One of the terms I had to introduce when I taught Managerial Economics was fungible. That is a term that we used to note a generic-type product that’s all the same, like wheat or milk, where it’s hard to get a premium price for your product.
Are car-hauling services fungible? If you are putting up hauling quotes to the lowest bidder, you’re essentially saying yes. That can get you into trouble if you don’t know who’s shipping your car.
Here’s an interesting and well-written piece from Automotive News, where they look a bit more in depth into the rash of thefts by people posing as car haulers. In one Memphis case, the thief walked into a Lexus dealership with a legit-looking bill of lading and got handed the keys to the van in question. In other cases, the thieves posed as legitimate car haulers, using real USDOT numbers of the target firm, and put in winning bids for hauling on auction sites.
Of the two big auctioneers, Manheim has been hit by the scammers but Adesa has yet to be hit. However, that may be as much luck as skill, as Manheim would be the most likely target, having half of the auction market; they might be targeted much as Outlook is targeted for e-mail viruses.
There is a lesson here on car transport; not all haulers are created equal. A low bid might be from a very good but young firm, or a fly-by-night carrier with questionable quality or an outright scam who will take your newly-purchased car on a long cruise to Russia.
Source:http://www.autonews.com/article/20091221/R.../312219958/1078
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