---
title: "Car Shipping Companies: Broker or Carrier, and How to Check Either"
description: "Most car shipping companies are brokers. What FMCSA requires of brokers and carriers, the $0 cargo minimum, the $75,000 bond, and how to file a damage claim."
url: "https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/car-shipping-companies/"
type: "article"
published: "2026-10-07"
modified: "2026-10-07"
site: "Baron Auto"
disclaimer: "This site is under new ownership and is not affiliated with Baron Auto Emporium dealership."
---

# Car Shipping Companies: Broker or Carrier, and How to Check Either

> Most car shipping companies are brokers. What FMCSA requires of brokers and carriers, the $0 cargo minimum, the $75,000 bond, and how to file a damage claim.

*Used Car Buying · 21 min read · 4,783 words*

## The short version

- Most “car shipping companies” online are brokers: they arrange the move and hand your car to a separate motor carrier. FMCSA says brokers “don’t assume responsibility for the cargo being transported.”
- Both must be registered with FMCSA to work across state lines. A broker must keep a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund; a carrier of property must file $750,000 in public liability cover for trucks of 10,001 pounds or more.
- The federal cargo insurance minimum for a carrier of property is $0. Household goods movers must carry $5,000 per vehicle. A car shipped on its own travels as freight, so ask the carrier for its cargo policy in writing.
- The 2023 broker financial responsibility rule took full effect on 16 January 2026 after a one-year delay. The bond answers for a broker’s failure to pay or perform, not for a dent in your car.
- A damage note on the delivery receipt is not a claim. File a written claim with an amount: no carrier may allow less than 9 months for it, or less than 2 years to sue after a written denial.
- No public body publishes car-shipping prices, and we print none. Each party to a brokered shipment may review the broker’s record of it, which shows the carrier and what the broker was paid.

A car shipping company is either a broker, which sells and arranges the move, or a motor carrier, which owns the truck and hauls the car, and federal law treats them differently. On 7 October 2026 we read the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s consumer advisory on auto transporters and its registration, insurance and complaint pages; the federal rules on brokers, insurance, bills of lading and claims (49 CFR parts 366, 370, 371, 373, 375 and 387) and the statutes behind them; the 2023 broker financial responsibility rule and the documents that delayed and corrected it; three FTC consumer alerts; and the military’s rules for shipping a privately owned vehicle. This site has no relationship with any transport company and recommends none; this is an explainer, not legal advice.

**Figure: What federal rules require of car shippers, and what they leave to you**

A two-column table setting six federal requirements beside what they mean for someone shipping a car: every broker keeps a $75,000 bond, which answers for the broker’s own failures and is not insurance on the car; carriers of property file $750,000 in public liability, or $300,000 for fleets of vehicles under 10,001 pounds, with cargo a separate line; the federal cargo insurance minimum for a carrier of property is $0, against $5,000 for household goods movers; a carrier may limit its liability to a declared or agreed value; no carrier may allow less than 9 months for a claim or 2 years to sue, and a note on the delivery receipt is not a claim; and each party to a brokered shipment may review the broker’s record, which names the carrier and the broker’s pay.

From 49 U.S.C. 13906 and 14706, 49 CFR 370.3, 371.3, 387.303T and 387.307, and FMCSA’s insurance filing chart and operating-authority descriptions, read on 7 October 2026.

## Broker or carrier: who is actually moving your car

FMCSA’s consumer advisory on auto transporters starts here: “Auto brokers only arrange the transportation of your car. Be suspicious of any Web site where it is not clear whether the company is a broker or a transporter.” The agency wrote it after it “received a dramatic increase in complaints against auto transporters and auto transport brokers.” The page was last updated on 10 February 2015, and parts of it have aged, but the distinction has not.

A motor carrier, in FMCSA’s words, “operates commercial motor vehicles” and “could be a company with several power units, or it could be an owner-operator.” A broker is “the ‘middle person’ between a shipper and a motor carrier”; brokers “don’t transport the property, don’t operate motor vehicles or have drivers, and don’t assume responsibility for the cargo being transported,” and a broker “never takes possession” of it. The statute, 49 U.S.C. 13102, covers anyone other than a carrier who sells, negotiates or “holds itself out by solicitation, advertisement, or otherwise” as arranging transport by motor carrier for pay.

