Snowbirds: Why a Cheaper Auto Transport Quote Can Be a Red Flag

When a cheaper quote makes me concerned

Sometimes I receive emails from customers saying, "I found another company that can transport my car for less."

I completely understand. When you're traveling between your northern home and Florida every year, saving a few hundred dollars matters.

But after 15 years of owning Enterprise Auto Transport, when someone tells me they've received a significantly cheaper quote, it's actually a red flag to me. I want to explain why, because this is about much more than getting your car from one state to another.

There is a legal risk most consumers never think about

There have been lawsuits against transportation brokers seeking millions of dollars following serious trucking accidents. There are also cases working their way through the courts involving the responsibility of brokers, and potentially even customers who hired the transportation.

Think about that for a moment. You hire someone to transport your vehicle to Florida. That trucking company gets into a serious accident that injures or kills someone. The legal questions may extend beyond the truck driver and trucking company to the broker who selected that carrier. Depending on the circumstances, even the vehicle owner could potentially be named in a lawsuit.

Being named in a lawsuit does not automatically mean someone is legally responsible, but defending yourself can still be frightening, stressful, and expensive. This is general information, not legal advice; outcomes depend on the facts and the law in each case.

This is what concerns me most as a licensed broker and business owner. If a serious accident occurs, I could find myself on a witness stand explaining why I selected that particular carrier. What was their safety record? Did I review their roadside inspections? Were there warning signs? Why did I choose that trucking company over another?

I want to be able to answer those questions knowing I did everything reasonably possible to select a qualified carrier. And the care I take to protect my own business from liability also helps protect you.

What our carrier screening shows

We use independent carrier-screening tools that go far beyond the reviews available on Central Dispatch, the load board where brokers find trucking companies.

In my own experience, roughly 8 out of every 10 carriers who contact us wanting to haul our customers' vehicles receive a D or F grade in our screening. That is my observation from our own loads, not an industry-wide study. A third-party screening grade is not an official FMCSA safety rating, and a low grade alone does not prove fraud, violations, or unsafe operation.

Many of these same carriers have excellent reviews on Central Dispatch. Those reviews often reflect whether a carrier picked up on time, communicated well, and delivered the vehicle. They don't necessarily tell you about roadside inspection history or overall safety risk.

Because of what we find, we turn away a tremendous number of carriers, including many offering lower prices.

Who is actually giving you your quote?

In my experience, the overwhelming majority of people consumers speak with when calling auto transport companies aren't individually licensed brokers. They're sales agents working under someone else's brokerage authority. My personal estimate is that it may be as high as 99 percent; that is an estimate, not a measured figure.

There are certainly good, honest sales agents. But many are focused on booking the order and earning their commission. They're generally not the business owner whose company could end up in court defending the decision to hire a particular carrier.

They may collect their commission and move on. I could be the person on the witness stand. That creates a very different level of personal responsibility, and I am not willing to put my company, my livelihood, or my customers at unnecessary risk just to offer the cheapest quote.

So why are our rates sometimes higher?

Our standard brokerage fee is $299. The vast majority of what you pay goes directly to the carrier transporting your vehicle.

We prefer to use carriers we already know, have carefully screened, and trust. Those carriers aren't always the cheapest. The industry is also facing a shortage of qualified drivers, and increased enforcement of CDL requirements, including English-language proficiency, is creating additional challenges.

So when a customer tells me they found a quote for several hundred dollars less, my first thought is: who is actually going to transport that vehicle, and what does their safety record look like? A cheaper quote doesn't automatically mean a carrier is unsafe. But I believe a significantly lower quote deserves a closer look.

Questions to ask before you book

No broker can guarantee an accident will never happen, and careful screening cannot eliminate every legal risk. But I believe we have a responsibility to investigate the carriers we hire. I would rather lose a booking because my quote was higher than ever have to explain to a customer, an injured family, or a courtroom why I hired a carrier whose safety record raised serious concerns.

Whether you use my company or someone else, please ask these questions before booking:

• Does your broker review roadside inspections and safety history?
• Do they verify cargo insurance directly with the insurance company?
• Do they confirm the driver's identity and the actual truck arriving to pick up your vehicle?
• Are you speaking with the licensed broker responsible for your shipment, or a commissioned sales agent?

Why I'm sharing this with my fellow snowbirds

Because I genuinely care about the people who trust me with their vehicles. Many of my customers are retirees who have worked their entire lives, saved their money, and simply want their cars waiting for them when they arrive in Florida.

Please don't choose an auto transport company based on price alone. Your vehicle is valuable. Your financial security, your peace of mind, and the safety of everyone sharing the road are worth even more.

I'm sharing this not to scare anyone or pressure anyone into using my company. I simply believe consumers deserve to understand the responsibility involved in selecting a trucking company, especially with the legal issues being examined in the courts.

Wishing all my fellow snowbirds safe travels to Florida this season!

Rena Anders, Owner, Enterprise Auto Transport. 15 years in auto transport. (239) 273-4649.