Thursday, April 8, 2010

Beware of Car Shipping and Auto Transport Fraud Websites

Shipping a Car? Beware! Recently, a number of phony car shipping and auto transport websites have popped up across the internet. Some of the most common scams involve fake trucking company websites which are not a company at all, rather, a scammer trying to attract a victim. A user will come to the website to get an auto shipping quote.

The site may often look legit and is often built to replicate a legit auto transport company website. The user is then returned a very reasonable auto shipping quote with instructions for payment. Once the user pays the auto transport truck never shows up and the user is out their money. This type of scam, however, is fairly easy to avoid. Here are some tips on identifying a scam car shipping website:

1. Never use a site that recommends using a wire transfer. Legit car shippers NEVER require wire transfer payment. Most car shipping companies will accepts payment methods which offer comsumer protections, such as credit cards.

2. Check to see if the address in the address bar matches the name of the website. If it doesn't, that's a danger sign.

3. Look for Errors -- grammatical errors, typos, etc. If they're present, the site is likely the work of a hasty scammer rather than an actual company.

4. Find a number listed for the site and call it. Fake sites often list either a non-working phone number or no number at all. All legit car shippers will have a working telephone number. Also look for a physical address. Bogus sites generally do not list an address.

5. Do a Google search on the name of the company. Legitimate, established companies will return many results that reference the actual company. Phony sites won't.

6. Ask for references. Legitimate car haulers will be able to provide you with references you can call or email.

7. Use a reputable car shipping referrer which only deals with auto shippers who have a reputation of quality service.

Following these steps will help you avoid an auto transport scam as well as help assure the car shipper you do select will get your car where it's going undamaged and on time. Happy shipping!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Economy and the Trucking Industry

The next time you are at the store buying groceries, consider this fact: do you really know how all that fruit gets to the market? Unless the market specializes in organic foods, it is very likely that the fruit is shipped in to the marketplace. It is not just the growers that play a big role in delivering fruit to the people.

Truck drivers transport all types of goods every day for long hours on the road. From foods, to everyday products, to even livestock, the trucking industry is responsible for transporting goods from point A to point B. Due to the bad economy of late, the trucking industry has taken a few hits.

As the economy around the world affects the pricing of fuel, specifically diesel, the trucking industry suffers. Unlike other types of companies, the trucking industry has a very high level of upkeep since they are on the roads for up to weeks at a time. Maintaining a large vehicle like a semi-truck can be an expensive endeavor.

Not only is the vehicle complicated to take care of, but its cargo is at often times sensitive to time or temperature, so additional amenities are added to ensure the contents of the truck are okay. Add in fuel costs and upkeep of trucks during a bad economy can lead to bleeding cash just to keep the vehicle fueled up.

Due to the bad economy, many businesses seek ways to cut costs. During better times, a choice to use transportation like a truck would be an easy choice. However, with all of the cost-cutting that happens within the business world, there are businesses that usually rely on trucking who change to other types of transportation.

As the trucking industry slows down due to this lack of business, they must make their own changes to business infrastructure to stay afloat. This means layoffs or elimination of fleets of trucks. If a trucking company uses a contractor, many contracts are eliminated just to save money.

Whether we notice it or not, many of the goods that we enjoy rely on the trucking industry to get from manufacturing to the marketplace. Without the help of trucking, we might not even see some of the many items that we rely on throughout our lives.

As the economy goes through difficult times, the general public should be aware of the economy's effects on the trucking industry. Like any business, the trucking industry will go through difficulties as the economy is in an unfavorable position.

The unfortunate aspect of this are the increased miles fewer truckers on the road are travelling. This impacts all of us. Many drivers are unfairly required to put in longer hours to make their routes thus causing fatigue which is the leading cause of truck accidents. A poor economy and tired drivers is a dangerous combination.