How Much Does Car Shipping Cost?

Cost by Distance: What the Numbers Actually Look Like

Distance is the single biggest factor in your shipping cost, but it does not scale linearly. Short hauls under 500 miles actually cost more per mile because the carrier still has to load, secure, and unload your vehicle regardless of how far it travels. Here is how distance breaks down in practice:

Transit times are business days and represent the pickup-to-delivery window, not time on the road. A carrier driving coast-to-coast may cover the distance in 4 days of driving, but regulations limit hours behind the wheel, and multi-car haulers make intermediate stops to load and deliver other vehicles along the route.

How Vehicle Size Affects Your Price

Carriers price by the space your vehicle occupies on the trailer — both the physical footprint and the weight it adds. A standard car hauler fits 7–10 vehicles depending on size. Larger vehicles mean fewer total cars per load, and the carrier needs to make up that revenue difference.

When you request a quote, providing the exact year, make, and model matters. A 2024 Honda Civic and a 2024 Ford F-350 dually going on the same route will have very different prices, and the reason is purely mechanical — trailer space and weight distribution.

Open vs. Enclosed Transport

About 85% of vehicles shipped in the US go on open carriers — the multi-car haulers you see on the highway every day. Enclosed transport uses a fully covered trailer that protects against weather, road debris, and UV exposure. The price difference is real: enclosed typically runs 40–60% more than open for the same route.

When does enclosed make sense? If you are shipping a vehicle worth over $75,000, a classic car, an exotic, or a show car where even minor cosmetic imperfection matters. For a daily driver or a standard used car purchase, open transport is the industry standard and handles millions of vehicles per year without incident. The cars you see at dealership lots were almost certainly delivered on an open carrier.

Inoperable Vehicle Surcharges

If your vehicle does not start, does not roll, does not steer, or does not brake, the carrier needs special equipment to load it. A vehicle that rolls but does not start can usually be winched onto the trailer. A vehicle that cannot roll at all may need a forklift. This adds $100–$300 to the transport cost depending on the situation.

Be specific when requesting a quote: "non-running" covers a wide range. A car with a dead battery is very different from a car with no wheels. The more detail you give us, the more accurate the quote. If the vehicle has been in an accident, let us know the extent of the damage — some carriers will not transport vehicles with severe structural damage for safety reasons.

Seasonal Pricing Patterns

Auto transport pricing follows predictable seasonal cycles driven by migration patterns, weather, and market demand. Understanding these patterns can save you real money if your timeline is flexible.

First Mile and Last Mile: Location Matters

Metro-to-metro routes are the cheapest because carriers are already running those corridors. A shipment from Los Angeles to Houston follows a high-traffic lane with dozens of carriers making that run weekly. But if your pickup or delivery is in a rural area — say, 40 miles off the nearest interstate — expect to pay more.

Rural pickups and deliveries add cost for two reasons: the carrier has to detour from their main route, burning fuel and time, and large car haulers sometimes cannot navigate narrow rural roads. In those cases, we may arrange a smaller truck for the first or last leg, which adds a transfer step. If you are near a metro area, meeting the carrier at a convenient location (like a large parking lot near a highway exit) can save you $50–$150.

Why Prices Vary Between Brokers

Auto transport is a marketplace. Brokers like Y7 Logistics post your shipment to a load board where carriers bid on the job. The price a carrier accepts depends on their current route, how full their trailer is, fuel costs that week, and how quickly they need to fill empty spots.

If a broker quotes you significantly below market rate, there is a catch: either the carrier will demand more money at pickup (a bait-and-switch), or your vehicle will sit unassigned for weeks because no carrier will take the job at that price. We price based on what carriers are actually accepting on the load board right now — not what sounds good on a sales call. That is why our quotes convert to pickups quickly, usually within 1–5 days of your first available date.

The broker fee is built into your all-inclusive quote. You will never see a separate line item for it. The total you are quoted is the total you pay — that covers the carrier's rate, insurance, and our coordination of the entire process from booking through delivery confirmation.

When You Need This

• Buying a car out of state
• Relocating to a new city or state
• Sending a vehicle to an auction buyer
• Dealer-to-dealer vehicle transfers

How It Works

What You Need

• Vehicle details (year, make, model)
• Pickup and delivery locations
• Preferred transport dates
• Vehicle condition (running or non-running)

Our Capabilities

Frequently Asked Questions