How we vet the carrier that takes your vehicle
Most auto transport sites say their carriers are carefully vetted and stop there. Here is what the words mean for us, and how you can check the same records yourself.
You are handing a vehicle to a driver you have never met, on the strength of a web page. The reasonable response to that is not to be reassured, it is to ask what was checked. Five things are, every time, and all of them are verifiable.
Operating authority, checked against FMCSA
Before a carrier is offered your vehicle we confirm their USDOT number and motor carrier authority are active in the FMCSA register. An authority that has been revoked or placed out of service is the single most common reason a claim later fails, and it is public information anyone can look up.
Cargo insurance in force on the day, not on file
A certificate issued last year proves nothing about this week. We check the policy is current and that its limit covers your vehicle, and we will send you the certificate before you commit. Your shipment also sits under Yorka's contingent cargo cover of up to $250,000 if the carrier's own policy falls short.
Safety record read, not glanced at
Inspection and crash history is published by FMCSA for every carrier. We read it. A pattern of out-of-service violations takes a carrier off the list for us regardless of what they quote, because the cheapest truck on a lane is sometimes cheap for a reason.
Equipment matched to the actual vehicle
A lowered car, a dually, a non-runner and a lifted truck each need different equipment. We ask what the vehicle really is before quoting rather than after a driver arrives, which is why the price does not move on pickup day.
Re-checked every time, not once
Authority lapses and policies expire between jobs. A carrier that passed in March is checked again in October, because the only check that matters is the one made before your car is loaded.
Check us the same way
None of this is worth much if you cannot test it, so here are our own numbers. Look them up before you book, and look up whoever you are comparing us against while you are there.
Yorka Auto Transport
US DOT 4504214 · MC 1782280
FMCSA licensed, bonded and insured
Both numbers can be searched in the FMCSA SAFER system, which is free and public. Ask any carrier you are considering for theirs. A company that will not give you one has answered the question.