Driveaway services (a driver drives your car)

Driveaway service means a person drives your car to where it needs to go. The car is not on a trailer. People consider it for a short or awkward route where a car carrier is hard to find, or for a dealer move. The fact that should decide the booking is not the fare alone. It is that a stranger will operate your car, add every mile of the trip, and need insurance that actually applies while they do it.

A trailer quote and a driveaway quote are different products. Do not compare them as if the cheaper line were the same job.

What it costs compared with putting the car on a truck#

These are open-trailer estimates, the product where your odometer does not move. They are not driveaway fares. A sedan from Charlotte to Washington is $415–$632 as of November 9, 2026, 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. There is no seasonal direction adjustment for this route and month.. A sedan from Indianapolis to St. Louis is $376–$573 as of November 9, 2026, 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. There is no seasonal direction adjustment for this route and month.. An SUV from Sacramento to Portland is $524–$798 as of November 9, 2026, 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. There is no seasonal direction adjustment for this route and month..

On a short lane, a trailer carrier may still charge a minimum that makes a hired driver look close, or not. On a long lane, the wear, the fuel, and the driver's time are the driveaway costs, and they are not in the trailer estimate. The ship versus drive tool prices you driving it yourself. A hired driver adds labor and a return trip for that person. How hired drivers get home is the question to ask the company, because the method changes the price and the risk.

There is no RideShipper driveaway tariff on this page. Get the company's number in writing, including fuel, tolls, and what happens if the car breaks down on the way.

How a driveaway job runs#

1. Confirm the method. Driven under its own power, pulled with a tow bar, or carried. 49 CFR 390.5 defines a driveaway-towaway operation as an empty or unladen motor vehicle, with one or more sets of wheels on the roadway, transported in one of six cases: between a manufacturer's facilities; between a manufacturer and a dealer or purchaser; between a dealer, seller, or lessor and a purchaser or lessee; to a motor carrier's terminal or repair facility for disabling damage after a crash; to that kind of facility for a failed component or system; or by saddle-mount or tow bar. A household relocation driven by a hired driver is not one of those cases unless the job also fits one. Ask which case, if any, the company is operating under.
2. Ask for the company name and the USDOT or MC number if this is for-hire interstate work, and check SAFER. If a broker is in the middle, the $75,000 bond or trust in 49 CFR 387.307 is about the broker's financial security, not about the driver's personal use of your car.
3. Get the insurance answer from the company and from your own insurer. Who is the named insured while the driver has the keys? What is excluded? This page cannot answer that for your policy.
4. Write limits you care about: no passengers, no smoking, a route, a daily mile cap if they offer one, and how they handle a hotel night. If it is not written, it is a hope.
5. Photograph the car, note the odometer, and record the fuel. Hand over one key, not the spare set of house keys that was in the console.
6. At the far end, read the odometer, walk the car, and sign only what you have checked.

Have the car legal to drive: plates or a permit the states on the route accept, working lights and brakes, and enough tread that you would drive it yourself. A car that will not pass that test belongs on a flatbed or a carrier, not in a stranger's hands at highway speed. Remove personal papers, garage openers, and anything in the trunk you would not hand a stranger.

What to ask, and the mistakes#

Ask how the driver is paid and who pays for fuel. Ask what happens if the driver is stopped, if the car is in a crash, and if the driver quits in another state. Ask for a phone number that works after the car leaves, not only a booking desk.

The serious mistake is giving the keys to a person who texted a low price, with no contract and no way to check a company record. The Better Business Bureau's 21 July 2023 vehicle-transport alert describes deposits and missing companies. A driveaway adds a second loss: the car is already being driven away by the person you cannot find. Another mistake is assuming your insurance "probably" covers a paid driver. Ask. A denial after a crash is an expensive time to learn the exclusion.

Do not use driveaway to dodge a title problem. A driver cannot register the car for you by putting miles on it. A bill of sale is not a title.

Limits#

A driveaway company can refuse a car that is unsafe to drive, a route it will not run, or a deadline it cannot sign. It will not promise zero wear. It is a poor fit for a collector car whose value is tied to mileage, unless you have decided the miles are acceptable. RideShipper does not employ the driver, hold the keys, set the fare, take a deposit, or insure the trip. World Media Group LLC operates the site. Companies that receive a quote request may pay RideShipper.

If you would rather the odometer stay still, price open transport on the same cities. The right choice is the one whose risks you have read, not the one whose advertisement used the word door.