Review Report Review
Honest, legitimate broker

Ron Cully Submitted this review about Transport Connection
Review made Live: 1/31/2014 5:15:00 PM
Bill at Transport Connection is a straight shooter who will work for you to get the best possible price. While I didn’t actually use Bill for my shipment, in hind sight I was foolish not to. He accurately predicted a lot of things I encountered and by not going through Bill I’m now in the process of trying to protect others from the high risk and liability of using the company I did use.

I started calling brokers when I wasn't getting action on my car shipment that the Atlanta car dealer had posted on Central Dispatch. I talked to Bill Avrich at Transport connection who was a bit to crusty for me, but he is dead honest about what he will do to get you a good price. I then called Domestic Auto Transport who sounded professional and not so crusty.

Before I go into details, you need to know this:

Pretty much all auto shipping orders are posted to a place called Central Dispatch. Drivers call in on the postings and it is up to whoever the driver talks to, to negotiate the best deal and to make sure the carrier is legitimate. You could post by yourself if you wanted. Brokers Transport Connection earn their broker fee by doing a good job of protecting you from bad or unlicensed carriers and by negotiating a good price. If you are unfamiliar with negotiating with truckers and you are unfamiliar with all the licensing involved, you are better off using a LICENSED broker like Transport Connection.

In short, I ended up using Domestic Auto Transport. But here is what happened…
1. They did no negotiation what so ever on the price. At trucker called and bid a higher amount than was posted on Central Dispatch and Domestic told me I should accept it.
2. In the course of two phone calls, what started out as a $250 broker fee went to a $300 deposit for the shipment, to a $300 broker fee when I said I wanted to do COD, to a $307.50 charge on my card.
3. Domestic sent an email saying that if I gave them a 5-star review, they would enter me into a contest to win 100% of my transport costs back.
4. I gave an honest 2-star review because they did OK (not great) and the broker fee was higher than Bills and was increased in an underhanded way. But my review was then blocked because they told TransportReviews.com that I wasn’t their customer.
5. I investigated and found out the review link Domestic Auto Transport gave me actually posted my review to Auto Shipping Group and Auto Shipping Group denied I was their customer. After further investigation I found out Auto Shipping Group was the company that took my $307.50. I also found out Domestic Auto Transport is not authorized by the FMCSA and has not had an active business license in WA since late 2012, and they therefore have no bond and are incredibly high risk to do business with (you are on your own). I also found out that Auto Shipping Group and Domestic Auto Transport are owned by the same guy (Terry Williams) who also owns 5 other unlicensed, non-authorized, unbounded companies that people are calling every day based on TransportReview.com reviews.

Bill tried to warn me there were many unscrupulous brokers and I didn’t listen. I thought it was just a pitch- but he was telling the unvarnished truth.

Now that I’ve had this experience, I checked out Bill and he has a legitimate business. He has a posted bond and authority from the FMCSA and he has an active business license with the state of Florida (Above Avrich Inc. dba Transport Connection). Bill runs a legitimate business.

Bill shot straight with how he does his job. And because my parents ran a very successful trucking company for over 20 years I know Bill's approach works (as crusty as it may be). When Bill told me what would happen if I used him, he nailed everything right down to the cultural detail of who actually picked up my car.

In hind sight I wish I would have turned it over to Bill. He knows the language of truckers and I'm confident he would have gotten the $1,300 offer down closer to $1,100 or $1,200 when Domestic did nothing.

If you don't want to do the Central Dispatch work yourself, go to Transport Connection. You might not like Bill's salty style but I'm confident he will go to bat for you and his honesty is absolute.

If you have the time and energy to manage your own Central Dispatch posting and you *really* think you can negotiate with truckers and check them out to make sure they are legit, then you can do that. But remember that knowing the reputation of the truckers who respond is more valuable than the price. You don't want your car floating all over the country on a fly-by-night operator's truck. I'm sure Bill has a lot of war scars to make sure you steer clear of those kinds of headaches. The fact he 100% nailed the details on what type of company would pick up my car, what the truckers would be like, etc... tells me he knows how to only accept from companies you would want carrying your car for you.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Georgia
Pickup:
On Time
Destination State:
Washington
Delivery:
Early
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
3002615
Quote or Order Cost:
$1600