J&S Transportation
Get Instant Quote

Lookup Your Quote

  • Get Instant Quote
  • FAQ’s
  • Why J&S
  • Cost to Ship Car?
  • Reviews
  • Lookup Quote
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Career Opportunities
  • Dealers
  • 800-656-7638

J&S Transportation: Auto Transport Company for 20+ Years

Smooth & Stress-Free Nationwide Auto Transport

(800) 656-7638
Get Instant Quote

Lookup Your Quote

  • FAQs
  • Why J&S
  • Cost to Ship Car?
  • Reviews
  • Lookup Quote
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Transport Blog
Get Instant Quote

Lookup Your Quote

You are here: Home / Transport Tips / Car Hauling Companies: The Best Option to Transport a Vehicle

Car Hauling Companies: The Best Option to Transport a Vehicle

car hauling company truck and trailer

Thanks to the internet it’s easier than ever to find car hauling companies and get a quote to see how much it’s going to cost to transport a car. In fact, you can get an instant quote from us 24/7:

While getting quotes is easy to do, it can be overwhelming to find a reliable and trustworthy auto transport company you can trust to deliver your car.

When you begin your search, you’ll come across auto transport brokers and car carriers. There is also a hybrid model called, broker-carriers. We wrote extensively about brokers vs. carriers in another article so be sure to check it out, but we’ll highlight the differences here before we dive into the benefits of working with car hauling companies when shipping a car.

Two Types of Car Hauling Companies

Auto transport brokers and car carriers are the two main types of car hauling companies. As mentioned, there is another type as well called broker-carrier companies, which J&S Transportation is, but we’ll focus on brokers and carriers in this article.

There are pros and cons to each type, but if you do a little research, you should be able to find which one is the best fit for you.

Auto Transport Brokers

A broker basically acts like a middleman between you and the carriers. They don’t have their own fleet of trucks, so they don’t actually ship your vehicle themselves. They rely on a vast network of carriers to ship your vehicle.

The main benefit of using a broker is they offer you a wide selection of carriers to choose from without you having to do all the legwork of finding one. A broker can get quotes and information on dozens of carriers within a couple days. And because most brokers are experienced professionals, they know what to look for in a carrier to determine which one is going to be best for your shipment. Most consumers don’t have the time or interest to research and vet out car carriers.

There can be some downsides to working with a broker. Some brokers will just farm your information out to a bunch of carriers. The result is you get hounded with emails and phone calls from carriers vying for your business.

The other thing you might not know about brokers is most of them are looking for a carrier who will ship your vehicle for the lowest price so they can maximize their profit. Sometimes that works out o.k. but, in many cases, it usually means getting stuck with a disreputable and untrustworthy carrier who is willing to work for cheap.

Another potential problem when brokers try to find the cheapest carrier for your vehicle is it can take a while to fill your transport order. Reliable and trustworthy carriers don’t want to work for peanuts and if the price is really low, even the cheap carriers may not be able to ship your vehicle for the price the broker is offering. This scenario can lead to long delays in getting your car shipped and in a worst-case scenario, your vehicle may never get shipped!

The other tactic some brokers do is they’ll quote you a really low price just to get your business. The car shipping business is a very competitive industry. Brokers want your business! Unfortunately, when they give you such a low quote, they often times can’t find a carrier to fill your order and still make money.

Instead of taking a loss or breaking even, they’ll come back to you and tell you it’s going to cost more to ship your car than they originally told you. That isn’t a comfortable conversation for the broker or for you. If the broker gives you a quote that sounds too good to be true it usually is. Proceed with caution!

The final thing you have to watch out for when working with brokers is the quote they give you may not be for door-to-door delivery so be sure to ask. It’s cheaper to ship a car terminal-to-terminal. Remember what I just told you. Brokers want your business and they’ll often times quote you a really low price. An easy way to do that is to give you a quote from a carrier that only does terminal-to-terminal delivery because it’s cheaper to ship a car that way.

If you’re working with a terminal-to-terminal carrier, their terminal yards may not be conveniently located from you. Depending on your location, you may have to drive hundreds of miles away just to get to the terminal yards. There may also be terminal yard storage fees if your car has to stay in the yard for any length of time.

Door-to-door delivery is when your car is shipped from your home or business to another home or business. Terminal-to-terminal is when your vehicle is shipped from one of the carrier’s terminal yards to another. Door-to-door shipping is a little more expensive but it’s the most convenient and most popular way cars are shipped today.

