Lead generators, brokers, and carriers
Three businesses sit between a search and a truck. A lead generator takes your request and introduces companies. A broker arranges an authorized carrier for pay. A carrier moves the car. RideShipper is a lead generator and comparison site. The contract, the deposit, and the bill of lading belong to the company you hire.
Key facts
- Broker, by statute
- A broker, other than a motor carrier or its employee or agent, arranges motor-carrier transportation for compensation.
- Source: 49 USC 13102(2), 2023 edition
- What is not brokerage by itself
- FMCSA's June 16, 2023 guidance says that publishing information about potential shippers, even for a fee, does not require broker authority if the publisher is not otherwise in the deal. The guidance is not a binding rule.
- Source: 88 FR 39368
- What a broker must not say
- A broker may not represent itself as a carrier. Advertising has to show broker status, in the registered name.
- Source: 49 CFR 371.7
- What RideShipper does
- It shows a price range before it asks for a phone number. A quote request then goes to licensed auto transport companies that serve the route. It does not set the price, take a deposit, or sign the bill of lading.
The sources are listed on this page.
A lead generator, a broker, and a carrier make three different promises. Mix them up and you will pay the wrong company, or wait for a truck the website never owned. RideShipper is the first one. It is a comparison and quote-request service owned by World Media Group LLC. It is not a broker and not a carrier.
Three promises
| Lead generator | Broker | Carrier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promise | We will show you a range and introduce companies | We will arrange an authorized carrier | We will move the car on our truck |
| Who pays them | The companies that receive the request | You, often a deposit, and sometimes the carrier side of the load | You, under the transport contract |
| Do they set the freight price | No | They quote a price, which a carrier may still have to accept | They quote the price for their own truck |
| Are they on the bill of lading | No | Usually not as the carrier | Yes, as the carrier that receives the car |
| Federal file | None for the introduction itself | Broker authority and a 75,000 dollar bond or trust | Carrier authority and public-liability insurance |
| What they must not say | That they ship the car or assign the truck | That they are the carrier | That a different company's authority is theirs |
The broker column is the regulated one. 49 USC 13102(2), in the 2023 Code edition, defines a broker as a person, other than a motor carrier or its employee or agent, that for compensation sells, offers, negotiates, or holds itself out as arranging transportation by motor carrier. 49 CFR 371.2 uses the same idea and adds that the carrier must be an authorized one. A carrier that arranges a shipment it is authorized to haul, and that it has accepted, is not a broker for that shipment.
49 CFR 371.7 says the broker may not represent its operations as those of a carrier, and advertising has to show broker status. 49 CFR 387.307 requires the 75,000 dollar bond (BMC-84) or trust (BMC-85). That bond is not cargo insurance. The carrier's public-liability filing is not cargo insurance either. Both of those readings are in broker versus carrier and insurance on file.
Where a comparison site fits
On June 16, 2023, FMCSA published guidance, 88 FR 39368. The document says it does not have the force of law. In it, FMCSA says that merely making information about potential shippers publicly available, whether or not a fee is charged, does not require broker authority, as long as the business is not otherwise involved in the transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier. Handling the freight money is strong evidence of brokerage. It is not required before something counts as brokerage, and it is a line RideShipper does not cross.
So the product is an introduction. You see a price range, with a date, before you type a phone number. That range is an estimate, not a quote from a carrier. If you want companies to contact you, you give your name, email, and phone and tick a consent box. Licensed auto transport companies that serve the route then contact you. RideShipper does not show a list of those companies beforehand, does not let you pick them, and does not say how many will respond. The screen-by-screen version is what RideShipper will not ask you to pay.
Those companies may pay RideShipper for the introduction. That is how the site is funded. It is disclosed on how RideShipper makes money. The contract, the deposit, and the bill of lading are between you and the company you hire. RideShipper does not appear on them. You can also ask for quotes by phone at (800) 989-8833, 24/7.
A form that asks for the phone number before it shows a price is a different product. People experience it as a burst of calls. That design is described in phone and text spam after a quote. Emailing yourself the range does not create a lead.
What you still have to ask the company that calls
The introduction does not check the contract for you. When a broker or carrier calls, ask who will be on the bill of lading, what the cargo limit is, and whether the price can change after a carrier is assigned. Look up the legal name before you pay. A lead is not a background check, which is the point of the lead glossary.
If the caller says "RideShipper assigned us your car," that sentence is false. RideShipper does not assign cars. If the caller says "pay RideShipper to lock the rate," that sentence is also false. RideShipper does not take the payment. Both lines are reasons to stop and use the company check on the name they give you.
The short comparison page is broker vs carrier. This page adds the third business, because that is the one people forget they just used.
Questions
If companies pay RideShipper, is RideShipper my broker?
No. A broker arranges the transportation. RideShipper introduces companies that may then offer you a contract. It does not negotiate the rate, assign the truck, hold the freight charge, or appear on the bill of lading. FMCSA's 2023 guidance treats a business that only makes shipper information available, even for a fee, as outside broker authority, if it stays out of the transaction.
Why did a broker call me after I used a comparison site?
Because the request was sent to companies, and many of those companies are brokers. The call is from them, not from the comparison site, unless the caller says otherwise and you can verify it. Ask for their legal name and look it up before you pay them.
Can a carrier also buy leads?
Yes. A carrier can receive a quote request and then haul the car itself. On that load it is the carrier, which is what 49 CFR 371.2 describes when a carrier arranges freight it is authorized to transport and has accepted. The contract should say so. If a different truck shows up, ask who the carrier is before you release the keys.
Does a lead mean I booked the shipment?
No. A lead is a request for quotes. It is not a bill of lading, not a deposit, and not a review. You book when you sign a company's contract and pay that company, if their terms require payment.