Should You Work With A Broker To Transport Your Boat?

1. What A Broker Does
2. Disadvantages of Working With A Broker
3. Is it Worth It?

Brokers operate within a strange space in the transport industry, a lot of customers are reluctant to use them, and yet they make up the bulk of the vehicle shippers you’ll find online. With this in mind, we’ve decided to dig into the world of boat transport brokers, and the relationship they have with customers and that carriers that actually do the legwork of shipping the boat. Ultimately, we hope to answer the question, “Should you work with a broker to transport your boat?”

What A Broker Does

Some people may not be familiar with what exactly a broker does, specifically in the boat transport world, so we’ll briefly go over what their role is in the process of shipping a boat. At the simplest level, a broker is someone who is a facilitator of vehicle transport. In other words, they do not move or transport boats themselves, but work as someone that connects customers with carriers, the companies that do the moving. Just as a broker helps customers connect with carriers, they also help carriers by finding them customers—something that busy companies does always have the time or resources to do on their own.

Advantages of Working With A Broker

Since brokers are not the people that actually handle the physical moving of your boat, it’s understandable that some customers are reluctant to work with brokers. However, there are some advantages. For one, brokers have existing relationships with a number of companies that transport boats and other vehicles, so they’ll be able to cast a wider net as far as securing options that fit your request. This, in turn, creates less work for you since the broker is able to quickly put you in touch with multiple options, rather than searching for them yourself.

A-1 Auto Transport is a licensed boat shipping agent with decades of experience behind our service. We operate in all 50 U.S. states, including Hawaii and Alaska, as well an internationally. All estimates are 100% FREE and require no obligation! Call us today at 1-888-230-9116 to learn more about our boat transport services, or if you’d like to get started with a FREE quote right away!

Disadvantages of Working With A Broker

The downside of working with a broker is that you’re not dealing directly with the company that will be moving your boat, at least not until the broker connects you with them (typically a very speedy process). Additionally, a broker does collect a small payment in this arrangement, which could potentially, though not necessarily, result in a higher overall payment if they carrier charges more to recoup the fee. In the boat and vehicle transport industry, brokers are much easier to find than carriers which is part of the reason they’ve become such an integral part of the business. It’s also important to remember that some companies operate as both a broker and a carrier, blurring the line between the two.

Is it Worth It?

Ultimately, the decision as to whether or not you should use a broker to ship a boat is up to you. If you’re willing to put in the work of searching for companies that do the shipping (carriers) and contact them on your own, then you may not need a broker. If, on the other hand, you think you might need help finding a carrier and organizing the logistics of who’s available, when, and where, then it might be a good idea to reach out to a carrier.