Your assessment, Jim, of uShip fees is accurate. They charge about 15% or so fees for car shipping and at the end of the day, one way or another, the Shipper pays that. If you could bypass uShip and deal with the driver directly, you could save some money (or the driver could earn more, or both). But uShip knows this and they block all direct contact with the driver, until it is booked, that would allow you to bypass their fees. (I was not aware of the added broker fees because I did not use a broker.) As a transporter, I can see how you feel like they really have their hands deep in your pockets. They do.
The last time I used uShip, it was not all brokers that were offering transport. There were some individual drivers on there, which is what I used. I rejected all bids from brokers. If it is only brokers now, then I would not use it. I insisted on dealing with the guy who drove the truck that had my car, and it worked out well.
I don't know of any other way to match up individual shippers with independent transport drivers to move their car, especially in Canada (which is what the guy asked for). If you or any other Ford Barn guys do, please share with us. This question comes up a few times a year. We could all benefit.
Perhaps we can create a "recommended transporters" list of individual drivers that we have actually used to transport one of our old cars, guys like
trulyvintage Jim, that others can search through and contact when they need to move a vehicle.
truelyvintage can't move them all; he's only one guy!
We list Model A suppliers. Why not Model A transporters?
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