Car shipping cost quote calculator

Truck availability closely correlates with market demand. When there are fewer trucks in an area, demand tends to spike. Conversely, when more trucks are available, demand gradually decreases.

Though distance is a logical pricing factor, it is less significant than market demand. Busy short major routes can sometimes have illogically high prices, while longer major routes might have lower prices. Ultimately, market demand dictates prices.

Bulkier and heavier vehicles generally cost more to transport than smaller and lighter ones. Due to height and weight restrictions, each truck is dispatched to optimize its load capacity to the maximum allowed, maximizing profits. Truckers and dispatchers aim to avoid as many empty slots on a trailer as possible.

Transporting expensive exotics, classics, and custom vehicles typically costs more. We usually recommend enclosed car shipping, which is 40-60% more expensive than open car transport.

Non-running vehicles are more challenging to handle, requiring special equipment like winches for loading and unloading. Managing these vehicles takes significantly more time, and as we know, time is money.

Summer is the most popular time to ship a car, which means you can expect to pay more to ship your vehicle during this time of year. Holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year are also costlier times to ship a car.

It is possible to avoid paying these higher costs by avoiding peak seasons and only shipping your vehicles during off-peak times, such as the fall or winter.

This is one factor that’s entirely out of your control. Nevertheless, the fuel cost at the pumps can inflate the cost of shipping your vehicle. To circumvent this issue, keep a close eye on fuel prices and avoid shipping your car when fuel prices are high.

We can provide expedited/express car transport, but it is more expensive. Let’s explain how it works so you can better understand the reason for the high price.

It costs more because it prioritizes delivering your vehicle as quickly as possible and gets priority for pick-up. The standard timeline is 5 to 7 days, but express or expedited car transport cuts the pick-up time to 1 or 2 business days.

In the auto transport industry, guaranteed car pick-up servicesensures that a carrier picks up your vehicle on a specified date, usually within a 24-hour window. To offer this service, companies allocate carriers in your area ahead of time, which incurs additional costs.

While it provides peace of mind and is beneficial if you have a schedule to keep, it does come at a slightly higher price than standard car shipping.

We offer this service for an extra premium. Contact us for more details.

• Open car transport: Approximately 90-95% of car shipping trucks are open carriers, resulting in greater availability and cheaper rates. While the vehicle is exposed to the elements and may get dirty, dusty, or snowy, it remains perfectly safe. Even brand-new vehicles are transported from manufacturing plants to dealerships using open car transport.
• Enclosed car shipping: This method protects the vehicle from the elements but has less truck availability. We recommend it for exotics, classics, and custom vehicles. Due to the higher cost, it is not the preferred method for regular day-to-day vehicles.

Prices can vary for different locations within the same area. For instance, islands in the Seattle area or Long Island in New York may incur additional costs for ferries and bridge fees or involve time-consuming access, such as ports. However, these charges depend primarily on the demand.

Any customer request beyond our default service is considered an extra service. Examples include top-load vehicle placement, transporting extra items, or scheduling a limited pick-up window (guaranteed pick-up date), among others.

While we aim to keep our prices competitive with market demand, you may qualify for various discounts, such as military, student, or returning customer discounts. Contact us to claim your discount.