Car shipping anywhere in the lower 48, open or enclosed

Published market data puts the average US car shipping cost between $1,000 and $1,500. The per-mile rate falls as distance rises: roughly $1.25 to $2.00 a mile under 500 miles, $0.65 to $1.20 from 500 to 1,500 miles, and $0.55 to $0.95 beyond that. Enclosed transport adds 30 to 60 percent, and a vehicle that does not run adds about $150 to $300. These are market ranges rather than an offer. The carrier running your lane sets the price and confirms it with you before pickup.

No, and we do not book the transport either. InterCar Group holds no FMCSA operating authority, so we never quote a firm price, never take a deposit and never put a truck on your lane. What we do is explain how carrier pricing works, what the paperwork protects and what to ask, then pass your route and vehicle details to licensed carriers. They quote you, they contract with you and they are paid by you, directly. We would rather you read that here than discover it three emails in.

Two clocks run. First the wait for a truck: a carrier fills a trailer before it leaves, so the car sits until one heading your way has a slot. Then the drive, which is slower than the same trip in your own car, because the truck makes several pickups and deliveries along the route and stops for weather, traffic and inspections. Ask the carrier for its estimated transit time on your specific lane, in writing. Treat both the pickup date and the delivery date as windows rather than appointments; the driver calls ahead when they are close.

Only a small amount, and only if the carrier agrees to it in writing. A car carrier's operating authority and its cargo coverage are for vehicles, not for household goods, so whatever you leave inside usually travels uninsured. Weight matters too: a loaded trailer is already close to its legal axle limits, and boxes in every car on the deck add up fast. Most carriers allow a limited weight in the trunk, below the window line, and nothing in the passenger compartment. Ask for the exact limit, and take out the toll transponder and the garage remote.

It is the contract and the condition report in one document. At pickup the driver walks the car and marks every existing chip, dent and scratch on a diagram. You check that against the car, add anything missed, and sign. At delivery you do the same walk before signing again. Those two signatures are what a damage claim rests on: if a scratch is not on the delivery copy, proving it happened in transit is very hard. Photograph every panel, the roof, the wheels and the odometer in daylight first, and keep your copy.

Yes, as long as it still rolls, steers and brakes, because the driver has to winch it on and push it into position. Say so the first time you describe the vehicle. Winch loading takes longer, needs a particular spot on the trailer and adds roughly $150 to $300. A driver who arrives to a surprise no-start can refuse the load and charge for the trip. A car that will not roll at all needs a forklift or a wrecker instead, which is a different job at a different price.

It depends on what the car is worth and what a repaint would cost. Enclosed trailers keep road debris, weather and attention off the vehicle, carry fewer cars, and usually load over a liftgate with soft straps, which suits low clearance, fresh paint, collector value and anything you would rather not have photographed on an open deck. It runs 30 to 60 percent above open transport. For a daily driver crossing the country, open transport is what most people use, and the realistic risk is road dust and the occasional stone chip.

Wash the car so existing damage is visible, then photograph every panel. Take out everything loose, along with the toll transponder and the parking pass. Leave about a quarter tank: enough to load, unload and drive away, not enough to add dead weight. Fold the mirrors, remove an aftermarket antenna, and either disable the alarm or give the driver the code. Hand over one set of keys. Someone has to be present to walk the car with the driver and sign the Bill of Lading, at both ends.

It means the truck comes as close to your address as it can legally and safely get. A full car carrier is about the length of a semi with a low ramp, so it cannot enter most cul-de-sacs, low-clearance garages, narrow residential streets or gated communities with tight turns. In those cases the driver asks you to meet at a nearby wide lot, typically a shopping center. Tell dispatch up front if your street is tight, has low branches or bans commercial vehicles, so a meeting point is planned rather than discovered.

Whenever your lane is running empty in your direction. Carriers price the direction, not just the route, so northbound and southbound on the same corridor can differ noticeably in the same week. Northern-to-southern lanes tighten in the fall as cars head south for the winter, and the squeeze reverses in the spring when those same cars come back north. Shipping against that flow is usually the cheaper half. Summer moving season and the weeks around a semester start pull trucks onto other corridors. Flexible dates and a few weeks of notice help more than picking a month.

Write it on the Bill of Lading before you sign, and photograph it at the delivery point. A signature on a clean delivery copy is the carrier's evidence that the car arrived as it was loaded, and it is very hard to walk back afterwards. Then file with the carrier's cargo insurer. Ask for the certificate of insurance and the claims contact before the car is collected, and keep your pickup photographs and your copy of the paperwork. Damage claims are decided on documents, so the documents are the part worth getting right.