The price-subject-to-change clause in a car shipping contract

Read the price-subject-to-change clause for one fact. Can the price move after a carrier is assigned, or only before? That sentence is the offer. The dollar figure above it is real only to the extent the sentence allows. Contracts do not share one official paragraph. This page tells you how to find yours. It does not invent a clause and call it standard. It is general information, not legal advice.

Two sentences, and how to tell them apart#

Type one. The price is an offer to find a carrier. It can change until a carrier accepts the load at that price. After the carrier is named and the price is confirmed, later changes need a reason the contract already lists, such as a vehicle that does not run, a different address, or a date you moved.

Type two. The price can change after a carrier is assigned. Sometimes the words are "until pickup," "until dispatch," or "at any time before delivery." Sometimes they are only "prices subject to change." If you cannot find a sentence that locks the number when the carrier is named, assume type two and ask them to show you the lock.

Ask for the sentence in an email if the contract is a scan. "It is in the terms" is not the sentence. A heading that says "estimate" on page one, and a lock on page three, can still be type one. Read both.

Household-goods moves use binding and non-binding estimates under a different set of rules. A car on a trailer is not that product just because a salesperson uses the word estimate. The glossary entry binding estimate warns against importing mover rules. Use the car paragraph in front of you.

What a fair type-one clause lets you do#

Once a carrier accepts, you should receive the carrier's legal name, USDOT or MC number, and the price that carrier accepted. Check the name the way FMCSA authority describes. If the company then wants a higher price, the reason should be one the contract listed, and it should be a change in the job, not "the market moved." If the reason is not in the contract, you are being offered a new deal. You can say no.

The cancellation line has to support that no. If you reject a price the contract did not allow, the deposit should return the way the cancellation section describes. Get that path in writing before you pay. Same card is the path you can see on a statement. A promise of a later check is a path you have to chase. How to ask for a deposit back is the chase, and it does not promise success.

What a type-two clause means for the deposit#

If the price can move after you pay, the deposit is buying a place in line, not a rate. That can be an honest product if they say so before you pay. It is the bait pattern if they called the first number a price, took a non-refundable deposit, and then produced a higher number when a truck was actually available. The Better Business Bureau's July 21, 2023 alert says an unrealistically low price is a red flag because it is how the deposit is collected. Pair that warning with this clause. A low number that the contract lets them replace is not a low price. It is a lead-in.

The longer pattern is bait-and-switch quotes. If you already paid, read the price jumped after the deposit before you send the difference. People pay the new number because the car has to move. The contract, not the calendar panic, says whether you can cancel instead.

Put their number in the quote checker before you accept a type-two clause. If it sits far under the range, the chance of a second number is the thing you are evaluating. The range is RideShipper's estimate. It is not a clause in their contract, and it does not freeze their price.

A few phrases and what to ask next#

• "Subject to change." Ask, "After you name the carrier, can it still change, yes or no?"
• "Based on carrier availability." Ask, "When a carrier says yes, is this the price, yes or no?"
• "Fuel surcharge may apply." Ask for the formula, the index, and the date it is measured. A named formula is narrower than a blank check.
• "Final price at dispatch." That is type two, said clearly. Decide if you will pay a deposit for a price that arrives later.

If a broker is the one explaining the clause, remember 49 CFR 371.7. The broker may not present itself as the carrier. The carrier that accepts the load is the one whose "yes" should freeze a type-one price. Get that name. FMCSA's 2015 advisory says to know which role you are dealing with before you rely on the website.

The surrounding contract, including personal items and the cargo limit, is how to read a car shipping contract. Moments when a price commonly moves, including a missed window or a car that was not as described, are listed in when the price changes after you book.