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What Should You Know About Car Shipping Rates?

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Home  |  Auto Shipping • Car Carriers • Car News • Car Shipping • Car Transport • Vehicle Shipping   |   What Should You Know About Car Shipping Rates?

If you are planning to ship a car, the first question on your mind is probably, “How much will it cost?” Unlike other products and services, there is not a single fixed rate for auto shipment. There are actually a number of different factors that come into play when determining how a car’s shipping price is calculated. Auto-shipping is also a supply/demand business, which means rates will fluctuate based on demand. Let’s delve a little deeper into how shipping rates are calculated and what factors affect shipping prices.

Factors That Determine Shipping Rates

1. Distance: As one might expect, the farther you are shipping a car, the more it will cost you. Longer trips usually cost less per mile, but since there are more miles to be traveled you can expect this to be reflected in the price.

2. Vehicle Size and Type: Another important factor that will determine shipping costs is the make, model, and size of the vehicle being shipped. Since auto carriers have weight restrictions, larger and heavier vehicles will cost more to ship than smaller vehicles.

3. Vehicle Condition: If your vehicle is inoperable, you can expect to pay a higher price to ship it. That’s because inoperable vehicles require special equipment to load and unload the vehicle on and off the carrier. There is usually an additional charge of about $200 for vehicles that are not in working condition.

4. Location of Shipment: Another factor that affects shipping rates is the location of pickup and/or delivery. Heavily traveled routes such as those between major cities will cost less because there are likely to be other vehicles for carriers to pick up and drop off along the way. On the other hand, if you are delivering a vehicle to a rural area that is not heavily traveled, you can expect to pay a premium price.

5. Type of Carrier: Most shipping companies will give you the option of choosing between open and enclosed transport. Enclosed transport is more expensive because the carrier can hold fewer vehicles.

6. Time of Year: Given that this is a supply and demand industry, truckers will set prices based on demand. During certain times of the year, car shipping is in higher demand and this can sometimes affect shipping rates in those areas.

7. Fuel Costs: Gas and diesel prices can also affect shipping rates. Just as with the airline industry, if fuel prices go up so do the prices.

8. Expedited/ Rush Service: If you need your car delivered in a hurry, there are expedited shipping options that will increase the rate. On the other hand, if you are more flexible with your delivery date, you can save a lot of money.

Average Rates to Ship a Car

The typical car shipping cost can range anywhere from $500 to $1500. On average, the cost is about $2.92 per mile for distances under 200 miles and $0.78 per mile for distances over 1,000 miles. These numbers can give you a rough estimate of shipping costs, but the only way to get an accurate quote is by requesting a personalized estimate.


Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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