How to ship a car when you move
Shipping a car for a move is a date problem as much as a truck problem. The house may be empty before the car can leave, and the car may arrive before you have keys to the new place. Pick a first available date, name a person at each end, and decide where the car goes if you cannot meet it. Registration in the new state is a separate step.
Key facts
- What a first available date is
- The earliest day you can release the car. It is not a pickup appointment.
- Who must be there
- A person at pickup and a person at delivery who can sign. That person can be you, or someone you name.
- If the car arrives first
- Ask, before you book, where it can sit and who pays storage if you are not there to take it.
- Registration
- Title, insurance, any required inspection, then plates. The deadline is on the new state's motor vehicle site, not in this guide.
The sources are listed on this page.
Ship the car as its own job when you move. The useful plan is a date you can release it, a person at the house you are leaving, and a person at the other end. The car can arrive before you do. If nobody can take the keys, the car sits, and storage is a charge you should ask about before you book, not after the driver is in the driveway.
RideShipper shows a price range and sends a quote request to auto-transport companies. It is not a carrier, not a broker, and not a household mover. It does not pack the house, set the truck's price, take a deposit, or insure the car. Companies that receive the request may pay RideShipper. The explanation is on how we make money.
What date should I give?
The date that matters first is the first available date: the earliest day the car can leave. That is not the day a driver promises to arrive. A pickup window is a span of days. The truck comes when it is in the area, unless the contract says something stronger than that.
Work backward from the house.
- The day the household goods leave, if the car has to be out of the garage for the movers.
- The day you must hand over the keys to a landlord or a buyer.
- The day you can be at the new address, or the day someone else can be.
If those dates are tight, say so. A flexible window is usually easier to place on a shared trailer. A single calendar day is a different request, and it can cost more. How a first available date changes the price walks through that without a fake day count. Transit time is a planning range of days on the road after pickup. It is not a promise.
A sample range for a long household move, sedan, open and enclosed:
| Route | Open | Enclosed |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL to Denver, CO | $661–$1,007 | $992–$1,511 |
That is a RideShipper range with its date. Your car, your dates, and whether it runs will move it.
Who meets the driver if the house is empty?
Door-to-door means as close as the truck can legally and physically get. It does not mean the trailer fits in every driveway. A long car carrier may have to stop on a wider street. See door-to-door service and residential limits.
Name a releaser at the origin and a receiver at the destination. Each person needs:
- A phone that works that week
- The key, and any code for a gate
- Authority to sign the condition report and the bill of lading
- Photos of the car in daylight if you cannot be there yourself
Tell the company those names in writing. A text from a new number on pickup morning is a weak way to change who may release the car. If you are shipping for a spouse or a parent, say that in the booking so the driver is not arguing with a person who is not on the order.
If you will not be at the destination, decide the backup before you book. Options companies actually use, when the contract allows them, include a second address, a storage lot the carrier names, or a terminal you drive to later. Storage fees are charged by whoever holds the car. Ask who that is, when the clock starts, and what happens if you miss the call. Do not assume the first night is free.
Should the car go with the furniture?
Keep the two moves separate in your head. A household-goods shipment is a van, a weight allowance, and a mover's paperwork. An auto shipment is a car carrier or a broker who finds one. FMCSA's consumer advisory on automobile transporters treats brokers and transporters as registered auto-transport companies, and it is a different advisory from the household-goods loss-and-damage page. Do not expect the furniture crew to load the car unless that company has written that it will.
If you want both, the car and household page is the place to request them as two leads, not as one blended promise. RideShipper does not schedule the movers.
Ship or drive compares fuel, lodging, and days with a shipment, and every assumption is editable. Use it when the question is whether the car should stay with you on the road. A one-way drive also has to be legal. Temporary tags and insurance are state rules. This page does not issue a permit.
What do I leave in the car?
Take out clothes, documents, and anything you would need if the car were late. Many contracts limit or forbid household goods in the vehicle, and those items are often uncovered. Read personal items. A roof box, a hitch bike rack, or a full trunk of books also changes height, length, or weight. Declare them or remove them.
Leave the car empty enough that the driver can inspect it. Take a photo set: four corners, roof, interior, odometer. The person who signs at pickup should look at the marks on the paper and match them to the car.
What happens after it arrives?
The shipping company delivers the car. It does not register it. The order is title, insurance the new state accepts, an inspection if that state requires one, then plates. The day counts are not national. California, Texas, and Florida each publish their own, and those pages are quoted on registering a car after you move.
Other states publish other numbers. Use the agency in the state you moved to. Do not use a neighbor's deadline.
If the move is to Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico, a road quote does not cross the water. Read the process page for that place before you request the truck. A military move has a separate question: whether the orders include a government vehicle shipment at all. That answer is on what you pay for on PCS.
How do I keep the price from being a surprise?
Compare offers on the same facts: cities, dates, open or enclosed, and whether the car runs. FMCSA's auto-transport advisory says interstate brokers and transporters must be registered, and that a broker only arranges the move. It does not describe a deposit. The deposit pattern is in the Better Business Bureau's 21 July 2023 alert: a cheap quote and a wallet-app payment, then no truck. Use the company check on the MC or USDOT number before you pay. Read when a quote is too cheap before you send money.
The price can still change if the car is not as described, if nobody is home, or if no carrier accepts the first number. When the price changes after you book names those moments. RideShipper does not lock a carrier's rate.
Insurance and the days the car is between houses
Call the insurer before the pickup, not after a claim. Tell them the car will be at a new address, and ask what covers it while it is on the truck and on the day it arrives. The carrier's contract may include cargo coverage with a limit and a list of exclusions. That is not the same policy as your auto insurance, and it is not a promise from RideShipper. Get the limit from the contract. If it is too low for the car, ask your insurer what else is available. We are not naming a dollar limit, because the contracts differ.
If you financed the car, the lender may require comprehensive coverage the whole time. A gap in coverage to "save the premium during the move" can break the loan terms. Read the loan. A leased car needs the lessor's permission before it moves at all. That is a separate guide.
Keys are the other gap. If the only key rides with the driver, you cannot get into the house or the car at the new place until delivery. Keep a key with you. If the car uses a phone as a key, ask whether the driver needs a card or a fob to load it. An electric car can also need a transport mode. Read the maker's page before pickup day, not from the curb. The electric-car guide is the place for that, and it does not use one battery percentage for every make.
Finally, write down the person who will sign at each end, and text those names to the company through the channel on your contract. A move week is when phones die and people catch flights. The driver still needs a person. If both of you will be on a plane, the car needs a different plan, or a later first available date. Leaving it in an empty driveway with a hidden key is how cars are released to the wrong person. Do not do that.
Questions
Can the movers take the car with the furniture?
A household-goods mover and an auto transporter are different jobs. FMCSA's household-goods materials and its auto-transport advisory are different pages. Some movers will not put a car in the van. Book the car as its own shipment unless a company writes that it will haul both.
What if I am already in the new city when the truck comes for the car?
Name a person who can meet the driver, hand over the key, and sign the condition report. Tell the company that person's name and phone before dispatch. A driver who finds an empty house and no key can leave, and the contract may still charge a fee.
Should I ship the car or drive it?
Driving keeps the car with you and uses your time, fuel, and lodging. Shipping spends money and frees those days. The ship-versus-drive calculator puts both on one page with the assumptions visible. Neither result is a booked truck.
Does the quote include plates in the new state?
No. The shipping price is the move of the car. Title, insurance, inspection, and plates are between you and the state. Start with the registration guide, then the state agency's own page.