Recommended Steps To Take Before Hiring a Transport

Company To Ship Your Car, Boat, Horse, Furniture, or Move.
John Kaufman


When you are having your valued items shipped, it is important to
find the best hauler for job, not necessarily the cheapest.
Customer service, reliability, and trustworthiness are all
important factors in choosing a transport company. An
unscrupulous trucker can cost you money, damage your property,
and cause you a hard time.

Recommended Steps to take before hiring a transport company:

Ask Questions - When you first contact a hauler, you should ask
as many relevant questions as you can regarding the care they
will take with your property, scheduling, contract issues, what
type of equipment they have, licensing, insurance, and take some
time to get a feel for the type of people you are dealing with.
The vast majority of truckers / haulers are reputable business
people that simply want to help you, the best way to weed out the
few that aren't is in this first stage.

Get References - Most haulers should be prepared to provide you
with several references in regards to RECENT jobs they have done.
If time allows try to contact every reference and ask questions
regarding the type of service they received from their hauler.
Remember, that no one is perfect all of the time, so if there are
any less than perfect reviews, follow up with a question to see
how the hauler resolved the issue.
Sample questions to ask provided references:

What did you have __(company name)___ haul?
When did they haul it?
Did they keep you well informed of their pickup / delivery
schedule?
How well did they keep their original promised schedule?
Did they take good care of your (car, boat, horse, furniture,
etc..)?
If any problems occurred, how did the hauler resolve them?
How would you rate your overall experience with this hauler?
Would your recommend this hauler to others?
Use the above questions in an e-mail or as a template for a phone
conversation with the provided references, and you will have a
very good idea of what to expect when you use the hauler
yourself.

Check Licensing - Your hauler should be able to provide you with
his DOT number, and MC, Number. You can check the validity of
their DOT number at the FMCA website:
http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/pkg_carrquery.prc_carrlist
- A DOT license lets you know that the hauler has filed the
proper paperwork and pays the proper taxes and fees when hauling
your items.

Check Insurance - It's important for you to know that your
carrier has adequate insurance to cover potential damage to your
property. If you choose an uninsured or underinsured transport
company you risk not being compensated for loss or damage of your
(car, boat, horse, furniture, etc..).

Check FindAHauler Profile - If your hauler has a profile in the
FindAHauler.com Directory: http://FindAHauler.com/directory/ you
can view any feedback left regarding the hauler by other visitors
to the site.

Read contracts carefully - Many haulers will have you execute a
transport contract prior to hauling your (car, boat, horse,
furniture, etc..). Make sure that you read the contract and
understand the provisions of the contract. If there is a down
payment required, make sure you know the conditions under which
it will or won't be refunded. Is the down payment due prior to
the pickup of your property, when is the full payment due?. It is
generally not advisable to pay a down payment prior to pickup of
your property. If it is practical, you may want to negotiate the
full payment upon delivery of your property.
If you follow the above advice, you should have an easy and
stress free experience having your car, boat, horse, furniture,
etc... transported. Thousands of people have had their cars,
horse, boats, trailers, livestock, etc... shipped using
FindAHauler.com since September of 2002, and it is very rare for
any of them to have a problem with a hauler they have found using
our site. We have a very aggressive stance on any users of our
site not operating in an ethical and straightforward manner, and
do our best to provide an easy and safe environment for all.



John Kaufman
Copyright 2005
Get Free Shipping Quotes for Cars, Boats, RV's Horses, & just
about anything you can think of at http://FindAHauler.com
 

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