Car hauling broker help

[Scott Douglas]

My daughter and her husband (both currently living in Japan) are trying to get their 2020 Suburban (currently on my driveway in CA) moved to Chesapeake Virginia, where they've bought a house and are planning to move later this year.

My daughter texted me yesterday that the broker her husband is working with would like a video of the car operating and a picture of the mileage on the ODO.

Does this sound suspicious to you all who've shipped cars or am I just being overly cautious?

I don't know which broker he is working with.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[stomachmonkey]

Never had one ask me either of those things.

Wanting to know if it runs is not too weird because it's a hassle for the hauler if it isn't but they also tend to upcharge that.

The mileage, only thing that I can think of to explain it is to get a market value for liability?

[jhynesrockmtn]

I was on the receiving end of a shipment of a 914 Bumblebee I had shipped from Grand Rapids to Spokane WA. The broker was good to deal with and the seller has had many successful shipments with him. Supremacyautotransport.com. The guy I dealt with was Max Guallan. It may be worth getting a quote to verify your price and he could answer the video and mileage question.

Having said that, they do want to know that the car runs so I don't think the video is out of line. They may want mileage to verify the driver doesn't add mileage to the vehicle for the owners protection. A fellow PCA member here shipped a 911 from California and has quite a story about the car being driven and wrecked.

[Scott Douglas]

Thanks guys. I just got a call from the guy that's doing the transporting. He's picking it up between 11 and 2 today. I asked if it would only go on once and he said yes, since it's a big SUV it has to go up first on the front.
I plan on doing a good walk around video with my Sony camera before he gets here. I won't be giving that video to my daughter though. I'll use my phone for that one so it's easier to send to her. I think it will be 'after the fact' when she gets it due to the time zone differences.
I'll let you all know how it goes.

[speeder]

Hey Scott, if you don't mind saying, what's today's price for such a haul? I do a small amount of car hauling myself and always looking for data points. Thanks and it sounds like a responsible shipper.

[matthewb0051]

I've shipped to Germany and Hawaii and within the US. This sounds right. One thing I'll add after my last shipment:

I got a call from the hauler asking if I wanted it sooner but for an additional $100 or so dollars. Also, since I wasn't at the destination, they offered to bring it to where I was on leave/vacation also at additional cost. Ultimately I was able to coordinate for them to leave it with a covered parking facility at the airport of original destination city and I believe that was a bit more to deliver there.

It was all above board. The deviations from original delivery destination and time line was what incurred the additional $$. But in my experience, they were just trying to make it work out good for me.

[Scott Douglas]

Originally Posted by speeder

Hey Scott, if you don't mind saying, what's today's price for such a haul? I do a small amount of car hauling myself and always looking for data points. Thanks and it sounds like a responsible shipper.

I honestly don't know, Denis. I've tried to stay out of this 'operation' and only recently asked my daughter what their budget was for getting it done. She said $3k but I have no idea if that is what they are being charged.
My son-in-law's brother lives back there in Virginia and will be taking delivery of the truck and then hopefully parking it in their new house's garage. It's a long involved story about how the next move is going to take place. We'll just be glad to get them back in the states.

I will say I'm feeling a lot better about all this with these replies. Thanks guys. I was about to rent a car dolly and haul my car back there so I could take a photo vacation myself but that was just a pipe dream of mine.

[speeder]

I’d guess that it was $3k at least @ current fuel prices and with the size of the vehicle being moved. It weighs the same as two Priuses or Honda Civics.

[matthewb0051]

For reference:

2012 shipped a Land Rover from NC to El Paso approx $1,200
2014 shipped longhood from El Paso to Metro DC area approx $1,200

So yeah, with fuel and other costs, this doesn't sound out of bounds.

[Scott Douglas]

They actually had considered driving it back themselves when they were here back in June/July but the cost of hotels and gas and food for a family of 6 made them think twice about it.

[Scott Douglas]

Is there anything I should be asking the hauler for before handing over the keys to him?
Or do I just assume all is OK since he called me and I don't even know to whom he's delivering or exactly where?
I do have their new house address.

[speeder]

Your photos and video should suffice.

[matthewb0051]

I seem to recall getting a call from dispatch saying truck will be there between x and y time and they would give a name of the hauler. I believe dispatch also confirms the delivery location with you and so does the hauler.

I'd just ask hauler destination and if he knows who is receiving on that end. But I'm guessing he will state that before you even ask.

[Scott Douglas]

Yeah, we got a call from the hauler saying he'd be here between 11-2 and would call when he was 30 minutes out.
I wasn't expecting it to leave so soon as it's been a chore to get info out of my daughter/son-in-law lately.
I'm hoping he volunteers the info without me having to ask.

[Scott Douglas]

I'm glad I washed the truck yesterday as two weeks of the gardener blowing dust/debris on it had it looking really dirty. At least I know it was clean when it leaves my care.

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by speeder

Hey Scott, if you don't mind saying, what's today's price for such a haul? I do a small amount of car hauling myself and always looking for data points. Thanks and it sounds like a responsible shipper.

If you are looking for data points, I just shipped a Nissan Xterra from Seattle to Las Vegas for $700. I was shocked at how fast they got there. Car was picked up at 830 am Last Wednesday and was in Vegas by dinner time Thursday.

[Scott Douglas]

Well it's off on its next adventure. Got a primo spot on the trailer as it's out of the wind/elements for the most part, at least as much as can be expected on an open trailer.

[rcooled]

In the future, you might consider dealing directly with an actual vehicle shipping company that runs their own trucks instead of a broker. I once mistakenly got hold of a broker when calling around about shipping a car and was still getting calls from haulers long after the car was delivered. Brokers will shotgun your info out to many different haulers in hopes of getting one to take the contract, and you'll still be getting calls even months later to see if you still need the service.

I've used J&S Transportation in the past and have always had a good experience with them: https://www.jandstransport.com/about/

[Scott Douglas]

My son-in-law handled everything about this haul.
It would have been nice to know what afterburn 549 suggested before hand, but it's a little late now. This rig looked a lot more legit than some of the haulers I've seen out on the road and around town here.
Thanks all.