Recently, AutomobileShippingQuotes.com has made some significant changes to their site, making it even easier for clients to plan out the best available option. With the addition of an Instant Quotes section, customers can receive ten quotes from ten different auto transport companies. This not only allows the client to review all available options, it also tends to drive down the actual costs. The reason for this is simple. By providing ten quotes from ten different companies, the best price will win the business opportunity. Having said that, these companies are competing with each other for the business. If one company is consistently lower priced, the others must drop down their prices to keep up with the competition.

Another perk that ASQ offers their customers is peace of mind. There are no hidden fees or any other deceptions, which is common in this industry. On example can be seen in the potential car buyer. With Internet auto sales becoming increasingly popular people are constantly being duped by hidden fees and service charges. ASQ allows you to calculate the entire price of purchasing a new vehicle, transport fees included! With options such as these its no wonder ASQ is so popular amongst auto transport sites!

The FMSCA stands for The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It’s part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and it was established in January of 2000. The FMSCA has its headquarters in Washington, DC and they employ over 1,000 people in every state of the US.

Basically, what the FMSCA has been doing since its conception is trying to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. This of course also covers the entire auto transport industry. The FMSCA believes that the best way to prevent dangerous large scale accidents with these vehicles is by improving the average person’s driving behavior and intelligence.

A major part of the FMSCA that is vital to their goal is what they refer to as ART. ART stands for Analysis, Research and Technology. This arm of FMSCA is dedicated to mining data and taking the information they’ve gathered and turning it into effective safe driving practices.

The FMSCA has several major programs to forward their goal of increased motor safety.
They enforce HMRs which stands for Hazardous Materials Regulations. The FMSCA makes sure that a set of meticulous handling guidelines are properly followed when dangerous materials are being transported.

Another program they oversee is the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). Through MCSAP, FMSCA provides funds to their locations throughout the country so they’re well staffed and are able to carry out roadside inspections of motor carriers to ensure they’re up to the safety code and following proper HMRs regulations.

Then there is the Household Goods Program. The FMSCA is the governing body for all moving companies that offer interstate moves. All interstate moving companies have to register with the agency. For consumers, the FMSCA provides a number of services in regards to moving. They have a helpful website called ( ProtectYourMove ) and offer a place for consumers to file complaints against interstate movers and dangerous motor carrier drivers.

The FMSCA has a helpful network of sites, links to which can be found here: www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/other/other-fmcsa-sites/related.htm

After the inspection of the vehicle, the carrier is going to give you some papers to sign, mainly stating that you’re releasing it into his custody and that he’ll deliver it with as little damage as possible at the destination. Once that’s done, you watch as he loads it up and drives away with it, and it’s the same thing on the other side, too. When a car is being delivered, you must be there to sign the papers and do the inspection, just like before. If there’s any damages, you can simply talk to the auto shipping broker that arranged the shipment and they’ll take care of it for you.

If you can’t possibly be there, you can have a friend or relative there to sign on the car for you. So, it’s OK to have weird uncle Charlie there to sign off on the vehicle that’s heading out to San Diego from Lexington, Kentucky, while you’re in the moving van on I-10 halfway there already. That’s not a problem. Just make sure that the carrier knows that weird uncle Charlie will be there for the pickup, and you’ll be at the destination to see your vehicle safely unloaded.

All trucking companies have to pass weight inspections every 500 or so miles to prevent unlawful shipment of certain things (among other reasons). If they don’t pass the inspection, the carrier becomes “stuck” at the weigh station, and this can cause unhealthy delays for anyone waiting on their vehicle to be dropped off. Typically they’ll squeak through with a “pass,” but if they’re too far over the inspectors have to go through everything to see what’s making them weigh more – and subsequently take it out. Rules are rules, you know.

But most rules are made to be broken, and the weight one is no exception. Typically, a ten-car open auto transport carrier will have 500-1000lbs wiggle room at the weigh station (which isn’t a lot, believe me), so most auto brokers will tell you that you can put up to 100lbs in the trunk of your car only. Now, you still can’t have anything in the cab (front and back seats), due to liability issues (as well as other, interstate transport laws and regulations), but you can have pillows and blankets and some photos and whatnot sitting in the trunk. This is because it’s not “personal effects,” it’s considered “junk in the trunk,” and while the carrier isn’t responsible, he doesn’t need to know, now does he?

They’re much more reliable than carriers because they aren’t on a fixed schedule, and they aren’t operating heavy machinery. With a transporter, you can have mechanical failures, failure to pickup, late pickups, and much more plague your auto transport experience, and if you’re dealing directly with the carrier it can be a hassle. Not only will you have to find a new carrier, but you’d have to cancel the shipment with the current one (costing money and time), jump through a million hoops trying to get them to cancel it, and so on and so forth.

With an auto brokerage, you won’t need to go through any of that. All that you’ll need to do in the case of a carrier’s truck breaking down, or them not showing up, is to contact your auto broker and have them take care of everything. They’re trained professionals, and they know what they’re doing when it comes to auto shipping, so trust them a little bit. They can also save you money over shipping with a carrier because truckers have been known to jack prices sky high in an attempt to make the most money possible. Brokers have no need to do that, and they won’t try to take your money and run. They’re legitimate companies, and they would love your business.

It’s a difficult job, to be sure, but these drivers handle it with the utmost care and delicacy. From the moment your car is picked up, it goes on its slot on the truck and it doesn’t budge. It will not move, no matter what the circumstances, and truck drivers have to know exactly what their routes are going to be – sometimes months in advance! – for this to be true. So you can rest assured that the truck driver is not out gallivanting around with your vehicle like the parking garage tenants in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Auto shipping is by far the safest way to move your car across the country, so don’t be afraid to call around and ask questions. Auto shippers always love hearing from potential customers, and they’ll do their best to answer any and all questions you may have regarding the shipment of your automobile. Any questions you may have, they can answer for you, from the ridiculous to the fantastical.

Terminal-to-terminal shipping, on the other hand, is much more dangerous. When you drop your car off at a terminal, you really don’t know what you’re getting into because (for the most part, anyway) terminals are merely giant fields where cars can wait for weeks to be picked up. With terminal-to-terminal shipping, there is no insurance on the vehicle, so oftentimes people will report things missing from their vehicle after it were shipped from a terminal, and that’s something that no one wants to go through.

Typically terminal-to-terminal shipping is handy when moving from big cities and to big cities. New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C. – all these cities have narrow streets that can make it difficult and dangerous for an auto transport carrier to navigate in these giant cities. Most of the time, the carrier will arrange a location that is close to your house (in the event of door-to-door shipping) and meet you there; parking lots do nicely for this. But with terminal-to-terminal, you need to be careful, and always know that things can go wrong.