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Email templates · Freight and trucking

Email template to request auto transport quotes

You need a car moved a long way: a cross-country move, a car bought in another state, or a second car heading south for the winter. Two kinds of companies will quote you. Carriers own the trucks. Brokers take your job and find a carrier willing to run it, and most online quotes come from brokers. A broker's low quote is only a guess at what a carrier will accept; if no driver takes the job at that price, your car sits in the driveway while the pickup date slides. Asking by email lets you send the same details to several companies, see in writing who is a carrier and who is a broker, and compare what each price includes before you pay a deposit.

Before you send

  • Pickup and delivery addresses, or at least both zip codes, and whether a full-size truck can reach each one. On a narrow street you may need to meet the driver at a nearby parking lot.
  • The car's year, make and model, whether it runs and drives (a car that does not run needs a winch and costs more), and any changes to its size such as a lift kit or roof rack.
  • Your first available pickup date and any date it must arrive by. A window of a few days on either end usually lowers the price.
  • Open or enclosed carrier. Open trailers are the standard and the cheaper option; enclosed is for a classic or high-value car.
  • A plan to check each company. Every legal carrier and broker has a federal MC or USDOT number, which you can look up for free on the federal trucking regulator's website (FMCSA) to see that their registration and insurance are active.
Subject Quote request: ship [year make model] from [pickup city, state] to [delivery city, state] 
Hi [company name],

I'd like a written quote to ship my [year make model] from [pickup address or zip code] to [delivery address or zip code].

Details:

- The car [runs and drives normally / does not run and will need a winch]
- [Stock, no modifications / modifications, e.g. lifted about 3 inches with a roof rack]
- [An open carrier is fine / I'd like an enclosed carrier]
- First available pickup date: [date]; it needs to arrive by [date] [or: I'm flexible by about a week on either end]

Could your quote show the total price, the deposit amount and when it's due, whether you are the carrier or a broker arranging one, and what cargo insurance covers the car while it's on the truck? Please include your MC or USDOT number as well.

I'm getting a few quotes this week and plan to book by [date].

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Quotes for the same route can differ by hundreds of dollars. Ask the low one directly: "Is this a price a carrier has agreed to, or an estimate of what one might accept?" The honest answer tells you a lot.
  • Look up each company's MC or USDOT number on the FMCSA site and confirm the insurance is active. Pressure to pay a big deposit today, or no number at all, is a reason to drop them.
  • Once you pick one, ask for the assigned carrier's name and insurance certificate before pickup day. At pickup, walk around the car with the driver, note every scratch on the inspection report (the bill of lading), and photograph everything.
  • Walk away from any company that will not put the total price and the deposit terms in writing.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get me quotes to ship my car 
Hi StandIn,

Please get me written quotes to ship my car and help me pick a company I can trust.

The car: [year make model, whether it runs, any modifications].
From and to: [pickup address or zip code, delivery address or zip code].
Dates: [first available pickup date, must-arrive-by date, how flexible I am].
Carrier type: [open is fine / enclosed].
My budget, if any: [amount or "no fixed number"].

Contact four or five companies, find out which are carriers and which are brokers, check each one's federal registration and insurance, follow up with those who don't reply, and bring me the quotes side by side with what's included and which you'd choose.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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