How to Start an Auto Transport Company

 This is a Great article I Once had E-MAILED to Me!

 A Step By Step Guide to Open Your Own Auto Transport Brokerage Easily (with in 21 Days up and Running) and Cost Effectively (Under $2000.00) Be Your own Boss and Start Making money Right Away!

1. Lets get Incorporated

Your Company is Your “Vehicle / Vessel to Make money”
You must incorporate Your company in the State You are doing Business in.
New York =  www.dos.state.ny.us/corps/
Florida = http://www.sunbiz.org/
California = www.corp.ca.gov
obtain a E.I.N. here:
https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp

2. Lets Get a Bank Account

24 Hours After Incorporation, You may walk in to Your local bank and set up Your Business bank account.

3. Lets get Bonded

Your B.M.C. - 85 is Your Bond or “Insurance”
A $10,000 surety bond is Required and can be obtained for $1,000.00 for the whole Year
http://www.transportfinancialservices.com/ will prepare your bond for You at a Fair price, if you would like to shop around You may. (I used them and it went smooth)

Option 1: Pay a total of $1000.00 for the year with no monthly payments. If there are no claims for the year, the annual administration fee for the following year will be reduced to $800.00. For each succeeding year the minimum fee will be $550.00 per year.

Option 2:  BMC 84 Surety Bond accepted with credit score of 720 or higher. Receive BMC 85 Trust with Transport Financial  for $500.00

4. Let’s Get Operating

Your operating Authority or OP-1 is Your “Registration”
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration-licensing/online-registration/onlineregdescription.htm
and click the step by step registration Guide, your OP-1 Will cost $300.00

5. Let’s Get a C.R.M.

A C.R.M. is an Essential online database so You can Manage all of Your Customers. Think of this as Your “Transmission”

It takes 10-21 days after You have applied for Your BMC-85 AND M/C number, For You to show up. now You can get Your free 30 day C.R.M. (Customer Relations Manager) Trial.

A few choices Here, either Jtracker, Megabee, or Auto Broker Dispatch. Spend the Extra Money and use the Jtracker and C/D set up!
www.jtracker.com
www.centraldispatch.com
www.autobrokerdispatch.com

Avoid:
Megabee
Granot

Hardly anyone uses them for a reason.

6. Let’s Get A Website

A decent Website cost’s $200.00 - $500.00

7. Let’s Get Customers

http://www.autotransportleadsreview.com

8. Lets accept Payment

Just do a Google search for “credit card processing”,  Merchant accounts are relatively easy to obtain, despite what You may hear.

9. Let’s get an 800 Number
If You wanna do this By Yourself  (Recommended) , www.onebox.com is a great tool to register an 800 number ($50.00 per month) directly to your cell phone, need a land line? www.vonage.com (You can get the hardware online or locally, $20.00 per month)

5 Reasons You Should Start Your own Auto Transport Brokerage


Be Your Own Boss, Set your own Hours and schedule, Run the company with your Own Ideas and Ambitions!
Make money, A typical profit margin for an Auto Transport Brokerage with 15-30 people is 18-21% So if Your Room does $100,000 for the month, you will pocket $240,000 per year. If You Do it by Yourself, Your profit margin increases to 50-70% so if You do $15,000 for the Month (By Yourself), You will pocket 90-108k a Year (Not bad with no Headaches of managing Employees, E.T.C.)
Stability, Stop worrying if your company is going to close down next week.
Get in Now, Before it’s to late! There is speculation and very good reason to believe that this industry will soon be further Regulated. talks about a company # cap and Bond prices being Raised to $100,000.00
Low Cost Start up Business. Most Small businesses cost between 5-20k to get started. A auto transport Brokerage costs less than $2,000.00 (Minus 1st month Lead costs)

COSTS:
BMC-85 (1 yearBOND)                                                                  $1,000.00 
Corporation Fee’s (1 Year)                                                              $100.00
OP-1 (1 Year Operating Authority)                                                 $300.00
Website                                                                                            $500.00
Phones (per month)                                                                          $100.00
_______________________________________________________________
                                                                                                          $2,000.00

F.A.Q.’s


Q. I Signed a non compete, and I’m worried if I start my own company, will I get sued?

A. Not Likely, Most states, Like Florida are “RIGHT TO WORK STATES” Meaning It is very difficult to Prosecute You on this allegation.  and It would cost the owner 2-3k of which at the end of the day, He’s to cheap to Spend it. If Your really worried, start the company under a loved one’s name and change Your last name.

Q. I won’t make money If I Don’t have a long, positive history with www.transportreviews.com

A. Wrong, 95% of the people on the site, “transport reviews” are Brokers like Yourself, all the sponsored company’s is Really pathetic B.S. It’s best to ignore transport reviews all together. Don’t make the mistake of adding a link to transport reviews from your web site. This is the root of the problem. This increases Transport Reviews ranking in Google.

Q. How will I make it as a Start up Company?
A. Simple, treat the customer right and don’t take their money if You did not move their car. To this day, if the customer calls up and complains, even after it was delivered, I in most cases refund their money to avoid Complaints everywhere and charge backs, I have had 2 charge backs in the last 3 years! How many did Your company have last week alone...

Q. Why Are You Giving Me this Valuable Information

A. I Sat in a Cubicle, at 3 companies, Here’s what happened...

COMPANY A: Worked from home, for a company that payed me 20% Found out Most Companies pay 30-35%
COMPANY B: Got SUED for mis-representation and fraud, They still owe me $1400.00, Ill never see that.
COMPANY C: Merchant account got frozen, shut down, Owed me $2700.00, Ill never see that.

With over $4k owed to Me I was Furious, I borrowed $2500.00 from a family member and got up and running, Right away!

Today, I run a very Successful Brokerage, with me and 2 people I Brought from Company C. Last week We did $5700.00 and I Kept More than half of that.

Thank You For reading and Good Luck

-Anonymous