History and Legacy of MoveCars.com: 28 Years of the Online Car Shipping Marketplace

Origins of MoveCars.com (1997)

MoveCars.com was born in the early days of the consumer internet. The domain was first registered on May 19, 1997 – making it one of the earliest online resources dedicated to auto transport. Wayne Harris, an entrepreneur based in San Diego, founded the site under the corporate name 1st Auto Transport Directory, Inc.. Harris’s motivation came from personal experience: after needing to ship his own car cross-country, he realized how difficult it was to find reliable car carriers. This inspired him to create an innovative platform to better connect auto shippers with carriers and brokers. In essence, MoveCars.com started as a simple online directory of car transport companies, aiming to bring what was then a phone-and-fax industry into the digital age.

From the outset, Wayne Harris served as founder and president, guiding MoveCars.com’s growth through the late 1990s and 2000s. He envisioned a one-stop hub where anyone could “move cars” with ease – hence the memorable domain name. The site listed auto transporters by type and location, quickly becoming a go-to resource for consumers and dealerships alike. By putting information online, Harris’s directory began replacing traditional Yellow Pages for car shipping services. This early mover advantage in 1997 gave MoveCars.com a strong foundation as internet usage grew. Harris’s leadership and vision in those formative years set the stage for a much larger impact on the auto transport industry in decades to come. (As of this writing, Harris himself keeps a low public profile. After selling MoveCars.com, he stepped back from day-to-day industry roles, having left a lasting legacy through the platform he created.)

Building a Digital Auto Transport Network

What started as a directory soon expanded into a full-fledged digital network for auto transport logistics. In the late 1990s, Harris’s company introduced CentralDispatch.com, a groundbreaking load board and marketplace for vehicle shipping. Launched around 1999, Central Dispatch allowed car dealers, brokers, and other shippers to post vehicles needing transport and connect with thousands of independent carriers online. This was a transformative shift – instead of countless phone calls to find a trucker, dealers and brokers could find a carrier with a few clicks. By 2012, CentralDispatch.com had over 13,000 subscribed carriers and brokers on its platform, cementing its status as the central marketplace for auto transport in North America.

In the mid-2000s, the network grew further with jTracker, a web-based Transportation Management and CRM system for auto transport brokers. Debuting around 2005, jTracker provided brokers tools to manage leads, quotes, orders, payments, and dispatching all in one interface. Crucially, it was integrated with Central Dispatch – brokers could seamlessly post orders to the load board and update customers through jTracker. This level of automation and integration was unprecedented in the industry at the time. It digitized every step of the vehicle shipping process, bringing efficiency and transparency to an industry that previously relied on paper, faxes, and phone calls.

Together, MoveCars.com (the consumer directory), CentralDispatch (the dealer/broker-carrier marketplace), and jTracker (the broker management tool) formed an innovative end-to-end ecosystem. A customer needing to ship a car could find a vetted transport company via MoveCars.com; the broker could manage the order in jTracker; and the vehicle would be posted and matched with a carrier on Central Dispatch. This ecosystem greatly streamlined auto transport logistics across the U.S. and Canada. Dealers moving trade-in vehicles or auction purchases, for example, found they could source transport in hours instead of days. By the early 2010s, Harris’s suite of services had become the backbone of the online car shipping marketplace, widely adopted by professional auto shippers and trusted by consumers nationwide.

(Technical evolution note: jTracker remained a key broker tool for over 15 years. It was eventually retired in 2022 when Central Dispatch migrated users to a new CRM partner, marking the end of an era for the original platform . CentralDispatch, however, continues to thrive as “America’s largest auto transportation marketplace,” now with modernized features and mobile apps, under its current ownership.)

Acquisition by Dealertrack (2012)

By 2012, the success of MoveCars.com and its sister platforms caught the attention of larger automotive technology companies. Dealertrack Technologies, a leading provider of dealer management software and services, saw strategic value in adding vehicle transport solutions to its portfolio. In July 2012, Dealertrack announced an agreement to acquire 1st Auto Transport Directory, Inc. – including MoveCars.com, CentralDispatch.com, and jTracker – for approximately $74 million. The acquisition was finalized that August, bringing the San Diego-based company into the Dealertrack family.

