What it costs to ship a car

Shipping a car costs a range for a specific trip, not one price for the whole country. Distance, the size of the vehicle, open or enclosed transport, whether the car runs, and the date all move the range. The table below is the current national picture by distance. Read the date on it. A number with no date is not a cost.

RideShipper estimate v1 for a running Sedan or compact car. Each row uses an example distance within that group. The per-mile figure uses the estimated midpoint. Distances are approximate. Based on prices reported in MoveAdvisor reviews. This is not a quote. As of 2026-11-09

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 move the car, set the carrier's price, take a deposit, or insure the vehicle. Companies that receive a quote request may pay RideShipper. The range is a model. The company that hauls the car is the one that prices the job.

What a "cost" on this site actually is#

A band has a low and a high. It is tied to a vehicle class (sedan, SUV, pickup, van, or motorcycle), a transport type, and a date. It is not a quote, and it is not a booking. At launch the band comes from a model: driving distance, vehicle size, open or enclosed, running or not, the month, the direction on seasonal lanes, and the current diesel index. The model was calibrated against prices people reported in reviews on MoveAdvisor, a sister site also owned by World Media Group LLC. Reviews are not every shipment in the country. When a band later has enough reported prices, the label should say how many, and over which months. Until then, treat the figure as a model range.

A broker, in federal rules, is a person who for pay arranges transportation by an authorized motor carrier (49 CFR 371.2). The broker's first number is often an estimate of what a carrier might accept. The carrier that takes the load is the one that sets the freight charge. That is why a text message can say one amount and the truck, weeks later, can require another.

Same country, different prices#

These are live ranges for a running sedan. They are not a promise that your car will move at the low end.

A New York to Miami sedan is a long, busy north-south lane. Los Angeles to Dallas crosses fewer weather seasons for many drivers but is still a multi-day haul. Chicago to Denver is shorter. The per-mile result is usually higher on the shorter one. Loading, unloading, and the miles a truck drives empty to reach you do not shrink just because your trip is shorter. That is why "cost per mile" from a coast-to-coast ad is a poor guess for a neighboring state. The distance page walks through that math: car shipping cost by distance.

Days on the road are a separate question from price. Federal limits on how long a property-carrying driver may drive do not say how many days a shared trailer will take. Those limits are on car shipping cost by distance. Use the transit time tool as a planning span.

Open, enclosed, and a car that does not run#

Open transport is the usual shared trailer. Enclosed transport is a different truck with a roof and a door. Do not take an open band and add a percent you saw in an ad. The gap is not a settled national number until an index prints it with a sample size. Compare the two ranges on your own lane: open versus enclosed cost.

Say whether the car runs. A car that does not start, steer, and brake is a different job, often with a winch. The runner price is the wrong band for that car. Oversized height, a lift kit, or a roof box can also push a vehicle out of the assumed slot. Those fees are not sitting inside a standard sedan band.

What the band cannot see#

The model does not know which truck is empty near you on a Tuesday. It does not include a broker's deposit, storage because nobody met the driver, an auction gate fee, or items left in the trunk. Personal items are often limited or forbidden by the contract, and they are not the same thing as cargo insurance. Ocean legs to Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico are excluded. The road formula does not invent a ship fare.

Diesel is an input, not the price. The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes a weekly on-highway diesel series for the contiguous United States. It is a sample of retail outlets, collected as the Monday morning pump price, not the receipt from the truck that will haul your car. The current print is $6.127 per gallon, week of 2026-11-09. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly diesel U.S., release 2026-11-10.. How that series relates to a shipping band is covered in diesel prices and car shipping rates.

Insurance filings are not the cost, and they are not "your car is covered"#

For-hire carriage of nonhazardous property in interstate or foreign commerce, in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, has a public-liability minimum of $750,000 (49 CFR 387.9). The eCFR display of title 49 was up to date as of November 6, 2026. That section is a public-liability schedule. It does not set a cargo limit for the car on the trailer.

A property broker must have a $75,000 surety bond or trust, filed on Form BMC-84 or BMC-85 (49 CFR 387.307). The eCFR text says that section is effective January 16, 2026. The bond provides for payments to shippers or motor carriers if the broker fails to carry out its contracts for supplying transportation. It is not cargo insurance, and $75,000 is not the value of your vehicle.

Before you pay anyone, look the company up. The FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot, opened November 10, 2026, is a free one-company record of identification, size, commodity information, and the safety record, including a safety rating if one exists. Search by USDOT number, MC/MX number, or name: Company Snapshot. A snapshot can show no safety rating. "No rating" is not a finding that the company is safe. The company check is the on-site version of that lookup.

The bill of lading is where carrier liability for the car is stated. 49 USC 14706 makes the carrier that receives the property, and the carrier that delivers it, liable for actual loss or injury. For property other than household goods, a carrier may limit that liability to a value the shipper declares in writing, if that value is reasonable under the circumstances. Read the limit. Compare it with what the car is worth.

How to use the range before you talk to a company#

Get the band for your cities, your vehicle, and the week you can release the car. If you only want the range, you can have it emailed. That email is not a quote request. A quote request is a later step, and it is still not a booking. How that request works, and what RideShipper will not promise, is on what a comparison site can promise. You can also call (800) 989-8833 for quotes by phone, 24/7.

A quote far under the band, with money due before any carrier is named, needs a check before you pay. The signs are on quotes that are too cheap. The quote checker puts one number next to the band.

The method, including what the model leaves out, is written in plain language at how the price index is built and on the methodology page.