The rules keep brokers honest about which they are. Under 49 CFR 371.7, a broker may not offer its services “in any name other than that in which its registration is issued,” may not “represent its operations to be that of a carrier,” and “Any advertising shall show the broker status of the operation.” Brokering without registration and the required security breaks 49 U.S.C. 14916, which exposes the company and its “individual officers, directors, and principals” to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation and to the injured party “for all valid claims incurred without regard to amount.”

Neither kind of company is the better choice by law. What changes is who owes you what: a carrier is liable for loss or damage under the bill of lading, while a broker owes you the arrangement it sold, a record of it, and the bond behind it. Our review of [Montway Auto Transport](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/montway-auto-transport-review/) reads one company’s federal record this way.

## Your car ships as freight, not household goods

The federal protections people associate with moving companies belong to household goods: “the personal effects or property used, or to be used, in a dwelling” (49 CFR 375.103), or in FMCSA’s plainer words, “personal items that will be used in a home.” A car shipped on its own by an auto transporter is not that. The carrier hauls it under the authority FMCSA calls Motor Carrier of Property (except Household Goods), and a broker arranges it as a Broker of Property.

The two categories carry different duties. FMCSA says household goods carriers “must file proof of both public liability (BI & PD) and cargo insurance,” while for carriers of property, “Cargo insurance is not required.” We found no car-freight equivalent of the household goods rules below.

**Household goods move compared with a car shipped by an auto transporter (federal rules read on 7 October 2026)**

| Protection | Household goods move | Car shipped as freight |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What is covered | Personal effects or property used in a dwelling (49 CFR 375.103) | Property carried by a motor carrier of property |
| Federal cargo insurance minimum | $5,000 per vehicle, $10,000 per occurrence | $0 |
| Carrier’s liability | Replacement value up to the declared value, unless waived in writing (49 U.S.C. 14706(f)(2)) | May be limited to a value you declare or agree in writing (49 U.S.C. 14706(c)(1)(A)) |
| Holding the shipment for payment | Not reasonable dispatch once 110 percent of a non-binding estimate is offered | No equivalent rule found |
| Arbitration | Must be offered on collect-on-delivery shipments (49 U.S.C. 14708) | No equivalent rule found |

Read the liability row twice. For household goods the statute sets “full value protection.” For other property, a carrier may set rates under which its liability “is limited to a value established by written or electronic declaration of the shipper or by written agreement,” if reasonable in the circumstances. The contract you sign can set the ceiling on what the carrier owes for your car.

## What the insurance minimums cover, and the line they leave at $0

FMCSA publishes one chart of what each kind of company must file before it gets interstate authority. The rule behind the carrier rows, 49 CFR 387.303T, is titled “Security for the protection of the public.”

**What each party to a car shipment must file with FMCSA (49 CFR 387.303T and 387.307; FMCSA insurance filing chart, last updated 26 March 2026)**

| Party | Public liability (BI&PD) | Cargo insurance | Surety bond or trust fund |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Broker of property (forms BMC-84 or BMC-85) | $0 | $0 | $75,000 |
| Motor carrier of property, vehicles of 10,001 lb GVWR or more | $750,000 | $0 | $0 |
| Motor carrier of property, fleet only of vehicles under 10,001 lb GVWR | $300,000 | $0 | $0 |
| Household goods motor carrier, 10,001 lb GVWR or more | $750,000 | $5,000 per vehicle; $10,000 per occurrence | $0 |

Public liability, “bodily injury and property damage” in FMCSA’s words, is what the federal minimums are built around. Cargo is a separate column, and for a carrier of property it reads $0. A broker files no insurance at all; its federal obligation is the bond.

That does not mean carriers ship cars uninsured. It means the federal floor does not include your car, so what protects it is the actual carrier’s cargo policy and the liability limit in your contract. The FTC’s advice for movers applies: “Ask each mover what they charge to insure your goods and what they pay if things are damaged.” Get the carrier’s cargo coverage and limit in writing and compare it with what the car is worth.

**The broker’s $75,000 bond is not insurance on your car.** The statute makes it available for claims “arising from its failure to pay freight charges,” and the regulation for payments “if the broker fails to carry out its contracts.” FMCSA describes the 2023 rule’s aim as funds “to satisfy unpaid freight charges.” Damage on the road is the carrier’s liability, and its cargo policy is what pays it.

