See a car shipping price range before anyone calls
You can see a car shipping price range without giving a phone number, and you can email that range to yourself without a company being contacted. A company is called only if you later request quotes, with your name, email, phone, and a ticked consent box. The range is not a locked price and not a booking.
Key facts
- No contact required to see a range
- Route and vehicle are enough. The range appears before any name or phone number.
- Email the band
- The email-me option saves the range. It creates no lead and starts no carrier calls.
- When a company is contacted
- Only after you submit a quote request with name, email, phone, and consent. Licensed auto transport companies that serve the route then contact you.
- What you will not be charged
- RideShipper does not charge customers and does not take a deposit to show or send the range.
The sources are listed on this page.
You can see a car shipping price range without a phone call, and you can email that range to yourself without any company being contacted. A company is called only if you later submit a quote request. Until that submit, the range is yours. It is not a booking. You can also call (800) 989-8833 for quotes by phone, 24/7.
RideShipper is a free comparison and quote-request service owned by World Media Group LLC. It is not a carrier and not a broker. It does not charge you to view or email a range, and it does not take a deposit. Companies that receive a quote request may pay RideShipper.
What you enter, and what you do not
The first step is the route: where the car is, where it is going, the first day it may leave, and open or enclosed. The second step is the vehicle: year, make, and model, or a VIN, and whether it runs. After that, the page shows a low-to-high range for open and for enclosed, with the date and the basis of the estimate.
You do not type a name, an email, or a phone number to see that range. You do not check a consent box. Nothing on those two steps is a lead.
The range is a model. Driving distance, the vehicle class, open or enclosed, whether the car runs, and fuel are inputs. There is no public list of every price people paid, so the page says it is a model and shows the date. When a route later has enough reported prices, the label should say so. The write-up is how price estimates are made. Ocean routes to Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico are not forced through the highway formula.
Car shipping cost calculator
Email the band, still with no company called
If you are not ready to talk to anyone, choose "email me this estimate." You give an email address and nothing else required for a quote. RideShipper sends you the range. That save does not create a lead. It does not give your phone number to carriers, because you did not provide a phone number for them. It does not start a round of calls.
The message is the estimate you already saw. It is not a contract, not a hold on a truck, and not a promise that a carrier will accept the low end of the band. You can keep it, compare it with a later quote, or ignore it. Follow-up mail about that estimate is not a booking. Those emails include a way to stop further mail. Stopping mail is not the same as canceling a transport contract, because you have not signed one.
If you use an account, saved estimates stay in saved estimates with the date and the inputs. They are not shipments.
The step that does contact companies
The third step is the quote request. It asks for your name, email, phone, and a consent checkbox that is not pre-checked. If you submit, licensed auto transport companies that serve the route contact you. RideShipper does not show a list of those companies beforehand, does not let you pick them, and does not say how many will respond.
Viewing a range does not send that request. Emailing the range to yourself does not send it. Details of what gets sent, and what RideShipper will not ask you to pay, are in how quote sites work. Calling terms are on consent and calling terms.
FMCSA's June 16, 2023 guidance, at 88 FR 39368, says that merely making information about potential shippers publicly available, regardless of whether a fee is charged, does not require broker authority if the publisher is not otherwise involved in any transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier. The full point is on how quote sites work. RideShipper does not negotiate the rate, choose the truck, or appear on the bill of lading. Check a company on the company check before you pay it.
What the range will not do
It will not lock a price. A carrier can refuse the low end, and a quote you accept is the contract, not the email. It will not promise a pickup morning. The first available date you typed is the first day the car may leave, which is explained in what a first available date means. It will not insure the car.
If a caller quotes a number far under the range and asks for a payment-app deposit the same hour, pause. The pattern is in if the driver wants more money at pickup and in deposit red flags. The range is a reason to notice an outlier. The quote checker is where a number you were given can sit next to that range. How RideShipper is paid, so you can see that a lead is separate from a review, is on how we make money.
You can look at the price and close the page. That is a finished visit. No one has to call you for the visit to count.
What to do with the email when a real quote arrives
Open the saved range beside the company's number. Check that both use the same route, the same vehicle, and the same choice of open or enclosed. A range for a running sedan is not a test of a quote for an enclosed, non-running truck. If the facts differ, run the range again. Do not accuse a company of a high price when you changed the job.
Then read the company's window, deposit, and cargo limit. The range does not contain those. A price inside the range with a harsh deposit can be a worse offer than a price near the top with a clear cancellation clause. The quote checker is where a number you were given can sit next to the range. It still will not read the contract for you.
Keep the email. It has a date. A range from six months ago is not the range for a booking you make after fuel and the season have moved. Generate a new one when you are ready to compare. Emailing yourself again still does not call a company.
What a caller is not allowed to pretend
A caller who says RideShipper locked their price, or that you must pay RideShipper to "release" the estimate, is not describing this product. The estimate was already yours. There is nothing to release. RideShipper does not ask you to pay anything. A deposit, if you choose to send one later, goes to the transport company under that company's contract, after you have checked its MC or USDOT number.
If you never submit the quote step, you should not get a round of carrier calls from this visit. If you do, someone else had your number, or a different form was sent. Ask the caller where they got your name before you discuss a price. You can still book a carrier you find on your own. The range does not obligate you to use the quote step at all.
Questions
Will I get sales calls if I only email the estimate?
No. That email is the range, sent to you. It is not a request for quotes. Calls start if you later submit the quote step. You can ignore the email and nothing is booked.
Is the number in the email the price a carrier must honor?
No. It is a dated range from RideShipper's model. The company you eventually book sets its own price. The email is for your comparison, not a contract.
Can I look up several routes?
Yes. Each view is a range for the route and vehicle you entered. Email the ones you want to keep. None of those emails calls a carrier.
What if I do want quotes later?
Open the quote step, give your name, email, and phone, and tick the consent box. Licensed auto transport companies that serve the route then contact you. Check a company in federal records before you pay it.