How shipping a car to or from Alaska works

Shipping a car to Alaska is one of two trips. The ocean trip leaves from the Pacific Northwest and arrives at an Alaska port. The road trip goes through Canada. They use different companies, different paperwork, and different clocks. Pick one on this page, then ask for a quote for that trip only. A single "to Alaska" number that does not say which trip it is has not answered the question.

RideShipper is not a steamship line and not a Canadian carrier. It can request quotes from companies for the trip you describe. It does not set the ocean tariff. Companies that receive a request may pay RideShipper. The service page is Alaska car shipping.

Ocean from the Pacific Northwest#

TOTE Maritime Alaska, on the page opened 10 November 2026, sails between Tacoma and Anchorage twice a week, year round. It describes roll-on/roll-off service and below-deck storage on the Midnight Sun and the North Star. It says transit is three days, with cargo availability it describes as four days. It says time at the terminal is generally no more than about 20 minutes when you drop off or pick up.

The same page says that, effective 1 August 2025, TOTE no longer accepts electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, and that it still accepts mild hybrids that do not need electric power in transit. Motorcycles are not accepted. Vehicles must be under 900 cubic feet. Measure height and length with the hitch, antennas, and mirrors.

Published northbound rates on that page, which TOTE says include the ocean fuel surcharge, port charge, terminal charge, and a POA modernization charge:

Southbound, small and medium were each listed at $1,912.62. Personal effects were a flat $181, with a separate instruction page for what may be loaded. These are TOTE's numbers as published that day. Over-size loads are a custom quote. This is not a RideShipper range.

Alaska Marine Lines sails from Seattle to Southeast Alaska, Central Alaska, and, seasonally, Western Alaska and the Arctic. Vehicles move between AML service centers. AML does not ship EVs or plug-in hybrids. It does ship hybrids that do not plug in. Personal effects are allowed toward Alaska, not in the front seat or on the floor behind the driver, and not as hazardous materials, firearms, or goods for sale. The release value AML states for those effects is $0.10 per pound, and the weight has to be on the bill of lading. Fuel must be under one-quarter tank. Inoperable gas cars cost extra to load at each end. You book ahead, you pay ahead unless you have credit, and you get an inspection report at drop-off. The sailing schedule has the cutoff. After the barge arrives, AML says to allow time to unload before pickup.

Matson lists Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor, and says Tacoma is the mainland port for Alaska vehicles. From the sail date it says Alaska-Tacoma averages 5 to 7 days. It also says it has suspended EVs and plug-in hybrids. Its FAQ starting rates are written for Hawaii. Use the Alaska quote on Matson's own form rather than those Hawaii figures.

A road carrier that only delivers to Tacoma or Seattle is the leg before these bookings. Barge shipping and ocean shipping are the right labels. Give the ocean cutoff to the road carrier in writing.

The road through Canada#

The other trip is a highway move through Canada into Alaska. It is not a barge with a different brochure. Before you accept a road quote, ask:

• Does this carrier's authority cover the Canadian portion, or does someone else take the car at the border?
• What documents does the driver need for the car and for entry?
• What happens to the price and the clock if the border does not clear the car?
• Is the quote to Anchorage, Fairbanks, or only to a lower-48 city?

This page does not name a Canadian permit, because we did not open a current Canadian government page that states one rule for every carrier. The carrier and the border agency are the sources. Do not treat a U.S. interstate MC number, by itself, as permission to drive through Canada.

In the request, say "ocean via Tacoma or Seattle" or "highway through Canada." A mixed request gets a mixed answer.

Boats, non-runners, and military orders#

A boat on a trailer may be accepted by an ocean line that publishes trailer rules, or it may be too wide. Measure it. See shipping a boat on a trailer. A car that does not run is an extra load fee on AML's page, and it may be refused by a line that expects you to drive on. Say so.

Military OneSource classifies Alaska as OCONUS. If your orders authorize a government POV, that shipment is PCSmyPOV and the transportation office, not a TOTE booking you pay yourself. Read what PCS car shipping you pay for first. If the office says the car is your expense, then you are in the private market described above.

Registration after you arrive is the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, or the state you returned to. Deadlines are on that agency's site. The step order is on registering a car after you move.

Which trip fits the car you have?#

Use the car, not the brochure, to choose.

Choose the ocean trip when the car is a normal size the line accepts, you can get it to Tacoma or Seattle before a cutoff, and you do not need it during the sailing. TOTE's size table, AML's dimension rating, and Matson's suspension of EVs are the filters. A motorcycle fails TOTE's page outright. An EV fails the pages we opened for TOTE, AML, and Matson. A very tall van can fall into a custom quote. Measure before you pick a line.

Choose the road through Canada when an ocean line will not take the vehicle, or when you need the car on a date no sailing meets, and a carrier will actually cross the border. Ask the border questions listed above. Add winter. A highway quote in January is not the same drive as a highway quote in July. The carrier should say whether they run that month. We will not invent a closure date for a pass.

Either way, personal effects follow the operator. AML allows some effects toward Alaska, at the $0.10 per pound release value it prints, with the weight on the bill of lading, and it bars hazardous materials and firearms in the vehicle. TOTE charges a flat $181 on the page we opened and points to a separate instruction sheet. Read that sheet. A mainland car-carrier habit of "nothing in the car" is safer if you have not read the ocean sheet. Do not assume the ocean sheet matches the mainland habit.

Southeast Alaska and Anchorage are not the same delivery. AML's Seattle service and TOTE's Anchorage service do not automatically cover a village or an island that needs another barge. Ask the line whether your town is on their schedule or whether the car stops at a hub you must deal with. The sailing schedule is the answer. A national truck quote will not know it.

Paperwork at the terminal, and the drive you still might make#

The ocean booking needs the documents that line asks for, before the cutoff, not in a photo you send from the parking lot. Title or registration, your ID, and the booking number are the usual start. Ask the line for its list. If a lender is on the title, ask whether they want a letter. A leased car needs the lessor's permission before you book the ship or the truck to the port. Fuel has to meet the line's rule. AML states under one-quarter tank on the page we opened and calls that a Coast Guard rule. TOTE's page is the place to read TOTE's version. Do not drain the tank in the terminal lot without being told to.

If you choose the road, the carrier has to agree to the border crossing in the contract. Ask who sits with the car at the crossing, what papers they carry, and what happens if the car is refused entry. We are not naming a permit. The carrier who says they run the route should name the documents they require. Winter closures and a ferry, if the destination needs one, belong in that same conversation. A quote that ends in a hub city is not a quote to a village on the other side of a ferry.

Southbound, back to the Lower 48, is a new price. TOTE prints different figures for Anchorage to Tacoma than for Tacoma to Anchorage, and the large southbound cell on the page we opened was not readable, so this guide does not state it. Read the live table. A military household that the government will move should not buy the private southbound fare until the transportation office says the government is not taking the car.