The True Cost of Shipping a Car from Auction to Port: A 2026 Breakdown
Moving a standard vehicle from a US auction to an export port typically costs a carrier rate of $175 for hauls under 100 miles, $250 at 101–250 miles, $325 at 251–500 miles, $525 at 501–800 miles, $550 at 801–1,200 miles and $650 beyond 1,200 miles. Those are medians measured on standard-vehicle auction pickups that Y7 Logistics, a Licensed & Bonded FMCSA Broker (MC #1741537, USDOT #4427359), dispatched through Central Dispatch in February–September 2026; 97% of them were delivered to four export hubs: Newark / Irvington NJ, Savannah GA, Los Angeles CA and Houston TX. The figures are carrier rates only. They exclude Copart or IAA buyer fees and storage, the Y7 dispatch fee, which is charged separately, and everything after the export hub: ocean freight, destination port handling and import duties. These figures describe February–September 2026, not a quote: carrier prices are not fixed, and they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability.
The rest of this page shows where those numbers come from, what else an exporter pays on the US leg and to whom, and where Y7’s data stops. If you want to book the transport rather than research it, the auction-to-port page covers the service itself.
What auction-to-port transport costs, by distance
Distance from the auction yard to the export warehouse is the main driver of auction to port transport cost, and the median carrier rate rises from $175 under 100 miles to $650 beyond 1,200 miles in Y7’s own auction-to-port dispatch data (February–September 2026). The table below gives the full grid. The median is the planning number: it is the middle load in each band, so a single unusual load cannot pull it the way it pulls an average. Half of all shipments in a band fall inside the typical range. These figures describe February–September 2026, not a quote: carrier prices are not fixed, and they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability.
| Haul distance | Median carrier rate | Typical range (25th–75th percentile) | Median per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 100 miles | $175 | $125–$200 | $2.72 |
| 101–250 miles | $250 | $230–$290 | $1.39 |
| 251–500 miles | $325 | $285–$375 | $0.93 |
| 501–800 miles | $525 | $500–$550 | $0.76 |
| 801–1,200 miles | $550 | $515–$600 | $0.61 |
| Over 1,200 miles | $650 | $600–$875 | $0.51 |
Excluding non-standard equipment did not move any band median. With the oversized vans, motorcycles and specialty-auction loads left in, all six medians are identical; only an average shifts (the 801–1,200 miles mean moves from $586 to $568). That is why the planning figure here is always the median.
Why the cost per mile falls as the haul gets longer
The per-mile rate on auction-to-port loads falls from $2.72 under 100 miles to $0.51 beyond 1,200 miles in Y7’s February–September 2026 dispatch data, because loading, paperwork and unloading cost the carrier the same on any run. On a short haul those fixed costs are spread over a few miles; on a long one they are spread over hundreds. The per-mile column is the median of each load’s rate divided by its own route miles, not a band median divided by an average distance.
Measured costs on six auction-to-port corridors
Six corridors of car transportation from auctions to port are reported on their own from Y7’s dispatch history. Each figure below is a median carrier rate from the same dispatch data (February–September 2026), with its median route distance, so the Copart to port cost on a familiar lane can be read directly rather than inferred from a distance band. These figures describe February–September 2026, not a quote: carrier prices are not fixed, and they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability.
| Corridor | Median route miles | Median carrier rate | Typical range (25th–75th percentile) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey auctions to the Newark / Irvington export warehouses | 35 | $125 | $120–$130 |
| California auctions to the Los Angeles export warehouses | 227 | $225 | $158–$325 |
| Dallas-area auctions to the Houston export warehouses | 249 | $243 | $225–$255 |
| Atlanta-area auctions to the Savannah export warehouses | 253 | $260 | $250–$275 |
| Northeast auctions to the New Jersey export warehouses | 256 | $330 | $300–$375 |
| Florida auctions to the Savannah export warehouses | 342 | $290 | $250–$325 |
How each corridor is defined, from the committed derivation script:
- New Jersey auctions to the Newark / Irvington export warehouses: New Jersey pickup and delivery, under 60 route miles.
