Who Moves the Car? The Federal Licenses Behind Car Shipping Companies

The FMCSA licenses brokers and motor carriers separately. A broker arranges the move and hands it to a carrier; the carrier is the company whose truck and driver collect the vehicle. The two are held to different federal requirements:

• Auto transport brokers need FMCSA broker authority and $75,000 in financial security, usually a BMC-84 surety bond or a BMC-85 trust fund. (49 CFR 387.307)
• Most for-hire interstate carriers must file at least $750,000 in liability coverage with the FMCSA. Cargo coverage for the cars on the truck is set by the carrier, so ask for the certificate. (49 CFR 387.9)

A broker's bond is financial security that protects carriers who aren't paid, and shippers in certain circumstances — not cover for damage to a vehicle. The coverage that applies to a vehicle on the truck is the carrier's, which is why a damage claim is usually handled with a company the customer did not book with directly.

All 16 companies hold active broker authority on the FMCSA register, and none of them also holds carrier authority. Booking with any of them means the vehicle is moved by another company, which the broker chooses.

This is not a warning. Brokering is legal and a common way car shipping is sold to consumers; a broker can search many carriers for a route. It does mean the name on the booking and the name on the truck will usually differ, and it is worth asking a broker which carrier has been assigned and asking that carrier for its insurance certificate.

Nine of the 16 companies publish a policy of taking no payment until a carrier is assigned or dispatched. For the other seven, Haulwide found no such statement on their sites.

“Not found” means the company does not publish the policy, not that it charges upfront. Some of those companies may take no deposit in practice; the terms in a written quote are what count.

Four of the 16 companies have their FMCSA address in Florida, more than any other state; no other state has more than two.

• Florida4
• California2
• Georgia2
• Illinois2
• New York2
• Texas2
• Colorado1
• Delaware1

Three of the 16 records were added to the FMCSA register in 2021 or later: Bold Auto Transport (2021), Sherpa Auto Transport (2023), Navi Auto Transport (2024).

The year the FMCSA added a record is not the year a company was founded. Six records show 2011, and five of those belong to companies that say they were founded earlier, so this study reports only the recent end, where the year is informative.

Two of the 16 companies state a headquarters in a different state from the address on their FMCSA record: Navi Auto Transport (states Brookfield, WI; registered in Lewes, DE); Sherpa Auto Transport (states Charlotte, NC; registered in Tucker, GA).

A company can register one address and work from another, so this is not in itself a problem. It is worth knowing when matching a company to its record.