c/auto-shipping

My quote for Ohio to Florida took 11 days to get right

Honestly, the first estimate came in $800 lower than final, then the broker ghosted me for 5 days over one stupid typo in the VIN. Has anyone else had a dispatcher quote one price and then quietly hike it once the truck is booked?

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andrew_nguyen64•2d ago

Enclosed trailer or not? My cross-country move has me second-guessing

So last month I shipped my old F-150 from Phoenix to Tampa and went with open transport to save cash. Paid $850, which felt great until the hood showed up with a dozen rock chips and a cracked windshield. The driver said it was already like that, but I took photos before pickup, so nope. Meanwhile my buddy shipped his Mustang three years ago in an enclosed trailer from Dallas to Denver and paid $1,400, but it arrived spotless. I get that enclosed costs way more, but is the protection really worth it for a daily driver, or am I just being bitter about my luck? I'm leaning toward enclosed for the next one, but I want to hear from folks who've done both, especially if you've had a bad open transport claim that actually got paid out. Has anyone else dealt with a carrier denying damage that you can prove happened on their watch?

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viola171•3d ago

Open deck vs enclosed for a 2024 Tesla? My 3-car mishap changed my mind

So last month I shipped a Tesla Model 3 from Dallas to Phoenix. Booked open carrier to save $250, figured it was fine. Then the truck showed up with three cars stacked and a loose strap flapping near the bumper. The driver said it was normal, but I watched him cinch it down with a ratchet that had rust on the teeth. Car arrived with two tiny rock chips on the hood and a scratch on the rear fender. My buddy swears enclosed is a scam because you pay double and still get delays. But the open deck quote was 900 and the enclosed was 1150. For 250 bucks difference, am I stupid for trying to save? Has anyone else taken the cheaper route and regretted it, or is enclosed just marketing hype for nervous owners?

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the_sandra•3d ago

Bruder hauling RVs told me my tie-downs were backwards and he was right

Tbh I've been hauling cars for like 4 years and always strapped the rear axle from the front. Then last month a guy at a truck stop in Flagstaff watched me load a Jeep and said I was putting stress on the frame instead of the suspension. He showed me how he crosses the rear straps to pull down and back. I tried it on my next run to Phoenix and the ride felt way steadier over the rough patches. Has anyone else had a veteran driver point out a basic habit that you never questioned?

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sean_perry•3d ago

Strapped a car down wrong for 2 years until a driver pointed it out

I've been shipping cars part time from my lot in Phoenix for a while now. I always used the frame rails on pickup trucks because that's what a buddy told me. Last week a transport driver gets out, looks at my setup and asks why I'm not using the suspension points. I didn't even know those existed on most vehicles. He showed me on a Silverado how the straps hook right into the control arms. My stomach dropped when he said I was lucky nobody got hurt. Has anyone else missed something this basic for that long?

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wood.lisa•3d ago

Hit 500 cars shipped in year two, that number caught me off guard

I do dispatch for a small carrier out of Phoenix and last month we rolled past 500 vehicles moved since I started tracking. It hit me that most of those were repeat brokers, not one-off deals, so the relationship side matters way more than the volume. Anyone else notice their milestone numbers come from the same three or four clients?

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perez.mia•5d ago

Open deck vs enclosed for a 2009 Mustang, no contest really

I shipped my old Mustang from Phoenix to Denver twice, once open and once enclosed. The open run cost me $650 and the paint came back with little rock chips all over the front bumper. The enclosed run was $980 but that car looked exactly like it did when it left, not a single mark. If you are moving something you actually care about, just pay the extra 300 bucks and skip the headache. Anyone else notice the open carriers kinda sling gravel around on the interstate?

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charlie37•5d ago

Trucker's one question about my bindings changed how I load every car

Last month I watched a driver inspect my ramps before a cross-country haul from Phoenix. He asked why my front straps had slack on the passenger side, I said it was just the suspension settling. He told me to crank them again after 10 minutes of driving, not before. I tried it on my next two loads, both arrived with zero shift marks. Has anyone else been taught to retighten after a short warm-up, or was I just doing it lazy this whole time?

