Bonded, Licensed, and Insured in Auto Transport
Find an Auto Transport Company you can Trust
Ultimately our goal as auto shippers is to make sure your vehicle gets from point A to point B as safely as possible and in the condition you left it with in our care. Like any industry, there are good service providers and poor ones. But you as the consumer have the opportunity to put in a little bit of effort to make sure at least the basic requirements are met for you to have a GREAT experience and protect your car!
For most people, auto transport isn’t something you need every day. These are once-in-a-while circumstances like moving or taking an extended trip, or perhaps moving other ATVs to head to the trail; that’s when you’re going to look for auto transport services. You may not have a company in mind (auto transport commercials aren’t too common on tv!) so you’ll probably head to Google or another website to start your hunt.
Three BIG THINGS you want to make sure your auto transport company has:
SURETY BOND
Things can get really shady when a transporter isn’t bonded. Most of the time, they won’t be in business very long. But if you ask and the answer is anything other than a resounding YES you should be wary. Legally, any auto transport broker has to have a bond; it protects the auto carriers by guaranteeing that they’ll be paid for the job. These bonds are issued as a requirement by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), once they have that authority then they have to have our next item…
INSURANCE
Life is life and Murphy’s Law is out there. Unfortunately things happen that are far beyond our control. Even if an auto transport company does everything right, there are still thousands of auto accidents a day where property is damaged and sometimes it is beyond repair. When your vehicle leaves your hands and is in the loaded on that trailer, we consider it our responsibility. That’s why all of our trucks are fully insured with most of them carrying up to 1 million dollars of liability insurance and $100,000 in motor cargo insurance. Two really important things to note here: our insurance covers your vehicle, not personal belongings.
If you’re packing up for a move or headed back to school it may seem like a good idea to put all your boxes in your car, but that’s definitely not what you should do! It’s for your protection and your car. Don’t transport personal items when you ship your car. In addition, you should know that Acts of God – things like floods, hail, hurricanes, etc. are not covered with liability insurance. It’s the same as if you were driving down the road yourself. If you expect bad weather, consider asking us to transport your vehicle in an enclosed trailer.
LICENSED
You wouldn’t trust a friend to drive your car without a license, right? So why would you trust an auto transporter who can’t tell you their license number? The car shipping industry is highly regulated at both the federal and state level. Crestline Auto Transport holds an MC license, which gives us “authority to operate” and carry vehicles. Our license number is MC-698686. For more information on different types of licensing you can visit the FMCSA website. (Helpful hint: this type of information and regulation goes for movers too!)
Take the time and extra effort to make sure you’ve got a reputable auto transport company helping you with your vehicle move. You can always get a free, no obligation door-to-door auto transport quote from our the Crestline team.