Dealertrack’s CEO at the time, Mark O’Neil, explained the rationale behind the purchase. “Similar to our other network solutions, the acquisition of 1st Auto Transport supports our mission to be the leader in driving efficiency in the automotive retailing industry,” O’Neil noted, “1st Auto helps dealers source and dispose of vehicles in a more timely and cost effective manner.” In Dealertrack’s vision, adding a transportation network filled a crucial gap in the dealership workflow. They already offered inventory management, financing, and sales software – now they could offer dealer-to-dealer vehicle logistics as well. CentralDispatch complemented Dealertrack’s suite by allowing dealers to ship cars anywhere coast-to-coast with ease, alongside their other services.

As part of the deal, MoveCars.com continued operating as an online advertising directory for auto transport services, providing leads and exposure to transport companies. Wayne Harris, as the outgoing founder, stated that “by joining Dealertrack, we will be able to extend our network into more automotive dealerships than ever before”, highlighting that the partnership would make it easier for dealers to ship vehicles nationwide. In essence, the acquisition validated the importance of what Harris had built: it showed that auto transport had become a vital component of the automotive e-commerce ecosystem, enough that a public tech company invested tens of millions to own that capability.

MoveCars.com Joins Cox Automotive (2015)

Just a few years later, the ownership of MoveCars.com changed again as part of an even larger deal. In 2015, Cox Automotive – the conglomerate behind AutoTrader, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim Auctions, and other major automotive services – entered into an agreement to acquire Dealertrack in its entirety. The deal was valued at a massive $4 billion (all-cash), and closed in the fall of 2015. This acquisition meant that MoveCars.com and the Central Dispatch network became part of Cox Automotive’s portfolio, aligning them with some of the biggest brands in the auto industry.

For Cox Automotive, bringing Dealertrack (and by extension MoveCars.com) under its umbrella was about providing a complete end-to-end solution for dealerships and car buyers. Cox’s official announcement highlighted the goal of combining two industry leaders to create “a broader suite of open solutions that deliver greater value to consumers, dealers, lenders and manufacturers.” With the purchase, Cox gained Dealertrack’s dealer software as well as the vehicle transport network. This fit naturally with Cox’s existing businesses – for instance, Manheim (the nation’s largest wholesale auto auction network) could now offer integrated transportation via CentralDispatch or full-service logistics via Cox’s Ready Logistics unit. Indeed, by joining Cox, Central Dispatch gained unmatched scale and resources in 2015 to help customers ship across the country with ease.

Under Cox Automotive’s stewardship, MoveCars.com has continued its legacy as a prominent online directory for car shipping. The site today emphasizes trust and experience, billing itself as “the #1 directory for car moving, car shipping, auto transport of any kind”. It remains a free resource for consumers to find reputable transport companies, now backed by the data and security standards of a Fortune 500 parent. Meanwhile, CentralDispatch.com operates as a self-service logistics platform within Cox, connecting thousands of shippers and carriers every day. The core mission Harris started – “to help you move cars with convenience and confidence” – has endured through these transitions. MoveCars.com’s integration into a major corporate family is a testament to its lasting importance in the automotive logistics landscape.

Legacy and Impact in the Online Car Shipping Marketplace

Over the past 28 years (1997–2025), MoveCars.com and its related services have played a defining role in the evolution of the car shipping industry. In the late 90s, arranging an auto transport was often a leap of faith involving little more than phone calls and classifieds. MoveCars.com changed that by introducing transparency and aggregation – consumers and businesses could finally browse a directory of auto transporters, check credentials, and request quotes online. This dramatically lowered the barrier to shipping a vehicle cross-country. It’s no coincidence that the rise of MoveCars.com paralleled the growth of online car sales on platforms like eBay Motors (launched 1999) – suddenly, buying a car out-of-state became practical because you could find a shipper online to deliver it to your door.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, MoveCars.com remained a stalwart in a rapidly growing digital marketplace for auto transport. Dozens of new lead generation websites and brokerages emerged as internet commerce boomed, yet MoveCars.com kept its niche as the industry’s most trusted directory. Its long-running presence gave it strong search engine visibility and a reputation for reliability. Auto transport companies sought listings on MoveCars.com for the exposure, and customers knew to “tell your car shipping company you found them on MoveCars.com!” as the site encouraged. In an industry sometimes plagued by fly-by-night operators, MoveCars.com’s longevity and association with the Central Dispatch network lent credibility to those listed there.

