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Dispatcher in Phoenix told me "cheapest quote wins every time" and I think that advice is straight up wrong
I was killing time at a truck stop outside Phoenix and got to talking with a dispatcher who moves cars for a living. He looked me dead in the eye and said cheapest quote wins every time, like it was gospel. I shipped a Corolla from Tucson to Denver two months ago and the bargain broker I picked tacked on $180 in fees after the driver showed up. The real company with the higher up front price would have cost me maybe $60 more and zero headaches. What nobody says out loud is that the low quote is often bait to get your car on a list, then you sit for 3 weeks while they hunt for a driver. I paid extra for a guaranteed pickup window the second time and the car moved in 2 days flat. So when you are getting bids, ask what the final number actually looks like after fuel and gate fees, not just the headline price. Does anyone here have a rule for spotting a lowball quote before you hand over a deposit?
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dakota_rivera17d ago
Two years ago I would have backed that dispatcher 100 percent. I booked the lowest bid on a Civic from Sacramento to Austin, saved like $70 up front, then watched it sit in a yard for 19 days while the broker kept telling me any day now. The driver finally called wanting $150 more in cash or he was leaving it, and I had no move left because my kid needed the car for school. What changed my mind was learning that most of these cheap quotes come from brokers who don't own a single truck, so all they can do is post your car on a load board and hope. Now I won't even call a place back unless they can tell me the carrier's DOT number and give me a straight all in number on the first call. My rule for spotting a lowball is simple, if it's way under everyone else and they get weird when you ask about fees, walk away.
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