Yes! I went through the exact same mess with a broker back in 2022, car came in 4 days late and the guy wanted cash on the spot before he would even unload it (total nightmare, never again). What finally worked for me was pulling DOT numbers off the FMCSA site and calling the carriers myself, same as you, and asking two questions right away: is this your own truck or are you brokering it out, and do you take a card at delivery. Turns out a lot of the "carriers" on those quote sites are just brokers themselves wearing a different hat, which is why the price jumps once you book. Calling direct on my last move saved me around $150 and the driver actually texted me the morning of pickup instead of ghosting. Brokers can make sense if you have zero time to make calls, but for most normal moves you are just paying a middleman to do five minutes of googling.