- California auctions to the Los Angeles export warehouses: California pickup, delivery to the LA-area export warehouses.
- Dallas-area auctions to the Houston export warehouses: Texas pickup and delivery, 200–330 route miles.
- Atlanta-area auctions to the Savannah export warehouses: Delivery to the Savannah-area export warehouses, 200–330 route miles.
- Northeast auctions to the New Jersey export warehouses: Pickup in NY, CT, MA, PA, RI or NH, delivery in New Jersey, 200–450 route miles.
- Florida auctions to the Savannah export warehouses: Florida pickup, delivery to the Savannah-area export warehouses.
New Jersey has its own dataset. For the full Newark and Irvington grid, measured on a separate set of dispatches (27 August 2025 to 23 July 2026) with its own method, see the New Jersey export warehouse cost methodology.
The full US-leg cost stack, and who charges each line
The cost to ship a car from auction to port is not one number: on the US leg an exporter pays the auction, then the carrier, then the broker, in that order, plus auction storage if the car is not collected in time. Each line below names who sets the charge. The carrier rate and the Y7 dispatch fee are always invoiced as separate lines and are never combined into one price.
1. Auction purchase and buyer fees (charged by Copart)
Copart charges the buyer its own fees on top of the winning bid, under Copart’s published fee schedule, not Y7’s. Copart’s schedule includes a gate fee of $79 for a clean-title vehicle and $95 for a salvage or other non-clean title, and it varies by yard. Payment is due within three business days including sale day, and Copart charges a $50 late fee after that. Y7 coordinates the gate pass with the carrier; it does not purchase it.
2. The storage clock (charged by Copart)
Copart storage starts after a three-day complimentary window that begins on sale day, and Copart publishes no national storage rate. Across the yards Y7 ships from, storage typically runs $40–60 per day once that window closes; that range is Y7’s observation, and Copart sets the exact rate per yard. Weekends count toward the clock. This is why transport timing matters to cost: every day between the end of the free window and the carrier’s pickup is a day of storage. The full Copart storage fee rules and examples are on their own page.
3. The inland carrier rate (charged by the carrier)
The carrier rate is the price the carrier charges to collect the vehicle at the auction and deliver it to the export warehouse, and it is the figure measured in the tables above: medians of $175 to $650 by distance in Y7’s dispatch data for February–September 2026, which move with fuel prices, season and driver availability. It covers the carrier reaching the auction, loading, the line haul and unloading. Cargo insurance in transit is the carrier’s. Y7 assigns each load to a carrier from a network of 900+, and before each dispatch checks the carrier’s FMCSA operating authority, its current certificate of insurance, its Central Dispatch reviews and history, the assigned driver’s licence and that driver’s direct number.
4. The Y7 dispatch fee (charged by Y7)
Y7 Logistics charges a flat dispatch fee per vehicle, separate from the carrier rate and never added into it. Exporters pay $50 per vehicle, with handling of the carrier payment included. Dealers pay $50 per vehicle, or $60 when Y7 pays the carrier on their behalf. Individuals pay the greater of $75 or 10% of the carrier price. There is no spread and no markup on the carrier rate: the carrier rate you see is the rate the carrier is paid. How the exporter account works, including funding and carrier payments, is set out on the Y7 exporter services page.
5. Adjustments that change the carrier rate
The measured rates describe a standard vehicle collected at an auction yard and delivered to an export warehouse or port. Four things move the carrier rate away from them:
- Non-auction pickup. Collecting from a dealer lot, a body shop or a residence instead of an auction yard adds about $70 per vehicle to the carrier rate (measured on Y7’s New Jersey export-warehouse dispatches, 27 August 2025 to 23 July 2026).
- Non-port delivery. Delivering somewhere other than an export warehouse or port adds roughly $70–150 to the carrier rate, depending on the location.
- A non-running or severely damaged vehicle. A car that does not drive onto the trailer needs winch-capable or forklift-capable equipment and costs more on the carrier side. See the section on salvage vehicles below.
- Non-standard equipment. Oversized cargo vans, motorcycles and specialty-auction vehicles were left out of the measured data because they need different equipment, and they are priced on their own.
