Glossary
Auto transport, defined.
The words dealers, auctions, brokers and carriers use when a car changes hands across state lines, each in a few plain paragraphs.
A
- Auto transport broker
- A licensed company that arranges vehicle shipments by matching shippers with authorized motor carriers, without hauling the vehicles itself.
B
- Bill of lading (BOL)
- The shipping document a carrier issues when it takes a vehicle, recording the parties, the route and the vehicle, and signed again at delivery.
- Broker surety bond (BMC-84)
- The $75,000 in financial security a property broker must keep on file with FMCSA, filed as a surety bond (Form BMC-84) or a trust fund (Form BMC-85).
C
- Cargo insurance
- Insurance a carrier holds to cover loss of or damage to the vehicles it hauls. Limits and terms are set by each carrier's policy and vary widely.
- Cash on delivery (COD)
- A payment term where part of the shipping cost is paid directly to the driver at delivery, by a payment method the carrier accepts.
D
- Dealer trade
- A transaction where one dealership sends a vehicle to another, usually to fill a specific customer order, which often requires transport between lots.
- Dispatch
- The step where a specific carrier and driver are assigned to a vehicle shipment and scheduled for pickup.
- Door-to-door transport
- A service where the carrier picks up and delivers as close to the given addresses as its truck can safely and legally reach.
- Driveaway
- Moving a vehicle by having a driver operate it on the road to its destination, instead of loading it onto a trailer.
E
- Enclosed car carrier
- A trailer with walls and a roof that shields vehicles from weather, road debris and view in transit, usually at a higher price than open transport.
- Expedited auto transport
- A premium service level where the shipper pays more to get a vehicle assigned to a carrier and picked up sooner than a standard order.
F
- FMCSA
- The U.S. Department of Transportation agency that registers and regulates interstate motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders.
I
- Inoperable vehicle
- A vehicle that cannot start, steer, brake or roll under its own power, so it needs a winch or other special loading and is priced differently.
- Instant quote
- A shipping price returned in seconds from basic inputs such as origin and destination ZIP codes, vehicle details and transport type.
L
- Load board
- An online marketplace where brokers and shippers post vehicles that need transport and carriers find loads to fill their trucks.
M
- MC number
- An FMCSA docket number tied to a company's interstate operating authority, issued with an MC, FF or MX prefix depending on the authority type.
- Motor carrier
- The company that physically transports vehicles for compensation, using its own trucks and drivers under its own FMCSA registration.
O
- Open car carrier
- The standard car-hauling trailer, usually with two decks and no roof or walls, that carries several vehicles at once at the lowest price per car.
P
- Pickup window
- The range of days during which a carrier is expected to pick up a vehicle, rather than a single fixed appointment.
Q
- Quote widget
- An embeddable component that lets visitors get a vehicle shipping price on a partner's own page, without leaving the site.
R
- Referral partner
- A business that puts shipping quotes in front of its own customers and is credited for the quotes and bookings that start on its pages.
S
- Search results page (SRP)
- The page on a dealer or marketplace site that lists the vehicles matching a shopper's search, before the shopper clicks into one listing.
- Single-car hauler
- A small rig, often a heavy-duty pickup with a flatbed or wedge trailer, that hauls one vehicle or a few at a time for direct or short-notice moves.
- Snowbird season
- The seasonal surge in car shipments as part-year residents move vehicles between northern states and the Sun Belt each fall and spring.
T
- Terminal-to-terminal transport
- A service where the vehicle is dropped off at and collected from storage facilities instead of being picked up and delivered at the customer's addresses.
- Top load
- A request to place a vehicle on the upper deck of an open car carrier, which avoids fluid drips and some road spray from vehicles above.
- Transit time
- How long a vehicle is on the truck from pickup to delivery, which is separate from the time it takes to schedule a carrier.
U
- USDOT number
- The unique identifier FMCSA assigns to a registered motor carrier or other regulated company, used to identify that company in FMCSA records.
V
- Vehicle condition report
- A documented record of a vehicle's condition, usually with photos and a damage diagram, made at pickup and checked again at delivery.
- Vehicle detail page (VDP)
- The single-vehicle page on a dealer, auction or marketplace site with full photos, price, specs and VIN, where buying decisions get made.
- VIN
- The 17-character code that uniquely identifies a vehicle and encodes details such as manufacturer, model year and assembly plant.
- VIN decoding
- Translating a VIN into vehicle details such as year, make, model, body style and plant, using data manufacturers report to NHTSA.
Put a live shipping quote on your pages.
Free to apply and embed. Every quote and booking from your key is attributed to your account.