Car Carriers

Car carriers are usually companies with their own fleet of trucks, but they can also be companies comprised of independent owner/operators who have their own trucks.

One of the benefits of working directly with a carrier is you’ll be dealing with the same company from the beginning to the end of your auto transport order. There isn’t a middleman, i.e. a broker, to “muddy the waters.”

There is also usually much better communication when dealing directly with carriers vs brokers. If you have questions or if there is a problem with your auto transport order, you can call the carrier directly for answers. You don’t have to rely on a broker.

Benefits of Transporting Your Vehicle with Car Hauling Companies

There are many reasons people need to ship a vehicle. Maybe you’re relocating for a job or are a retiree in the North and are making the annual snowbird migration South.

Thanks to the internet and popular auto websites like eBay Motors, CarGurus, CarMax, and many more, consumers are opting to buy vehicles located many miles from their home.

Unless you want to make a long-distance road trip yourself, your best option is to use car hauling companies to ship your car for you! It’s less expensive, and easier and less stressful than driving the car yourself.

Here are just some of the many benefits of using a car hauling company to ship your vehicle vs. driving yourself:

  • It saves you money. It’s often less expensive than making the trip yourself! Gas, food, lodging, and possible toll roads and air fare quickly adds up.
  • It saves you time. Traveling to pick up your vehicle and make the road trip back home could mean a few days on the road while you miss work or a weekend together with your family.
  • It saves wear and tear on your car. Why put hundreds of miles on your car when you don’t have to?
  • It saves you from potential breakdowns on the road. Why risk a potential breakdown driving the car yourself? Do you really want to deal with finding a tow truck, hiring some random mechanic, and potentially having to stay overnight in some random town or city?
  • It’s energy efficient. If everyone decided to drive their vehicles themselves instead of shipping them long distances, imagine the amount of fuel burned.

When you consider the hundreds of thousands of vehicles shipped every year, you can definitely see the benefits of shipping a car with a car hauler instead of making the long-distance road trip yourself.

Research to Find the Best Auto Transport Companies

Use the wealth of information available on the Internet. Google the companies you’re considering working with and see what you can find. What is their BBB rating? What are customers saying about them on TransportReviews.com and Google? Check out their websites. Do they give you a compelling reason why to work with them?

Ask family, friends or neighbors who have had their cars shipped. What companies did they use and what did they think of them?

Also make sure the auto transport companies you are looking at have been in business at least a few years. Less reputable companies have been known to pop-up with new names every few years to take advantage of unsuspecting customers.

Make sure they are properly licensed and insured. You can find that out by searching their company on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website.

Finally, familiarize yourself with their dispute resolution and damage claims procedures. While damage is rare when shipping a vehicle, especially when working with a reputable auto transport company, you want to prepare for the worst.

J&S Transportation Gets the Job Done Right!

car hauling companies
Auto transport made easy! Ship your car with J&S Transportation for a stress-free experience!

J&S is primarily a car carrier with our own fleet of trucks, but we are also a licensed auto transport broker. We offer you the best of both worlds!

We will ship your car door-to-door on our own trucks whenever possible. If we can get your vehicle delivered quicker by brokering it to one of our partner carriers without compromising safety and the excellent customer service we are known for, we will.

And if we do have to broker your order, we’ll be your only point of contact throughout the entire process. We don’t play games either by giving you a low ball quote just to earn your business. In fact, you’ll find our quotes may be a little higher than our competition. That’s because we want the best staff, best drivers, and the best partner carriers and you can’t get the best “on the cheap.” Like everything in life, you get what you pay for. When you work with J&S you get great customer service and prompt delivery at a fair price!

We pride ourselves on our straight-forward and honest communication. We will tell you what we can do, not what we think you want to hear. Our first priority is customer satisfaction, not doing whatever it takes just to book a car.

Give Us a Try Today by Getting an Instant Quote!

Get Instant Quote Calculate your shipping cost

By Travis Van Slooten | May 6th, 2020 | Leave a Comment |

 Transport Tips

[widget id='jandstform-9']

Comments

  1. gregg says

    August 2, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    I need an auto transport hauler in New Jersey for up to 4 vans. Can you guys help with that?