## The $75,000 broker bond and the 2023 rule, as it stands

The amount is set by statute. Since 1 October 2013, 49 U.S.C. 13906(b)(3) has required each broker to provide “financial security of $75,000,” “regardless of the number of branch offices or sales agents of the broker.” FMCSA’s 2013 rule (78 FR 60226) records that it had been $10,000 for general property brokers and $25,000 for household goods brokers, a 7.5-fold rise for property brokers by our arithmetic. The regulation in force today, 49 CFR 387.307, reads “A broker must have a surety bond or trust fund of $75,000 in effect.” A claim is payable if the broker consents, if it ignores adequate notice and the surety finds the claim valid, or once the claim “is reduced to a judgment against the broker”; the surety must answer within 30 days and give written grounds for any denial.

The rule that changed how the money is held, “Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility” (88 FR 78656), was published on 16 November 2023 and took effect on 16 January 2024. It covered “five separate areas”: readily available assets, immediate suspension of authority, the surety’s duties when a broker fails, enforcement, and who may hold trust funds. Compliance was due in two steps, on 16 January 2025 and 16 January 2026. On 31 December 2024 FMCSA moved everything to the second date (89 FR 107021), because “only its forthcoming online registration system will be used to accept filings and track notifications.”

That date has passed and the rule stands. The annual Code of Federal Regulations, revised as of 1 October 2025, prints the new section with “This section is effective January 16, 2026,” and the old one as 387.307T, which “will remain in effect until January 16, 2026.” On 21 July 2026 FMCSA fixed two cross-references in it as a typographical error (91 FR 45653), and the Federal Register’s listing of documents amending part 387 shows nothing since. What it requires:

- **Real money.** A trust fund must hold $75,000 in assets “that can be liquidated to cash within 7 calendar days,” limited to cash, irrevocable letters of credit from a federally insured depository institution, and Treasury bonds. Loan and finance companies may no longer act as trustees.
- **Fast suspension.** When a payment or pending claims take the security below $75,000, the surety must tell FMCSA within 2 business days. FMCSA then gives the broker notice that its authority will be suspended “within 7 business days of service of the notice” unless it restores the $75,000, settles the claims another way or shows the notice was wrong.
- **A claims window on failure.** If a broker fails financially, FMCSA posts the cancellation in the FMCSA Register on its website, and the surety “must accept claims” for 60 calendar days. A bankruptcy filing alone is not a failure under the rule.
- **Penalties for sureties.** A surety that breaks the rules loses the right to file broker security for 3 years.

Two loose ends. FMCSA’s overview page, last updated 30 April 2026, says suspension follows if the security “is not replenished within 7 calendar days”; the regulation counts 7 business days from FMCSA’s notice, and the regulation binds. And the delay tied compliance to the new registration system, Motus, whose release to all registrants the April 2026 notice planned for the second quarter of 2026, after the compliance date; nothing we read explains the interval. For a car owner the point is practical: if a broker collapses owing you money, watch the FMCSA Register, because the 60-day claim window runs from the notice.

## How to look a company up on FMCSA’s records

The advisory’s rule of thumb still holds: “Avoid any auto transporter or broker that does not prominently display their MC Docket number on their website.” Its description of the numbers has dated. In 2015 it said auto transporters “are also issued a seven digit ‘USDOT’ number,” as if brokers were not; FMCSA’s registration FAQ now says that, to comply with MAP-21, it “began assigning USDOT Numbers to brokers” too. A USDOT number does not show that a company owns trucks. FMCSA has proposed to stop assigning MC numbers, but its April 2026 notice says the new system’s release “will not include” that change, so a company can show both.

Two free federal lookups answer different questions. For a company’s “interstate operating authority (active MC Number), insurance or process agent,” FMCSA says: “Please go to FMCSA’s Licensing and Insurance system and select ‘Carrier search’ from the pull-down menu.” The [L&I system](https://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/pkg_menu.prc_menu) shows whether the company holds broker authority, carrier authority or both, whether it is active, and what is on file. The [SAFER Company Snapshot](https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx) is the safety side: “identification, size, commodity information, and safety record, including the safety rating (if any), a roadside out-of-service inspection summary, and crash information,” searchable “by DOT Number, MC/MX Number or Company Name,” one company at a time, free. A broker operates no trucks, so the inspection and crash history that matters is the carrier’s.

