best way to look for tractor transport

OllieDoug

New User
I may be in need of transporting an 8000 lb tractor from Ontario Idaho to Olympia Washington. Are there sites where one can go to submit their tranport need? That is, put in the tractor type/wt., the pick-up and drop-off locations, and the time frame, and then have folks contact me with quotes? Any information would be helpful, as I've never had to do this before. Thanks!
 
Uship and Fr8star, but a word of caution about both. Try to deal with owner/operators, NOT "brokers" because you're liable to have a guy show up with a totally inappropriate rig, like an Econoline van and a car hauler. The brokers are yet another middleman in between you and the hauler and are usually out to shaft both you and the hauler.
 
(quoted from post at 04:41:27 09/11/19) Uship and Fr8star, but a word of caution about both. Try to deal with owner/operators, NOT "brokers" because you're liable to have a guy show up with a totally inappropriate rig, like an Econoline van and a car hauler. The brokers are yet another middleman in between you and the hauler and are usually out to shaft both you and the hauler.

Barnyard, brokers are usually out to make a good living by building up a lot of repeat business by providing good service to both haulers and consigners and relying to a great degree on word of mouth advertising. If there has ever been one that was out to shaft all customers, He would not have been in business long enough to hurt but a very few people. Have you ever been in business yourself?
 
Barnyard, brokers are usually out to make a good living by building up a lot of repeat business by providing good service to both haulers and consigners and relying to a great degree on word of mouth advertising. If there has ever been one that was out to shaft all customers, He would not have been in business long enough to hurt but a very few people. Have you ever been in business yourself?

I've tried to ship three tractors with U-ship, and every time without fail the "brokers" would either give me a ridiculously high or a ridiculously low bid, demanded IMMEDIATE responses, and just gave me an overall shifty vibe in their communications. Common response was "we have a driver in your area ready for immediate pickup."

The way it seems to me, they're just answering every request for a quote without regard to what or where, just trying to hook as many people as possible. They don't care about repeat business. There's plenty of first-time business out there.

I've seen the guys they send. I have nothing against immigrants but if you are dealing with English-speaking customers you have to make an effort. There's always some reason why they can't haul your load without more $$$, and they know they've got you over a barrel. All this is through their translator, the broker, over the phone. I won't even get into the equipment...

On the other hand, both of the owner/operators I've dealt with have been true to their word, professional, did what they said they were going to do, when they said they were going to do it, for the price they quoted. I've done repeat business with one hauler, and would gladly do repeat business with either going into the future.
 
(quoted from post at 08:59:40 09/11/19)
(quoted from post at 04:41:27 09/11/19) Uship and Fr8star, but a word of caution about both. Try to deal with owner/operators, NOT "brokers" because you're liable to have a guy show up with a totally inappropriate rig, like an Econoline van and a car hauler. The brokers are yet another middleman in between you and the hauler and are usually out to shaft both you and the hauler.

Barnyard, brokers are usually out to make a good living by building up a lot of repeat business by providing good service to both haulers and consigners and relying to a great degree on word of mouth advertising. If there has ever been one that was out to shaft all customers, He would not have been in business long enough to hurt but a very few people. Have you ever been in business yourself?
ou

You mean there are no brokers that are just like the used car lots that seem to appear and disappear every 5 years or so?
To show up again with the same owner, under a new name?
 
(quoted from post at 07:58:17 09/15/19)
(quoted from post at 08:59:40 09/11/19)
(quoted from post at 04:41:27 09/11/19) Uship and Fr8star, but a word of caution about both. Try to deal with owner/operators, NOT "brokers" because you're liable to have a guy show up with a totally inappropriate rig, like an Econoline van and a car hauler. The brokers are yet another middleman in between you and the hauler and are usually out to shaft both you and the hauler.

Barnyard, brokers are usually out to make a good living by building up a lot of repeat business by providing good service to both haulers and consigners and relying to a great degree on word of mouth advertising. If there has ever been one that was out to shaft all customers, He would not have been in business long enough to hurt but a very few people. Have you ever been in business yourself?
ou

You mean there are no brokers that are just like the used car lots that seem to appear and disappear every 5 years or so?
To show up again with the same owner, under a new name?


Double07 it is well known that 50% of all new businesses fail within not too many years. I doubt if many people start businesses just to see how short a time they can last and how much money they can lose.
 
I had an Oliver 1550 shipped from MA to VA,checked around with haulers then put it on USHIP for bids, at first I got several high bids but as time went on the bids kept getting lower
near the end of the set time to bid I had two very reasonable bids choose one guy that was little higher but he was able to load himself turned out to be a real nice fellow very professional.Final charges were right at $900 which I thought was very reasonable as it was about 600 miles and over $100 in tolls.
 
With the emergence of larger dealer networks, there may be a John Deere dealer in Boise and Olympia that hauls goods back and forth. As long as you could get the tractor to the dealership (or easy to load location) they may be willing to take it as a back haul.
 
Use the hauling board on this site. I have had some good results with it and have loaded equipment on it. Both ways I have used it. Valley Transportation has trucks all over the country, can haul for you with A semi. They are good to work with also. I have had them haul for us and have loaded many loads in the past with them.
 
Thanks for the info! Where is Valley Transportation located out of, or do you have a web link for them? Would like to keep them in my address book!
 

"We have a driver in your area ready for immediate pickup" usually means just that -- there's some guy sitting at a truck stop, watching the boards or waiting for a phone call.

Depending on where the load is, and where it is going, the rates can fluctuate WILDLY. If there are a lot of drivers waiting for loads in one town, and a lot of loads waiting for drivers in another town, it's to the truckers' benefit to have someone pay his or her way to that other town. If the only loads are to places that there aren't any backhauls from, shippers will have to pay more to convince someone to take them.

If there's a truck stop near you, drop in, wander into the professional drivers' lounge, and look at the broker board. Watch for loads leaving your area, and get an idea what the pay rates are. Also watch for loads within 50 miles of the destination -- if there are a lot of those, and not many from your area, you will get an idea what you will end up paying.

AFTER you have this idea, you can ask if anyone there would be interested in your load. There might be someone eager to get out of your town and into somewhere that this load will take him.
 
There are similar discussions on all of the special interest car forums too. Same dilemma: A guy has a car he wants shipped. Sometimes the dealer/broker/seller of the car can arrange shipping. Sometimes it's him, or his cousin or brother-in-law. Lots of internet sites to shop for hauls. Many horror stories of car hauls gone bad. But, of course, many go smoothly and all parties are satisfied.

About 4 years ago my friend flew to NY to see a Street Rod for sale on Long Island. Made a deal and bought the car. Arranged for shipping by a "reputable" transporter in a closed trailer. Two weeks later his car arrived in Illinois about 9:00 one night on an open trailer cover in road dirt. The Mexican driver couldn't speak any English. The Hispanic woman with him could speak some. So they unload the car in the dark, and my friend signs a "receipt". Next day he looks the car over in the daylight and finds some minor shipping damage. He calls the shipper's agent. The agent replies, "I have your signed waiver of any damages"... All the cussing and fussing my friend did on the phone didn't help. Outside of taking them to small claims court, he was stuck. From that I learned to do extensive research and buy adequate insurance.
 

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