    Reply
    • Travis Van Slooten says

      August 3, 2021 at 1:56 pm

      Gregg:

      Hey Gregg! We can definitely help with that. We don’t have our own trucks in New Jersey right now so we would need to broker the transport out but don’t let that concern you! Read this blog post to learn about our broker services. We’d need to see pictures of the vans and we’d need to know the pick up and delivery locations to get you a quote. Feel free to call us at (800) 656-7638 or email us at help@jandstransport.com.

      Travis
      J&S Transportation

      Reply
  2. Thomas G Schroeder says

    August 22, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    I am looking for quotes to transport my 2011 Chevrolet Impala. It is in running condition. I’m looking to transport it from Columbus, Ohio to Venice, Florida on October 10, 2021. Thanks! -Thomas

    Reply
    • Travis Van Slooten says

      August 23, 2021 at 12:43 pm

      Thomas:

      The easiest way to get a current and accurate quote is to utilize the instant quoting system on our website. You’ll see a button at the top of that page that says, “Get Instant Quote.” Just click on that button and you’ll be able to get the latest price instantly! I just ran a quote for that route right now and it’s coming in at $930. Given the miles on that route, once your car is picked up it would be delivered in 2-3 days. Please note, our quotes are only good for 7 days. Given your ship date of October 10th, you’ll want to get a quote around October 1st.

      Thanks!

      Travis
      J&S Transportation

      Reply
  3. Lilla says

    October 9, 2021 at 11:20 am

    I’m on the West side of LA in CA and need to get my car to West Palm Beach, Florida.
    It runs well but it’s a 2007 so won’t make it long distance.

    Do you transport across the US?

    I do NOT want to work with a Broker (I realize you’re both). I prefer direct with an owner-operator. Not only do I want direct contact but also b/c
    social security is Impossible to live on plus…I don’t want the Broker stress from lack of communication.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Travis Van Slooten says

      October 11, 2021 at 1:02 pm

      Lilla:

      We do transports all over the country! However, for coast to coast transports we have to broker them out because our own trucks don’t travel those routes. I understand your concern about not wanting to work with a broker but I assure you you’d be in good hands working with us. You might find this article useful:
      https://www.jandstransport.com/should-i-be-wary-of-auto-transport-brokers/

      Travis

      Reply
  4. Claire Masters says

    February 8, 2022 at 4:24 am

    I do agree that it’s always beneficial to get a transport company when hauling your car because it saves you the trouble of experiencing road mishaps especially if you are inexperienced with this type of endeavor. So, I think when we move next year, we should just call these services so we don’t have to drive our cars long distances. I hope I can find one with the right equipment and tools.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • « Previous Post
  • Next Post »
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Drivers
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Get a quote
J & S Transportation BBB Business Review
2134
reviews
across social media
4.9
Talking about J&S Transportation, our customers appreciate the customer support and how we keep them updated, the speed of delivery, and peace of mind that we offer throughout the shipping process.

About J&S Transportation, Inc.

J&S Transportation delivers vehicles for private individuals across the United States. We’ve shipped over +235,000 vehicles, on our own truck fleet and with our shipping partners who help us reach all four corners of the continental USA. Learn more »

Subscribe to our newsletter

Auto shipping updates

  • 7 Easy Ways on How to Move a Car to Another State
  • How Severe Weather Can Impact Auto Transports
  • Shipping a Car from California to Texas
Learn more »

Most popular pages

  • How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Car?
Get Instant Auto shipping quote

Ship vehicles across country

Auto Shipment quotes by state

Copyright 2020 J&S Transportation, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

Instant Quote for Vehicle Shipment

Tell us about your vehicle 

Is the vehicle operational? Does it run? 

When a vehicle is inoperable, it requires extra planning by dispatch and extra work for our drivers.

Do you require enclosed transport? 

Earliest date available for pickup:

Please enter valid date

Is this a classic or restored vehicle? 


Our best price Alaska is Tacoma, WA. Change your quote?

  • Yes
  • No

It looks like you're shipping to or from a city in Alaska that we don't serve. For an instant quote, please select one of the cities we do serve in Alaska (Anchorage or Fairbanks).

  • Fairbanks
  • Anchorage

  • Get Instant Quote
  • FAQ’s
  • Why J&S
  • Cost to Ship Car?
  • Reviews
  • Lookup Quote
  • Contact Us
  • About Us