSA SAFER system
Go to safer.fmcsa.dot.gov and use the Company Snapshot search. Enter the MC or USDOT number and confirm the legal name, operating status and “Authorized” brokerage or carrier authority match what you were told.
3.Confirm the $75,000 brokerage bond
In the FMCSA Licensing & Insurance portal (li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov), verify the brokerage's BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust fund is active. No active bond means no legal authority to brokerage your shipment.
4.Demand the carrier's information and payment breakdown
If a company says they have a carrier for you but never sends you the carrier's name, DOT/MC number, driver contact and truck details, or you never get to see how much of your payment is going to the carrier, that is a red flag. A legitimate brokerage discloses the assigned carrier and explains the brokerage fee before you book.

When you check our records you'll find Enterprise Auto Transport LLC, USDOT #2273104, MC #774106; an owner-operated, federally licensed and bonded brokerage based in Naples, Florida, working by phone and email with no walk-in office. You can also read our full carrier vetting process.

Open the FMCSA Company Snapshot Read the full verification guide

The season is more predictable than the market

Seasonal residents move on a calendar the whole industry knows. Vehicles head south from the Northeast and Midwest through the fall and return north in the spring. Because tens of thousands of people run the same play in the same weeks, carrier capacity on those corridors tightens sharply and rates follow.

Book three to six weeks ahead

For October through December arrivals and March through May departures, three to six weeks of lead time is the window that consistently gets a good carrier at a fair rate. Inside two weeks you are bidding against everyone who waited, and the trucks that remain are the ones that did not fill at normal rates.

Returning clients get priority dispatch through our preferred carrier network - we know the vehicle, the community access rules and the delivery contact, so the load posts faster and cleaner.

Gated communities and delivery logistics

A ten-car semi cannot enter most gated neighborhoods, and many associations restrict commercial vehicles outright. That is a logistics detail, not a problem: we arrange a nearby meeting point - a plaza lot, a wide shoulder outside the gate, a church or shopping center - and the driver handles the last stretch with you.

Tell us the community name when you book. In Collier and Lee County we already know which addresses need a staging point and which will take a truck at the door.

Two cars, one household

If you are moving more than one vehicle on the same route, ship them together. Two cars on the same truck almost always price better per unit than two separate bookings, and both arrive on the same day with the same driver.

Key takeaways