None of these adjustments is fixed either: carrier prices spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability, so treat each figure as a guide, not a quote.
For where each of these lines can be trimmed, the auction transport savings breakdown goes line by line.
A worked illustration of the stack (not a real shipment)
This is an illustration, not a real shipment: it shows how the lines above sit side by side for a hypothetical salvage-title car bought at a Copart yard about 366 route miles from an export warehouse, which is the median distance of the 251–500 miles band. Each line is paid to a different party and is shown separately. No line is added to another.
- Copart gate fee, charged by Copart: $95 for a salvage title under Copart’s schedule (varies by yard).
- Copart storage, charged by Copart: nothing if the car leaves within the three-day complimentary window from sale day; typically $40–60 for each day after it, in Y7’s observation.
- Carrier rate, charged by the carrier: a median of $325, with half of comparable loads between $285–$375 (February–September 2026; prices move with fuel, season and driver availability). A non-running car costs more on this line.
- Y7 dispatch fee, charged by Y7: $50 for an exporter account, invoiced as its own line.
- Ocean freight, destination handling and duties: not measured by Y7 and not estimated here. Your freight forwarder and the destination country set them.
Shipping salvage cars overseas: what changes for damaged and non-running vehicles
Most auction vehicles bought for export are salvage or damaged, and what changes for them on the US leg is the loading equipment and how honestly the condition is declared, not the route. A car that rolls but does not start is usually pulled up the ramps by a hydraulic winch. A car with missing or seized wheels, or one that will not steer, usually has to be lifted by a forklift-capable carrier, and that pool of carriers is smaller.
Either way, non-running and severely damaged vehicles need winch-capable equipment and cost more on the carrier side than a car that drives onto the trailer. That difference is not measured here: Y7’s dispatch records carry no vehicle-condition field, and the sample was filtered by equipment type (vans, motorcycles, specialty auctions), not by whether the car ran. This page therefore quotes no figure for it. The salvage and non-running transport guide covers the equipment and the surcharge in detail.
Condition disclosure is what keeps the cost to ship a salvage car to port predictable. Declare at booking whether the car starts, rolls, steers and brakes, and share the auction’s condition report and photos. A car booked as running that turns out to need a winch at the yard can mean a truck without the right equipment, a second trip and more storage days at Copart.
How long before a carrier collects the car?
The transport clock starts when the auction releases the vehicle, and release depends on your payment clearing at the auction, which Y7 does not control. Once the load is posted, carrier assignment typically takes 1–2 days on active lanes. Pickup is typically 1–3 days from the moment the release slot is obtained, not from the purchase; busy Copart yards can put the earliest appointment 2–4 days out, and weather, season, weekends and carrier breakdowns can extend it further. Y7 does not promise a pickup date. Because Copart’s storage clock runs from sale day, paying promptly shortens the time a car can sit on storage.
What this data does not cover
Y7 Logistics measures the US inland leg only, from the auction yard to the export hub, and this dataset contains no ocean freight, destination port handling, import duty or registration costs. Those are set by your freight forwarder and by the destination country, and they vary by shipping line, season, container share and destination. Y7 does not quote them, and a figure borrowed from elsewhere would be the one unsourced number on this page.
The US leg itself is the same whatever the destination: Y7 customers ship to countries including Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Georgia in the Caucasus, and in every case Y7 hands the vehicle to the forwarder at the export hub. Which US port a forwarder routes a given destination through is the forwarder’s decision, and Y7 has no data on it. How the handoff to the forwarder works is covered on the exporter account page linked above, and the international buyer’s path from winning bid to destination port is covered in the Copart playbook for international buyers. Since 1 July 2026, US-built (US-made) vehicles enter the EU at 0% import duty instead of 10%, a zero tariff under the EU–US trade framework, set by Regulation (EU) 2026/1455, scheduled to run until 31 December 2029, provided the importer can prove US origin and direct transport. The regulation sets no title condition; in practice, exporters we work with have been told by EU customs that the 0% rate is applied to clean-title vehicles, and salvage and rebuilt titles have not qualified, which appears to vary by port of entry, so confirm with your customs broker. The Certificate of Origin page explains how Y7 assembles the proof of origin.
