Date:         Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:23:32 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: automobile shipping horror stories?
In-Reply-To:  <028001c5062b$5bccb570$0a0ba8c0@RON>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>  I spent a few minutes talking with the driver while he unloaded. He 
> is an independant who takes deliveries from the brokers and anyone 
> else. 


Some years ago, before I started The Bus Depot, I would sometimes buy solid
west coast busses that needed engine work, and ship them here to the east
coast where I would give them engines from rusted out east coast busses that
otherwise ran well. (Unfortunately, the supply of cheap rusted out east
coast busses with good engines eventually dried up.)  So I dealt with a lot
of these drivers and brokers. There were some stand-up companies, but also a
lot that were really seedy. Many of the truckers are independents who run
back and forth for a number of brokers, sometimes in rickety old trucks that
look like they'd have less chance of making it cross-country than the Bus
did. Some of the brokers (many of them home-based) also own a truck or two
themselves, but others own nothing but a telephone and a list of independent
truckers that they call once you respond to their ad for car hauling. In
exchange for their ability to 'network' and find a trucker to haul your
vehicle, the broker gets a piece of the action. Often the deposit is their
take, and the independent trucker keeps the balance that you pay him on
delivery. The price they quote may depend on whether they think they can
find a trucker who is already going in your direction with an open spot on
the trailer, or will be returning from a dropoff "deadhead" (with no return
cargo). In either case the trucker may accept a low offer from a broker
rather than make nothing at all. (It's just like theaters, airlines, etc.
selling last-minute tickets cheap rather than getting no income at all from
the empty seat.). Problems can occur if the broker lowballs the price in
order to get your deposit, and then can't find anyone who will haul it for
that price, or finds someone who is unreliable. Once the broker has your
deposit he has already made his commission up front, so unless he drags it
on so long that you demand your deposit back, he has no financial incentive
to move your vehicle quickly. The driver, on the other hand, won't be paid
until he gets your car to you, so his incentive is to move quickly (unless
he has accepted a price that turns out to be unprofitable - i.e. if he was
counting on two hauling two vehicles at the same time and the other deal
falls through - in which case he may simply back out).

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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