I think her situation is that she's called several "legitimate" auto transporters, and they all want over $1500 to do the job.
The person she's in contact with now is somebody that responded to an ad on Yesterdays Tractor and is probably your typical car/truck/tractor nut who has some free time and is down with making a few bucks.
For the average Joe just picking up side work, they can't afford to drive 700 miles with a truck on the back just to get stiffed.. sure they still have the persons truck on the back of their trailor, but that isn't doing them any good when they got a 700 mile trip back and $35 in their pocket.
You roll the dice when you buy any service from a private individual.. hell, you roll the dice when you buy a service from ANYBODY you've never dealt with before.
If refrences check out, and they're willing to put something on paper, you can save alot of money and help a person out all at the same time.
I assume this cat is going to haul this truck on a trailor.. you'll need to check with him to see if the vehicle needs to be in running condition or not.. some folks will only pickup a vehicle if it can be driven up on the trailor.. others have an electric winch or "come along" that they can pull it up on the trailor with.
All the hoists i've seen can be lowered with the engine off.. just hit the release lever and down it goes.. but if this truck has been sitting for awhile, it could be stuck (i.e. rusted cylinder arms, preventing it from going down)
You'd be well advised to have somebody locally make sure that hoist is going to drop before you send this guy out there to pick it up.
I've found that just about any 6V tractor battery available from local TSC or other farm stores works just fine with old bolts.. but again, if this truck has been sitting some time, don't expect to be able to just drop a new battery in and have it fire up and run.
Typical problem areas with dormant vehicles include corroded/shot battery cables, rotten/bad fuel in the tank, and/or crud in the tank (rust, leaves, dirt, etc)
Another thing that happens with vehicles that have sat for along time is the wheels get stuck. Usually because of rust. At the very least, your transport guy is going to require the truck be able to roll.
Regardless of who you use for transport, it's a good idea to have a man (or woman) on the ground at the pickup location to make sure things are cool with the truck and to verify the vehicle has been picked up, and by whom.
Remember you're paying the transport person to move the vehicle.. not fix it or get it running or prep it for shipping.
