Currently swimming in the cesspool of the shipping world. I had forgotten how bad it was and shocked that even with modern technology that it isn't any better. I talked to Veritread and it turns out they are a middle man for the middle man. They get quotes from brokers that are getting quotes from the actual freight companies. I have also got a ton of quotes from the sleaze balls out of south Florida. The prices are all over the place. I am getting anywhere from $300-$1200 for 400 miles out of Montgomery Alabama.
Here is how I figure the process works. There are trucks running all over the US moving cars. If you ever take a look at any highway and pay attention to the number of car haulers you will be quite amazed that there are so many cars being shuttled around. A lot of these are new cars headed from ports to the dealers. There are also a fair amount heading from auctions. These are mostly contract transports, but a lot of these transports are one way. So to make money on the way back they look for extra loads. An empty truck doesn't make money. This is where the brokers come in. The middle man. The transporters don't have the time to deal with individuals so the brokers work off a board where they post loads available with an offer of what it will pay. This is an offer, not an auction. There is no bidding. If the bid is accepted the middle man asks for payment then puts you in contact with the actual shipper. Many are owner operators and you are then talking to the actual driver. The costs for this middleman's service is typically around $100. You really are getting nothing from this individual except the connection between you and the driver and the price they offered.
The only real value is that the broker should know about what a route should cost. This isn't rocket science because there is a operating cost of about $1.40 per mile national average, but what has to be figured in are factors like where you are starting from and where you are ending, tolls, traffic, size of the truck, etc. The popularity of the route is key. A shipment along i95 will cost a lot less than one from Backwoods WV to Corn Iowa. The brokers can look at what drivers are in the area and may be headed in that direction and offer up an extra load if it is worth their time. These guys like money so if your broker offers up a good price, they may bight.
Now the brokers tend to be a sleazy lot. There are a fair amount of these guys out of south florida that offer up very low prices to get you in. They don't disclose the process and will bait you with a low price and make it sound like it is no problem. They will ask for a deposit up front. This isn't a deposit, it is their fee. The post your silly low price and no one bights then tell you it will cost more. You are stuck with them at this point because you gave them money. You keep upping the price until it becomes attractive to a driver.
Once you have the deal you are at the mercy of the driver. This is where the fun begins because this guy is on his own schedule. He is a guy that drives a truck and they tend not to be the most social of people. He is working for cash and that is the motivation. If he feels he took a cheap load, you could get cheap load service. Lots of things can happen with the driver, and at this point your super friendly broker is long gone a you are stuck with the driver. If all goes well, you get your delivery and they expect cash. That is cash cash. Not cash check. Not credit card. They don't care about what you paid your broker. They want green backs. Sometimes they will try to shake you down for another $25 citing tolls or higher fuel prices.
This is what I have sorted out as a current price guide. Start with $2.00 per mile which is what most drivers are looking to get loaded. Increase that rate if your pick up or delivery is not near a major city. Decrease it if you are near a major city or going to a major city. Increase if you are flexible with your dates and times. Increase it if you have specifics like a certain day or time or has to be picked up on a military base. Basically the more cars they carry and the less time they spend getting loaded and unloaded then being able to get to their next load will get you the lowest price. Unless you can find 6 people that need a pick up in the exact same spot and delivered to the exact same sport you will probably not see anything less than a $1 per mile.
This is just my experience having shipped several vehicles over the past few years. I am sure there are those that got smoking $.75 per mile deals out there and those that paid more. Your results may vary.