Open versus enclosed car shipping cost
Enclosed car shipping costs more than open shipping because it uses a different trailer, and fewer of those trailers are on the road. There is no single national percent to add to an open price. Compare the two ranges on your lane, with the date, and treat any percent in an ad as someone else's claim unless it shows a sample.
Key facts
- What changes
- The trailer. Enclosed is not a fee sprinkled on the same open truck.
- The premium
- Unsettled as a national percent until an index prints it with a count and a date
- What to compare
- The same cities, the same vehicle, the same week, open and enclosed
- A fit check
- Enclosed doors and interior height differ by truck. A tall or lifted vehicle may not fit.
Enclosed car shipping costs more than open shipping on the same lane because the trailer is different and there are fewer of them. The gap is not a fixed percent. Until a price index prints that gap with a count of shipments and a date, treat any "enclosed costs this much more" sentence in an advertisement as a claim you have not audited. Do not put it in your budget. Put your cities into both ranges and read the date.
RideShipper does not operate either kind of truck. It is a comparison service of World Media Group LLC. It does not set carrier prices. The ranges below are the model for a running sedan. They are not quotes.
The same lane, both trailers
Open, New York to Miami, running sedan:
$804–$1,225 as of , model v1 RideShipper estimate, updated 2026-11-09, based on 3,588 prices that customers reported paying in MoveAdvisor reviews, adjusted for U.S. diesel at $6.13 a gallon for that week (U.S. Energy Information Administration). In testing, the typical difference between an estimate and a reported price was about 20% of the estimate. This is an estimate, not a quote: the carrier sets the price. No pickup date was supplied, so this estimate uses November 2026. Reported prices on seasonal routes to and from Florida and Arizona support different prices in each direction this month.
Enclosed, same cities, same vehicle:
$1,206–$1,837 as of , model v1 RideShipper estimate, updated 2026-11-09, based on 3,588 prices that customers reported paying in MoveAdvisor reviews, adjusted for U.S. diesel at $6.13 a gallon for that week (U.S. Energy Information Administration). In testing, the typical difference between an estimate and a reported price was about 20% of the estimate. This is an estimate, not a quote: the carrier sets the price. No pickup date was supplied, so this estimate uses November 2026. Reported prices on seasonal routes to and from Florida and Arizona support different prices in each direction this month.
A second lane, so you do not treat one corridor as the country:
| Route | Open | Enclosed |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA to Dallas, TX | $765–$1,166 | $1,148–$1,749 |
| Chicago, IL to Phoenix, AZ | $915–$1,395 | $1,373–$2,092 |
If the enclosed high end is what you must not exceed, that is the number to plan around, not the open low end. The difference between those two ranges is this week's model gap. It will move. It is not a permanent percent.
What you are comparing
| Open | Enclosed | |
|---|---|---|
| Trailer | A shared open deck. Cars are exposed to weather and road grit. | A hard-sided box. Weather and most road grit stay outside. |
| How common | The usual way a daily driver moves. | Fewer trucks. A tight date is harder to fill. |
| What fits | Most sedans, and many SUVs and pickups, if height is ordinary. A lift or a roof box can still be oversized. | Door height and interior length vary by truck. Some SUVs and lifted trucks do not fit. |
| Price | The open band for that lane and date. | A separate band. Not an open price plus a memorized percent. |
| Damage terms | Whatever the bill of lading and cargo terms say. A roof is not a policy. | The same rule. A box is not a promise of payment if the car is damaged. |
| Who it is for | A car you also park outside. | Fresh paint, a low car, a collector, or a vehicle the open deck cannot load safely. |
The service pages go further into the equipment: open car transport and enclosed car transport. The risk question, separate from the price, is is open transport safe. When the extra money is worth paying is when enclosed transport is worth it.
Why a percent in an article is not your rate
Published claims about the enclosed premium often use one lane, one week, or a round number with no count of shipments. This page does not adopt those claims. A real premium would be: same vehicle class, same distance band, open and enclosed, a sample size, and a date. The index is built to hold that comparison. Until the sample is large enough to print, the honest line is that the premium is unsettled.
What you can say without a fake percent:
- You are hiring a scarcer truck, so the search takes longer when your date cannot move.
- A shared enclosed trailer and a single-car enclosed truck are different products again. Exclusive use is another price, not a small step up from open. See single-car enclosed versus a shared trailer.
- A top spot on an open trailer is still open. Top-load pricing is the middle idea people reach for when they want less splash and do not want enclosed.
Insurance does not follow the roof
A roof does not turn a public-liability filing into cargo cover, and it does not set the cargo limit on the bill of lading. The schedule and the declared-value rule are stated on what it costs to ship a car. Read the cargo limit on the contract and compare it with the car. A low limit hurts more on a car you chose enclosed to protect. The cargo insurance page is the vocabulary, not a promise that a given company pays a given claim.
Check the fit, then the range
If the car is tall, long, lowered, or carrying a rack, do not assume the enclosed band you just saw is a truck that can load it. Dimensions decide. The will it fit check is the place for height and length. The open or enclosed chooser asks the vehicle questions and then shows the price difference from the same model.
When you are ready to see both numbers for your own cities, use the calculator. Pick the transport type on purpose. An accidental open quote, accepted because it was cheaper, is how people ship a car they meant to enclose.
Car shipping cost calculator
Questions
Is enclosed always about 40 percent more?
Do not use a percent from an ad as your budget. This site will not publish one national premium until the index can show the gap with a sample size and a date. Run both ranges for your lane.
Can I put an SUV on an enclosed trailer?
Sometimes. Height, length, and the door opening decide it, and those limits are not the same on every truck. Ask the company to confirm before you pay, or use the fit check with the vehicle's dimensions.
Does open transport mean the car is uninsured?
No. The trailer type is not an insurance policy. A public-liability filing does not set the cargo limit. What is paid for a chip in the paint is the cargo term in the contract, on either trailer. The schedule is on the cost page.
Is the top spot on an open trailer the same as enclosed?
No. A top spot is still open to weather and road grit. It can keep the car off some splash from the deck below. It is not a roof.