6. Not able/willing to provide proof of their operating license.

When a company is not happy to provide you with such proof, it usually means one of these:

• They do not have one, therefore they are not authorized to operate.
• They may have had their license revoked and may try to operate from another identity.
• They are not happy with you checking their credentials.

The operating license for auto transport companies comes in the form of a USDOT number and/or MC number granted by FMCSA. You can use these or the company name to check if they are specifically authorized to ship cars, or to view safety and insurance information about the carrier on www.safersys.org.

7. Not willing to provide proof of their insurance policy, or their contract in a timely manner.

There are auto transport carriers that will introduce you to their contract when they show up at your door for the pick-up. This may be a recipe for disaster.

The contract that you sign is the one document to which auto transport companies will refer, any disputes should arrive. A quick read before your car's departure is an uninspired way of playing with the fire.

Keep in mind that you will most likely have questions regarding the contract, and the driver at your door may not be the best one to answer them. If you refuse to sign the contract at this point, you may still have to pay a certain amount of money for the trouble that you caused. Who says that? Well, it's in the contract.

Do not work with a company that is not willing to hand you their contract before you are bound by any obligations.

Keep the same open eye on the insurance policies. At your requst, the auto transport company is required to provide a Certificate of Insurance, on which you can then pour and learn about what might happen in case of damages or theft.

As a rule, obtain every promise in writing.

8. No address, no physical location.

Yes, nowadays a company may build a good name while operating from a home office right across the CEO living room. There are some legitimate companies that do just that. In this case, don't forget to check if the address is valid or is just a fictitious one.

Be skeptical if a company is not willing to make public their business address. You have less chances to be disappointed by a company that owns a door you can knock at, than by one whose presence on the screen of your monitor and the empty walls of your wallet is the only one they care to build.

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