When you plan to ship or transport your car to any other country or city then you may be discussing with a number of car shipping companies. While discussing with them, you may come across a number of terms that may not be too familiar to you.
People who are dealing with such company’s day in and out may be quite comfortable with all those lingos. However, people like you and me, who has to deal with them once in a while, will be a little uncomfortable to negotiate with them.
As a result, often there may be a chance of miscommunication and often you may be ripped off when you get their final bill amount. Therefore, before you deal with such companies, you must get yourself familiar with the process of how to ship a car.
Here in this article we shall explain the meaning of few common words that are often used in this industry, so that you are not caught in wrong foot.
ATA – The actual time when your vehicle will really arrive at your desired destination that was agreed upon.
ATD – The exact time when your car was really picked up and then departed from its place of origin.
BOL – It stands for bill of landing, which means it is a documentation or receipt obtained from your freight service.
Broker – Broker is a person who is in between the actual company and the customer like you, who will negotiate on behalf of the company.
Carrier – Carrier is actually the shipping company who will carry your car to the required destination.
Cut-off time – Cut-off time is actually the deadline by which date your vehicle must be delivered to your destination.
Dispatcher – A dispatcher usually connects the actual main office with all the other carriers who are on the road.
Diversion – Diversion actually means rerouting the route of any shipment which is already in transit.
Door-to-door – This term implies, picking up your car from your home and dropping it to the actual destination of receiver.
DOT – Its full form is Department of Transportation
ELD: Electronic logging device, which is fitted in the truck to monitor how much time they spent on the road.
FMCSA – They recommend laws, which are very important for car carriers to follow.
Load – Load is the term used by drivers to refer to number of cars that they are carrying.
NTSB: An independent government agency that oversees investigations of all major accidents.
Open carriers – Open carriers typically will transport multiple vehicles which will remain open to wind, rain, hail, and snow.
Terminal – They are the actual areas from where your car has been picked up or to be dropped off.
Tracking – Tracking will mean following the route of your car shipment by means of its delivery process.
Transporter – A transporter is nothing but another name for the car carrier.
Truck route – Truckers usually have their specific routes which they take, which is different from common transport route.
VIN number – This means vehicle identification number, which is unique registered code that is used for identifying any individual motor vehicle
