Auto transporters come in two different breeds: auto transporters that are brokerages and auto transporters that haul the vehicles. Auto transport brokerages are the auto transporters that talk mainly to you, the customer, and help to speed up your shipping by directly contacting different auto transporters in your area who will actually move the vehicle. Auto transporters, on the other hand – and from here on out we’ll mainly be talking about auto transport carriers, not brokerages – are the companies that will actually move your vehicle, but they are a very different type of company.

For starters, most auto transporters live pretty much on the road. Most auto transporters are one man operations, owning their own trucks and taking freight whenever they have an opportunity to get on a computer and check Central Dispatch, the main industry load board. Auto transporters will use Central Dispatch to find loads in the area they are currently in – brokerages will post loads onto Central Dispatch to help auto transporters find loads, which is another major reason why brokerages are incredibly important to the auto transporters. Central Dispatch is the main load board, as we’ve said – it is important for auto transporters to have this load board because without it they would be stuck calling who they know and finding out if there would be something they could pickup.

Because auto transporters live pretty much from truck stop to truck stop, being able to actually login to Central Dispatch and find loads can be a major challenge. This is why auto transporters like it when they can pickup multiple vehicles – they can pretty much kill two birds with one stone and save themselves a lot of transport time driving to a different pickup city. This is also why auto transporters tend to avoid out-of-the-way places like North Dakota or the middle of nowhere in the Midwest – they just don’t have the time or the money to afford driving out there to pickup one vehicle, then driving all the way back.

Not only that, but auto transporters appreciate it if your vehicle is close to a major freeway – the less travel time off the freeways, the more money they save and the more money they have to put in their truck and keep it running. Remember, these auto transporters are pretty much living from city to city, keeping just enough to feed themselves and keep their truck operational. It’s important to note also that some auto transporters have a central office and are a part of a fleet of trucks – these types of auto transporters are out there, but these are companies that can afford to advertise and some are even brokerages themselves, handing out freight to other independent auto transporters who aren’t a part of their fleet.

Ultimately, auto transport depends on the auto transporters – without them, there would be no auto transport industry whatsoever. However, they have to rely on auto transport brokerages and Central Dispatch in order to keep afloat, so they are very much reliant on other people to essentially find their customers for them. This is why it is important for you, as the customer, to find auto transport brokerages and not contact the auto transporters directly, as they don’t have the time to talk to individuals – they let the brokerages do that.

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