Methodology
The figures on this page come from Y7 Logistics’ own Central Dispatch Assigned Loads records for February–September 2026: priced loads delivered to export warehouses and ports. The period is the export window of that report as declared by the owner; the records carry no date column, so it is not derived from the data. 97% of the loads were delivered to four export hubs: Newark / Irvington NJ, Savannah GA, Los Angeles CA and Houston TX.
- Auction rule. A load counts as an auction pickup when the pickup facility is a Copart, IAAI or IAA yard.
- Zero-mile exclusions. Same-town loads recorded at zero route miles were left out, because a distance grid cannot place them.
- Non-standard equipment. Loads that need different equipment were excluded: oversized cargo vans, motorcycles and powersports vehicles, and loads from specialty auctions. What remains is standard vehicles. Excluding them does not move any band median.
- Percentiles. Medians and the 25th and 75th percentiles use linear interpolation (the PERCENTILE.INC method), rounded to the whole dollar.
- Per-mile rate. The median of each load’s rate divided by its own route miles within the band, reported next to the band’s median distance.
- Distance. Route miles as reported by Central Dispatch, not straight-line distance.
- Reproducibility. The published aggregate is regenerated by a committed script from the dispatch records. The aggregate holds statistics only: no load, vehicle, facility, customer, carrier or address data.
- Volatility. Rates reflect the February–September 2026 market. Carrier prices are not fixed: they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability, which move the base level by 10–15% over a year. The figures describe the period named, not a quote.
Figures describe dispatches from February–September 2026. This page was last updated on 24 September 2026, and the figures are refreshed as new dispatches accumulate.
Frequently asked questions
What does auction-to-port transport cost?
Measured on Y7 Logistics’ own dispatch data for February–September 2026 (standard vehicles picked up at auction and delivered to export warehouses and ports), the median carrier rate is $175 under 100 miles, $250 at 101–250 miles, $325 at 251–500 miles, $525 at 501–800 miles, $550 at 801–1,200 miles and $650 beyond 1,200 miles. These are carrier rates. The Y7 dispatch fee is charged separately. These figures describe February–September 2026, not a quote: carrier prices are not fixed, and they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability.
Why does cost per mile fall as the haul gets longer?
Loading, paperwork and unloading cost the carrier the same on any run, so on a short haul they are spread over a few miles and on a long haul over hundreds. In Y7’s own dispatch data for February–September 2026 the median per-mile rate falls from $2.72 under 100 miles to $0.51 beyond 1,200 miles. These figures describe February–September 2026, not a quote: carrier prices are not fixed, and they spike and dip with fuel prices, season and driver availability.
How long before a carrier collects the car?
The clock starts when the auction releases the vehicle, which depends on your payment clearing at the auction. Carrier assignment typically takes 1–2 days on active lanes. Pickup is typically 1–3 days from the moment the release slot is obtained, though busy Copart yards can put the earliest appointment 2–4 days out, and weather, season, weekends and carrier breakdowns can extend it further.
Does a salvage or non-running car cost more to move to the port?
Yes, on the carrier side. Non-running and severely damaged vehicles need winch-capable or forklift-capable equipment, and they carry a higher carrier rate than a car that drives onto the trailer. Y7’s dispatch records carry no vehicle-condition field, so that difference is not measured and this page quotes no figure for it.
Does an auction-to-port quote include ocean freight?
No. Y7 Logistics measures and arranges the US inland leg only, from the auction to the export hub where the vehicle is handed to your freight forwarder. Ocean freight, destination port handling, import duties and registration are set by the forwarder and the destination country.
What is not included in the carrier rate?
The carrier rate covers the carrier reaching the auction, loading, the line haul and unloading at the export warehouse. It does not include Copart or IAA buyer fees, auction storage, the Y7 dispatch fee, port or warehouse charges, container loading, export documentation, or ocean freight. Cargo insurance in transit belongs to the carrier.
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