The systems are changing. FMCSA retired its legacy registration tools at 8:00 PM ET on 14 May 2026 and moved registration to Motus, whose first phase opened on 8 December 2025. Its FAQ says “Existing L&I and FMCSA Portal records will remain available for viewing and verification” and that the public may view public data “without an account.” If a link above moves, start from FMCSA’s registration pages, not a search result.

A clean record is not the end of the check. The April 2026 notice (91 FR 23144) reports fraud including “identity theft, hijacking FMCSA motor carrier accounts, selling of motor carrier numbers.” A copied number can sit on a site that has nothing to do with the registered company, so the name and address on the federal record should match the company on your contract and the one taking your money.

The record also names a process agent. Every carrier and broker must file a Form BOC-3 designating agents for service of process (49 CFR 366.2T): a broker “for each State in which its offices are located or in which contracts will be written,” a carrier for each state it operates in or crosses (49 CFR 366.4T). FMCSA defines a process agent as “a representative upon whom court papers may be served in a legal action.” It is what lets you sue an out-of-state company without chasing it home. Look up both the broker you pay and the carrier it assigns, and get the carrier’s name and USDOT number before pickup, not at the curb.

## Open or enclosed: what the federal record says

Very little, and that is the finding. We found no federal rule that treats open and enclosed car transport differently; the insurance minimums above and the tie-down rule are the same for both. The clearest official description is in FMCSA’s training for crash-report coders, which defines an auto transporter as “a cargo body type specifically designed to transport multiple, fully assembled automobiles,” adds that “Single-unit flatbed tow-trucks hauling cars DO NOT qualify,” and illustrates the category with photographs captioned “Typical Auto Transporter” and “Covered Auto Transporter.” In federal crash data, open and covered car carriers are one kind of vehicle. The truck size rules, 23 CFR 658.5, define automobile transporters the same way, as combinations built “for the transport of assembled highway vehicles.”

Whatever the trailer, 49 CFR 393.128 governs how a car of 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) or less is tied down: it “must be restrained at both the front and rear to prevent lateral, forward, rearward, and vertical movement using a minimum of two tiedowns,” and wheel straps “must provide restraint in the lateral, longitudinal and vertical directions.”

So enclosed transport is a service you buy, not a status the law confers. An open deck leaves the car to weather and road grit; a covered trailer keeps them off. If you pay for enclosed, a single-car truck or a guaranteed date, get it written on the order and the bill of lading, because nothing in federal law will supply it later.

**Figure: Annotated photograph**

Three numbered callouts over a car on a trailer behind a tow car mark the two people, the trailered car and the tow car's wheel, with what a broker does and does not take responsibility for, the federal cargo-insurance minimum for carriers, and how a damage claim must be filed.

FMCSA’s consumer advisory and insurance filing chart and 49 CFR 370.3, read on 7 October 2026, say a broker arranges transport but does not take responsibility for the cargo (callout 1), set no federal cargo-insurance minimum for carriers of property (callout 2), and treat a damage claim as a written demand for a specified amount, not a note on the delivery receipt (callout 3). The photograph is illustrative.

## The bill of lading and the condition report

The bill of lading is the document your rights hang on. Under 49 U.S.C. 14706(a)(1), a carrier “shall issue a receipt or bill of lading for property it receives” and is liable “for the actual loss or injury to the property” caused by the receiving carrier, the delivering carrier or another carrier on the route. “Failure to issue a receipt or bill of lading does not affect the liability of a carrier.” Under 49 CFR 373.101 it must show the consignor and consignee, origin and destination, the number of packages, a description of the freight, and its weight or measurement if that sets the rate. For a car, it is where the condition at pickup, any declared value and the carrier’s name end up together.

No federal rule for civilian car shipping prescribes a condition report. The clearest official statement of what one is for comes from the military, which ships service members’ vehicles under the Defense Transportation Regulation (chapter A-408, dated 5 May 2025). Its form DD 788 exists for “Inspecting and reporting the condition of the POV and detecting damage and pilferage during shipment” and for “Determining the validity of claims for loss or damage.” Because “the vehicle is re-inspected at each phase of the shipment, responsibility for loss or damage can be determined accurately.” The inspection is joint, with the inspector marking damage “on the vehicle illustrations” with the owner present. The same chapter has owners “verify any open recalls” first, a check anyone can run on [NHTSA’s recall lookup](https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls).

