Know the market and rates

Rob Submitted this review about Direct Express Auto Transport
Review made Live: 2/10/2011 8:57:00 AM
This is the second time using this company in two months. They know the market rates that it will take to move a vehicle and set their pricing accordingly. Because their rates are "at the market", the car will take up to 7 days to get picked up, but it will get moved. On this particular route, it is less highly traveled, and I was concerned given that other brokers were quoting $200-$300 more and told me with the price I had, it would never go... but within 4 days I had been assigned a truck, pickup in 6 days, and delivered in a total of 9 days. The only complaint was the car was very oily, likely because the car above leaked... but they can not control the actions of the independent truckers.

For those unfamiliar with this business, it simply comes down to brokerage fees and having a network of independent truckers. Direct Express charges $150 broker's fee, which is typical. What works for them is that they move enough cars (they say over 20k per year) that they have a network of trucks and enough data to know what the market price is. Anyone can get in this business and set a high price, and move a car right away. What I like about these guys is that they know the "just enough" price, and if you have a couple weeks to move the car, that can save a couple hundred dollars.