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butler.patricia•7d ago

Load secured with tie-downs at a Tampa pickup, then driver shifted it himself

I dropped a Chevy Silverado at a Tampa depot last month, winched it down with four straps and checked the chocks twice. The driver walked around, yanked one strap and said, "That's too tight for the interstate, it'll stretch fine." He moved the car six inches back without redoing the others, and it slid on the trailer deck during a hard stop in Georgia. The gravel under the rear tires got scuffed up, and the shipper paid for a re-tow. Has anyone else had a carrier adjust their own load and end up paying for damage later?

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harperb46•8d ago

Broker quote from Ohio made me question my whole process

I was lining up a move from Columbus to Phoenix for a 2018 F-150, and this broker in Ohio told me to stop shopping on price alone. He said he's seen 3 customers this month alone get burned by bait-and-switch quotes that were $400-600 under the going rate. That made me dig into the fine print, and sure enough, those cheap numbers had no fuel surcharge or insurance listed. Has anyone else gotten a quote that fell apart after you asked for a breakdown?

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joseph_baker•8d ago

I finally stopped doubting enclosed transport after a hail incident in Kansas

Back in May I shipped my 1967 Mustang from Wichita to Nashville and went with open carriers to save about $350. The driver was careful and the car arrived fine, but three weeks later a buddy sent his classic Camaro through the same route and a surprise hailstorm near Springfield put dents all over the rear quarter panel. His carrier did nothing about it, and the insurance fight took two months. I always figured enclosed was just for rich folks or show cars, but now I see it as cheap peace of mind for anything you actually care about. The extra cost works out to maybe $100 per day of transit, and that feels reasonable when you consider paint work runs $2,000 or more. Has anyone else had a close call like that, where open transport worked but you still switched anyway?

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ryan_flores•23d ago

That broker from Ohio argued with me for 20 minutes about my car being dirty

I had a broker named Dave from Columbus call me out for having mud on my floor mats when my Mustang got picked up in Cleveland. He kept saying it wasn't "shipping ready" and tried to charge me an extra $75 cleaning fee on the spot. I told him dirt is not damage and he finally backed down after I sent him photos from the day before. Has anyone else had a broker try to tack on fees for normal wear like that?

1 comments

the_kai•23d ago

Why I changed my mind about using open car carriers for long distance shipping

For years I only used enclosed transport for my cars, thinking it was the only safe way. Then last summer I had to ship a 2010 Honda Civic from Phoenix to Portland and the enclosed quote was $1,600 while open was only $850. I figured for a 14 year old daily driver it was worth the risk. The car arrived in perfect condition and I realized I had been overpaying for years on cars that didn't need the extra protection. Has anyone else found that open carriers are fine for most vehicles?

1 comments

christopher_hunt•23d ago

Rant: My car looked like a swamp on wheels when it got picked up vs. how it showed up

I shipped my rusty 2004 Honda Civic from Portland to Denver a few months back and it was covered in Oregon moss and mud when the driver took it. Three weeks later when it arrived in Colorado it was spotless, like someone powerwashed it in a car wash halfway through the trip. Anybody else had their vehicle come back cleaner than it left, or did my driver just have too much free time on the highway?

2 comments

oliver811•26d ago

Finally locked down a steady route with the same dispatcher after 3 months of chaos

Last month I was stuck in a jam near the Atlanta terminal waiting for a load. My usual dispatcher kept bouncing me between random brokers and I missed two pickups in a row. Then a guy named Frank from the next bay over told me to stick with one freight broker who runs the Southeast corridor. I tried it with TQL for a few weeks and now I get consistent loads out of Charlotte every Tuesday. Has anyone else found a single dispatcher that actually keeps the freight flowing?

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max472•26d ago

Noticed door-to-door carriers charging way less than online brokers in Nashville

I shipped a 2018 Civic from Nashville to Dallas last month and the broker wanted $1,200 but a local hotshot guy did it for $750 with zero hassle. Has anyone else seen this shift toward smaller carriers beating the big quote sites?