Copy the method. At pickup, walk the car with the driver, get every existing mark onto the inspection sheet or bill of lading, photograph every side, the roof, the wheels and the odometer, and keep your copy. At delivery, repeat the walk before you sign and write new damage on the delivery document. The FTC’s rule for movers fits: don’t sign paperwork “that has blank spaces where prices, dates, signatures, or other important information should be.” Our guide to [taking delivery of a car bought online](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/buying-a-car-online/#delivery) covers the curbside handover.

## If the car arrives damaged: claims and deadlines

The claim goes to the carrier, and it must be a real claim. Under 49 CFR 370.3(b), that is a written communication within the bill of lading’s time limits that identifies the shipment, asserts the carrier’s liability, and claims “a specified or determinable amount of money.” The next paragraph is the trap: “notations of shortage or damage” on “delivery receipts, or other documents, or inspection reports issued by carriers” do not, “standing alone,” count. A note on the receipt preserves evidence; it files nothing.

**The claim clock for loss or damage in interstate transport (49 U.S.C. 14706(e); 49 CFR 370.5 and 370.9)**

| Step | Time limit | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| You file a written claim with an amount | The carrier may not allow less than 9 months | 49 U.S.C. 14706(e)(1) |
| Carrier acknowledges it in writing | Within 30 days, unless it has paid or declined | 49 CFR 370.5(a) |
| Carrier pays, declines or makes a firm compromise offer | Within 120 days, then a written status every 60 days | 49 CFR 370.9(a) |
| You sue | The carrier may not allow less than 2 years from its written disallowance | 49 U.S.C. 14706(e)(1) |

Both statutory periods are floors: a carrier “may not provide by rule, contract, or otherwise” less. Your bill of lading may give you longer, never shorter. Send the claim in a way you can prove, with the bill of lading, photographs from both ends and a repair estimate. If a broker sold the move, it does not answer for the damage, but its record names the carrier and its registration number, you may review that record, and the carrier’s BOC-3 names who can be served if you sue.

## Quotes, deposits and what the broker keeps

We looked for a public source of car-shipping prices and found none: no regulator or statistics agency we read publishes them, so this page prints no price, per-mile rate or range, and we requested no quotes. What the federal record shows is what a quote is made of and how to see inside it.

A brokered price has two parts, and the broker must write both down. Under 49 CFR 371.3 its record of each shipment shows the originating carrier and its registration number, “The amount of compensation received by the broker for the brokerage service performed,” and “The amount of any freight charges collected by the broker and the date of payment to the carrier.” Brokers keep these records for three years, and “Each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record of the transaction.” As the shipper, you are a party. FMCSA proposed in November 2024 (89 FR 91648) to make brokers’ “obligation to provide transaction records to the transacting parties on request” explicit, noting that contracts “frequently contain waivers of this right”; comments were reopened to 20 March 2025 (90 FR 9702), and the Federal Register lists no final rule since. The existing right does not depend on it.

A carrier owes you its terms too. One that files no tariff must provide, “on request of the shipper, a written or electronic copy of the rate, classification, rules, and practices upon which any rate applicable to a shipment” is based. The same section lets it set rates with liability limited to a declared or agreed value, so a low price and a low limit can come together.

Beyond the route itself, the documents point to three things that change what you are buying: whether a broker’s compensation sits on top of the carrier’s charge, the liability limit attached to the rate, and the equipment promised (a multi-car transporter, a covered trailer, or a single-car flatbed, which FMCSA’s coders do not count as an auto transporter). Compare quotes on those terms, in writing.

On payment, the FTC tells people hiring movers: “Don’t hire anyone who demands cash or a big deposit before the move.” FMCSA accepts complaints that a broker “did not disclose their cancellation, deposit or refunding policy,” and its advisory says to “closely monitor the transactions” on any card you pay with. Get the cancellation and refund terms in writing before you pay.

## Fraud that uses shipping as the hook, and where to complain

Some fraud is not about the transporter at all. The FTC’s alert on phony online car sales, dated 5 July 2022, warns that “The sellers demand more money after the sale for ‘shipping’ or ‘transportation’ costs,” often by gift card or wire. Its 1 September 2026 alert describes cloned dealer websites built “to trick you into paying up front for a car you’ll never lay hands on,” and says to ask for “a mobile inspection service” when the car is far away and to walk away from wire-only payment. If a seller supplies the transporter, look it up yourself and pay it directly. Our guides to [mobile pre-purchase inspections](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/mobile-pre-purchase-inspection/) and [inspecting a car bought remotely](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/used-car-pre-purchase-inspection/#remote) cover the check before money moves, and our page on [Copart fees](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/copart-fees/) covers costs after an auction win.

