I don't do autos, but in my end of the business, carriers typically carry a pretty much standard $100k cargo insurance. They have separate liability insurance. Be aware that the trucking industry is very specialized, I do general types of consumer and business to business cargo. The auto transporters probably ONLY do autos/wheeled things. Bulk liquids/solids, alcohols, household goods, etc are all fairly distinct types of cargo. I would guess the auto transporters include insurance needed in their pricing. Of course, any amount of insurance can be bought. One of the difficult things about shipping autos is that they are not new, so valuation and condition are very important to determine before shipping.


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I am a broker. Any decent broker will know the insurance of the carriers they use. But that said, there is no reason to use a broker to ship a car. The advantage a broker brings is access to thousands of carriers that a typical individual or company doesnt have. And I have a network of carriers that depend on me to find them loads. I can get cheaper rates than an individual because of the shipping volume I do (10's of thousands of loads from my office). That doesn't apply in the car shipping world, it is pretty easy to find the good carriers, and no one is shipping very many.

I know Reliable-Carriers has 5 mil coverage on every trailer.

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me. 1st you say you are a Broker, but there is no reason to use a Broker!

Granted it's easy to find a Good Shipper (Like Reliable or Passport), but if someone is looking to ship a car for a lot less than the Big Names charge, they wouldn't have access to Network of Shippers. Also Car Shipping is very big - I have had to wait on even the Big Names to pick up a car since they were so busy. Yesterday I did a 250 Trip in our Single Car Trailer and must have seen 25 Full 6-8 Car Haulers. This morning on my way to work (14 Miles) I saw 5!

There is no reason to use a broker TO SHIP A CAR

Car shipping is a small pimple on the ass of the domestic transportation market. Private car shipments are too small for my line of work, and are highly specialized. Like I said, my office makes 10's of thousands of shipments a year. Plus I only ship for companies, not individuals.

If you are shipping a single car every once in a while, my advice is to only deal with the big dogs in the car shipping world. They know the ins and outs of insurance, and have a reputation to uphold. That will be a big thing in your favor.

If you need to ship for business and do it with frequency, you will make contacts with many carriers. Cultivate a relationship with a carrier that does a good job for you (in the office, not just a courteous driver) and use them for everything. This is where a broker may help, they will have a relationship and "pull" with carriers because of the volume they do. Relationships and trust matter, whether with a carrier or a broker.

Now I know what you are saying,

But in some ways I will have to disagree about Brokers vs the Big Names. I don't have any cars shipped by our company but over the last 10 Years I have shipped a Dozen Cars Nationally & Internationally. I do have a Broker that I first started with that has taken care of 95% of what I have shipped. Most of these were open Transport (2 were enclosed) and the Price that I received was well below what a Big Name transporter charges. In fact as an example I had one car going from Tampa to Seattle that the guy wanted Enclosed and I had an identical car coming from Seattle to Tampa on Open Transport. These cars literally criss-crossed each other coming across the Country. The Open Transport was $950 and the Enclosed was $2700 - The Open Transport had no Problems and the Big Name Enclosed damaged the transmission by putting it in gear after strapping it down. I also had Reliable do a Enclosed Transport for me. I told them I would meet them 2 Blocks from my House in a Church Parking Lot due to low trees on my street. The Driver insisted on trying to make it. He drove over one of my neighbors lawn, took out Two trees and the Power Lines on my street AND he still ended up a block away. I also have had a Big Name (Passport) take an Order from and then couldn't pick it up. Then they wanted me to switch to Exotic. I decide to go another route and the Exotic would not stop calling me for 2 weeks.

So to me, it's all a Crap-Shoot!

Yes, it is a little bit of a crap-shoot. Driving a truck is a thankless job. Drivers can make a good bit of money, but the life on the road can be hell. Thats one reason why driver turnover in the industry is greater than 100% per year. Think about that for a minute the next time you bitch about a truck driver, most have less than a year on the job. And the industry currently has record driver shortages.

As far as prices go, it is very true that a good broker can save you money. But finding a good broker can be as difficult as finding a good trucking company.