Auto shippers deal with cancellations every day. Cancellations stem from a number of reasons, but the vast majority of the time auto shippers have to cancel orders because of something that a customer has done. Customers can cause major problems for auto shippers if they aren't completely honest or up-front with auto shippers about their shipments, so if you're a customer, make sure that any auto shippers you are dealing with know all the details regarding your vehicle.

The most common reason for auto shipper's cancellations is that a customer's plans have changed. Many times auto shippers will let customers know that a pickup date is not guaranteed, but customers tend to think that pickup dates are, in fact, guaranteed, which can raise problems for auto shippers because if a customer is expecting their vehicle to be picked up on a certain date, and auto shippers are still within the pickup window that the customer was given, the customer is going to be upset.

Customers also tend to misrepresent their vehicles to the auto shippers. The most common form of misrepresentation is misrepresenting the size of the vehicle. If you are shipping a duly pickup truck with a six inch lift, the auto shippers need to know that in order to get you accurate quotes. If their quotes are for a regular pickup, and you're shipping a monster, auto shippers won't be able to move your vehicle because it requires a special type of auto shipper to move it. Most likely, a truck of that size requires a flatbed truck, and while auto shippers know this, customers don't, so it's important to give the auto shippers all dimensions of the vehicle if it is something that is large or what is considered by auto shippers to be oversized.

Yet another reason why customers cancel on their auto shippers is that customers move pickup dates around. Even though auto shippers give pickup windows to customers, and not guaranteed dates, customers still try and move their dates around on the auto shippers, which causes problems. If your auto shipper calls you and tells you your pickup window, and you tell your auto shipper that you have to change it, it requires more time to find new auto shippers to actually move your vehicle (in terms of the brokerage finding a carrier). Many customers don't realize that it takes more time, and then the auto shippers are told by the customers to cancel because it is taking too long to move the vehicle.

Just let your auto shippers know if anything has to change prior to pickup, and especially let your auto shippers know if you have an oversized vehicle. Small cars, such as sedans, you don't need to worry about, but if your vehicle is a duly pickup or a box truck (or larger), let your auto shippers know, and be sure to have the dimensions ready for your auto shippers.