On the logistics side, the legacy of Central Dispatch (the MoveCars.com sister platform) is equally profound. It became the de facto marketplace for vehicle logistics – described as “the largest, most seamless, end-to-end automotive transport marketplace” by industry experts – bringing efficiency and scale that transformed dealer operations. Today, virtually every professional auto broker and many dealerships use an online load board (if not CentralDispatch, then a competitor modeled after it) to arrange transport, a practice that traces directly back to the innovation Harris introduced in 1999. The network effect he kickstarted means faster vehicle turnarounds for dealerships, lower empty miles for carriers, and ultimately better prices for consumers shipping cars. In short, MoveCars.com and its network ushered the car shipping business into the digital era, setting standards that are now taken for granted.

As of 2025, MoveCars.com continues to operate as a living piece of internet automotive history – 28 years strong and still connecting people with car moving solutions. It is evolving to serve a new generation of users, offering informative blog content, a refreshed user experience, and a renewed commitment to trust and transparency. Now independently operated, the platform maintains the simple, user-friendly approach that made it popular. Its legacy is reflected in every online auto transport quote form, every broker CRM system, and every load board posting used today. From a single idea sparked by Wayne Harris’s need to move a car, an entire online ecosystem grew. MoveCars.com’s story is not just about a website, but about how an industry was reshaped – making long-distance vehicle shipping easier, more efficient, and more accessible for millions of Americans.

Key Milestones Timeline (1997–2025)

• May 19, 1997: MoveCars.com domain is registered; Wayne Harris founds 1st Auto Transport Directory, Inc. in San Diego.
• 1999: Launch of CentralDispatch.com, a first-of-its-kind online load board connecting auto dealers/brokers with transport carriers.
• 2005: Introduction of jTracker, a web-based CRM for auto transport brokers, streamlining lead and dispatch management (jTracker would serve the industry until its retirement in 2022).
• July 19, 2012: Dealertrack announces agreement to acquire 1st Auto Transport Directory (MoveCars.com/CentralDispatch/jTracker) for $74 million, citing the need to enhance dealer efficiency in vehicle logistics.
• August 1, 2012: The acquisition by Dealertrack closes, bringing MoveCars.com and its network under a large dealer software provider. Wayne Harris exits after 15 years at the helm, having built a network of 13,000+ transport professionals online.
• June 15, 2015: Cox Automotive (owner of AutoTrader, Manheim, etc.) announces a $4 billion deal to acquire Dealertrack, including the MoveCars.com/CentralDispatch network. The deal combines Cox’s automotive reach with Dealertrack’s technology to form an end-to-end solution.
• Q3 2015: MoveCars.com and Central Dispatch officially become part of Cox Automotive, gaining expanded resources and integration with services like Manheim and Ready Logistics.
• Jan 1, 2022: The original jTracker platform is retired as Central Dispatch transitions users to a new system (marking a shift to next-generation transport CRM tools).
• 2025: MoveCars.com celebrates 28 years online. Now branded as “the most trusted Auto Transport Directory,” it continues helping customers find car shipping companies anywhere, anytime – hassle-free, upholding the legacy of the first online car shipping marketplace.

Sources: Industry press releases, automotive news outlets, and company publications have documented MoveCars.com’s journey – from Wayne Harris’s founding of 1st Auto Transport Directory in 1997, through its acquisition by Dealertrack in 2012, to joining Cox Automotive in 2015. The technical advancements of Central Dispatch and jTracker have been covered in trade publications, highlighting their impact on modern auto transport. MoveCars.com’s current role and historical significance are evidenced by its longstanding reputation in the market and testimonials from early industry participants. Together, these sources paint a comprehensive picture of MoveCars.com’s enduring legacy in the car shipping world.

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