How shipping a car to or from Puerto Rico works

To ship a car to Puerto Rico, or back to the mainland, you book a ship. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. That fact does not put the car on a multi-car highway trailer the whole way. The ocean carrier's port, cutoff, and document list are the process. A truck to Jacksonville, or to another mainland port the line names, is a second piece unless one contract covers both.

RideShipper does not run a vessel and does not file your export paperwork. It can request quotes for a road leg, and it can point you at the ocean pages. Companies that receive a quote request may pay RideShipper. The service page is Puerto Rico car shipping. Ocean routes are outside the ordinary truck formula described in how estimates are made.

What the operators publish#

TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, page opened 10 November 2026, sails between Jacksonville and San Juan twice a week. It says transit is 55 hours. Cars ride in auto racks loaded below deck. Measure width and height with the hitch, antennas, mirrors, and modifications. The page says every vehicle must be under 900 cubic feet. Motorcycles are not accepted.

Effective 1 August 2025, TOTE says it no longer accepts electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, because of fire risk at sea. It says it still accepts mild hybrids that do not need electric power during the trip.

The fares on that page, which TOTE says include bunker and environmental fees, the TAC (security, port, terminal, and handling), and an SED, a shipper's export declaration, if TOTE files it:

Over those dimensions, TOTE says it needs a custom quote. Optional insurance on that page is $25 for each $1,000 of declared value, only for vehicles less than 7 years old, and only if you ask at booking. These are TOTE's published figures, not a RideShipper estimate. Saint Thomas and Saint Croix are on the same page at different fares. They are not Puerto Rico.

Crowley says it moves cars between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico on roll-on/roll-off ships, in a watertight garage, so the car is driven on rather than lifted into a container. Crowley says that trip takes two to two and a half days. It tells you to get a quote from Crowley for the rate. We are not copying a Crowley price, because the page we opened did not print a personal-vehicle tariff the way TOTE's page did.

RoRo is the name for driving the car onto the ship. A container is a different method. If a quote says "container," ask who loads it and where.

What you do#

1. Choose the line and the mainland port. Do not assume every East Coast port has personal-vehicle service.
2. Read the EV, motorcycle, and size rules for that line.
3. Ask which documents they need, and whether they file the declaration or you do. TOTE's fare note is a reason to ask, not a reason to skip the question.
4. Book the sailing. Write down the drop-off address, the cutoff, and the pickup window at the other end.
5. If the car is far from that port, book a road carrier that can arrive before the cutoff. Tell them the terminal hours.
6. Photograph the car at drop-off. Take personal items out unless the line's instructions allow them.

Say the request is a road leg to the port, or say you want companies that will book the ocean leg. Those are different jobs. A sedan range from a mainland city to Jacksonville is not the ocean fare above.

That table is only the road example. Add the ocean fare from the operator.

What this is not#

It is not a foreign move to Europe, Asia, or the rest of Latin America. RideShipper does not book those. The rules for a used car that is actually leaving the United States for a foreign country are on what we do not book overseas, and they come from CBP. Use that page when the destination is a foreign country. Use this page when the destination is Puerto Rico.

It is also not a military VPC shipment. If orders authorize a government POV, start with the transportation office. What you pay for on PCS explains the split.

Registration and insurance in Puerto Rico, or back on the mainland, are the local agency's process after the car is released. The ship does not issue plates.

Documents, size, and the road leg#

Before the cutoff, put a folder together and ask the line which pieces they want. TOTE's fare note mentions an SED if TOTE files it. That is a reason to ask who files, not a reason to invent a form. Bring the title or the registration the line requests, your ID, and the booking number. If a lienholder is on the title, ask whether the line wants a letter from that lender. A leased car needs the lessor's written permission before any truck or ship is booked. See the leased-car guide. Do not wait until the terminal.

Measure the car the way the line measures it. TOTE says to include the hitch, antennas, mirrors, and modifications, and to stay under 900 cubic feet. A roof box you forgot to remove can push a car out of the fare column you were quoted. Take it off before you leave home. A car over the height bands on TOTE's table is a custom quote, not the $1,210 or $845 figure.

The road leg is ordinary auto transport with a hard deadline. Give the carrier the terminal address, the hours, and the cutoff in writing. A pickup window that can land after the ship has sailed is the wrong window. If the car does not run, say so. A roll-on ship expects a car that can be driven aboard, unless the line has agreed to something else. Crowley describes cars driven into a garage on the ship. A non-runner may not fit that picture. Ask before you pay the ocean fare.

At the other end, the line will tell you when the car can be picked up. That call is not the same minute the ship docks. Build a day or two into the plan. If you are not on the island yet, name a person who can pick the car up before storage starts. The storage rule is the line's. Read it on the booking. RideShipper does not store the car and does not translate a terminal notice. If you want the steps in Spanish, translate from the operator's current page and from this sequence. Do not add a fare that the operator has not published.

Jacksonville is a port, not the whole move#

Most of the work before the ship is ordinary. The car has to reach the terminal the line names, inside the cutoff, empty to that line's rules, and able to be driven aboard unless the line agreed otherwise. A truck from your driveway to Jacksonville is a road shipment with a deadline. Give the carrier the terminal address, the hours, and the last acceptable arrival in writing. If the pickup window can miss the ship, book an earlier window or the next sailing. A car that arrives after cutoff sits at the port's storage rate, then waits for another vessel. The road carrier is not required to pay that storage unless the contract says so.

TOTE's Puerto Rico page, opened 10 November 2026, is the fare table in this guide. Crowley's vehicle page describes a roll-on service and a transit of about two to two and a half days, and it does not print a personal-vehicle fare, so this guide does not invent one. If you book Crowley, the price is the number on Crowley's paperwork. St. Thomas and St. Croix are on TOTE's page as different fares. They are not this route. Do not use the San Juan figure for either island.

On the island, insurance and registration follow the local agency after release. The ship does not issue plates and does not start a residency clock for you. If you are moving household goods as well, those goods are a separate booking. TOTE's personal-vehicle page is about the vehicle. Do not pack the car with the contents of an apartment and assume the fare still applies. Ask what may stay in the car. A refusal at the terminal is the expensive way to learn the list.

The return trip to the mainland is a new booking at the northbound figures, which TOTE prints separately and lower than the southbound figures on the page we opened. Use the direction you are traveling. A quote from a trucking form that shows only a road range is not either figure.