2 comments

anna_craig•26d ago

I lost $350 on a broker who ghosted me after taking my deposit

Back in March I was shipping a classic Mustang from Phoenix to Atlanta. Found a broker online with decent reviews, gave them a $350 deposit to hold the spot. They kept pushing the pickup date back for two weeks straight, then stopped answering calls and emails entirely. I ended up having to find another carrier on my own and paid double to get the car moved in a rush. Has anyone else had a broker just disappear after taking money like that?

1 comments

adams.troy•1mo ago

Got back from a trip to Miami and noticed how they load cars on those huge container ships

I was down in Miami last month visiting family and we ended up walking along the port area. Hadn't really thought about auto shipping much before that but man, watching them load cars onto those giant container ships was something else. They had these drivers zipping around pulling cars from a big lot and lining them up at the dock. The whole operation looked super efficient but I also noticed a couple cars getting scratched up when they squeezed them into the containers. Made me wonder how often that happens and if the companies just eat the cost or what. Now I'm looking into shipping my old truck from Florida to California for a move and I keep thinking about that trip. Has anyone here shipped a vehicle from a port like that and had issues with damage? I'm trying to figure out if container shipping is really worth the extra money over open carrier.

2 comments

jamiekim•1mo ago

Serious question, did my enclosed carrier actually wreck my paint?

I paid for enclosed shipping for my 1969 Mustang from Austin to Denver. $1,800 for the premium service. Everyone in the forums swears enclosed is the only way to go for classics. But when it arrived last Tuesday, I found micro-scratches all over the hood and roof. The guy said it was from road vibration inside the trailer, which I thought enclosed was supposed to prevent. I learned that enclosed trailers can still trap dirt and debris if they aren't cleaned between loads. So now I'm wondering if open transport with a good cover might have been just as safe. Has anyone else seen paint damage from an enclosed carrier or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

andrewh95•1mo ago

Was dead set on enclosed transport until I saw the price difference

I was 100% sure I needed enclosed shipping for my 2019 Mustang from Atlanta to Denver. Got a quote from Montway that was $1,850 for enclosed and my buddy laughed, said just do open. I went with open for $1,200 and the car arrived with zero damage, not even a rock chip. Has anyone else saved big by going open and regretted it or am I just lucky?

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emma_smith•1mo ago

Talked to a broker about the summer rate spike and it clicked

I was on the phone with a broker named Mike from Texas last week and he said the reason rates jump every June is because everyone tries to move their cars at once. He showed me a chart where prices in Dallas went from $800 to $1,200 in just two weeks last July. I always thought it was just gas prices doing it, but he said it's mostly demand. Has anyone else noticed how much cheaper it is to ship in like February or March?

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ryand26•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: closed car carriers aren't worth the extra money

Paid $1,500 extra for enclosed shipping for my 2019 Mustang from Dallas to Denver last month. Car arrived with a scratch anyway from the tie-downs. Buddy shipped his truck open for half the price. Zero damage. Insurance covered my scratch but still took 3 weeks for the check. Anyone else have better luck with open carriers?

2 comments

mason.margaret•1mo ago

That time a shipment to Phoenix took 9 days longer than quoted

I booked a car hauler through a broker for a Mustang going from Seattle to Phoenix, and they quoted 5-7 days. Showed up day 16 with a cracked windshield and no explanation. Anyone else stop trusting brokers after something like that?

1 comments

richard110•1mo ago

I finally stopped wrapping my car hauler straps the way my dad showed me

After snapping a ratchet strap on I-95 near Richmond last month, I tried a different knot from a trucker forum and now my load hasn't budged even on bumpy back roads - has anyone else found old ways just don't hold up anymore?

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brian_kelly91•1mo ago

Took me 2 years to realize I was loading cars backwards on the trailer

I been hauling cars for a living since 2022. Always loaded them facing forward onto my open trailer because it just felt right. Last month a customer watched me strap down his Mustang and said 'you know the weight distribution is gonna shift on you at highway speed right'. I nodded like I knew but looked it up that night. Sure enough heavy end of the car should be up front near the truck. Now I have to unlearn 2 years of bad habits. Anyone else have a basic loading rule they got backwards?

2 comments