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I figured those online shipping quotes were bait, then a guy in Reno beat my local broker by $310
When I moved my Civic from Sacramento to Denver last month, I got quoted $1,450 by two local brokers and assumed every online quote was a lowball trick to get my number. On a whim I filled out a form on a Friday night and a dispatcher in Reno called back in 20 minutes with $1,140, same open carrier, same pickup window. I was sure the truck would never show or they'd tack on fees at delivery, but it picked up on Wednesday and dropped off two days later with no extra charges. Maybe I just got lucky with timing since it was a backhaul run. Has anyone else had an online quote actually come in lower than a local broker, or did I catch a fluke?
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wesley3858d ago
Bet you just got lucky and that's the whole story right there. Online forms sell your info to a call center that farms it out to whoever bids lowest, and the guy in Reno only came in cheap because he needed to fill a truck already heading that way. That backhaul thing you mentioned is the real reason for the price, not some magic of filling out a web form at night. Call the same dispatcher next month on a route that isn't a backhaul and watch that $1,140 turn into $1,600 with a fuel surcharge tacked on at delivery. Two local brokers quoting $1,450 probably means that's just what the route actually costs, so the low quote was the fluke, not the other way around. Give it a few more moves and you'll see the pattern flip on you.
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