For an interstate carrier or broker, the federal channel is FMCSA’s [National Consumer Complaint Database](https://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/). Consumers may complain about “moving companies, moving brokers, or auto transporters,” alleging “failure to provide agreed upon services, engagement in deceptive practices or operation without proper authority or required insurance”; broker examples include posing as a carrier and trading under an unregistered name. A complaint is kept “as part of its permanent record” and used to decide “which companies to investigate.” It is not a refund route: the database is “intended only for investigation of past events,” and filing “does not affect your right to pursue a civil action.”

You cannot use it to compare companies. We found no public count of complaints about auto transporters or their brokers. The only published volume, in FMCSA’s June 2025 paperwork notice (90 FR 24190), estimates 64,545 respondents a year across all 12 complaint categories, from truck safety to drug testing; it is not a car-shipping count. For a move within one state, the FTC says to contact your state enforcement agency; for fraud, it takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

## A checklist for vetting a car transporter

- **Ask whether it is a broker or a carrier,** and look for the broker status its advertising must show.
- **Look up its USDOT and MC numbers yourself** on FMCSA’s L&I carrier search: authority type, active status, and insurance or the $75,000 bond on file.
- **Match the name and address** on the federal record to the contract and the payee.
- **Check for a BOC-3 process agent.**
- **Get the carrier’s name and USDOT number before pickup** and look it up too, including its SAFER Company Snapshot.
- **Get the carrier’s cargo insurance and limit in writing,** since the federal cargo minimum is $0.
- **Read the liability and declared-value lines** before you sign.
- **Put the service in writing:** open or enclosed, dates, cancellation, deposit and refund terms.
- **Pay safely:** no cash, gift cards or wire transfers, no large deposit, and watch your card statement.
- **Document the condition at both ends** on the inspection sheet, with photographs, and never sign a document with blanks.
- **File damage as a written claim with an amount,** to the carrier, inside the bill of lading’s limit.
- **Complain in the right place:** FMCSA for interstate carriers and brokers, your state for in-state moves, the FTC for fraud.

For the paperwork that follows a car across a state line, see our guide to [buying a car out of state](https://baronauto1.com/buying-guides/buying-a-car-out-of-state/#paperwork).

## Common questions

### How much does it cost to ship a car?

No regulator or public dataset we found publishes car-shipping prices, so we print none. A quote reflects the carrier’s charge, any broker’s compensation, the liability limit and the equipment promised. A carrier must give you its rate terms on request, and a broker’s record shows what it was paid.

### Is it better to use an auto transport broker or a carrier?

The law ranks neither, and neither do we. A broker arranges the move and must hold a $75,000 bond; a carrier hauls the car and is liable for damage under the bill of lading. With a broker, look up both companies.

### What is the difference between open and enclosed car transport?

Open carriers leave the car exposed to weather and road debris; enclosed trailers cover it. Federal rules treat them alike, with the same insurance and tie-down requirements. If you pay for enclosed, get it written on the order and the bill of lading.

### How do I know if a car shipping company is legitimate?

Look up its USDOT or MC number on FMCSA’s L&I system, confirm active authority of the right type with insurance or a bond on file, check for a BOC-3 process agent, and make sure the name and address match the company you pay. FMCSA warns that numbers are sometimes copied or hijacked.

### Does the shipping company’s insurance cover damage to my car?

Only if the carrier carries cargo insurance, which federal rules do not require of a carrier of property, and only up to its policy and contract limits. The broker’s bond is not damage cover. Ask the carrier for its cargo policy before pickup.

### What should I do if my car is damaged during shipping?

Note and photograph the damage on delivery, then file a written claim with the carrier stating an amount; a note on the receipt alone is not a claim. The carrier must acknowledge within 30 days and pay, decline or offer a compromise within 120 days.

## Sources and further reading

- [NHTSA recall lookup](https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls)
- [FTC used car buying guide](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/buying-used-car-dealer)

Recall, complaint and safety-rating figures on this page were retrieved from the federal databases above on August 19, 2026. Federal data changes — re-check any VIN before you rely on it.

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*This site is under new ownership and is not affiliated with Baron Auto Emporium dealership.*

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