Transporting an RV or Motorhome
An RV is not a large car, and treating it like one is where most bad quotes come from. Once a vehicle is wider than 8 feet 6 inches or taller than 13 feet 6 inches it stops being ordinary freight and becomes a permitted oversize load, with a defined route and restrictions on when it can move. Plenty of motorhomes sit right at those limits. The first question is not who ships it but what you actually have, because the class of RV decides the method, and the method decides the price.
What You Have Decides How It Moves
Driveaway means a qualified driver drives your motorhome to the destination. It is the normal method for a running Class A or C, and it is usually the cheapest because no trailer is involved. The trade is mileage on the odometer and wear on the vehicle, which is a genuine consideration on a long move.
Loading a running motorhome onto a trailer is rarely the right answer. It adds the trailer deck height to an already tall vehicle and often creates a permit problem that driveaway avoids entirely.
Measure It Properly First
Take the numbers from the vehicle, not the brochure. Height to the highest fixed point, which is usually the air conditioner shroud rather than the roofline. Width at the widest point, which may be the mirrors or an awning rail rather than the body. Length including any rear mounted rack or spare. And the real weight with tanks in the state they will travel in.
Those four numbers decide whether this is a routine move or a permitted one, and a quote given without them is a guess. An inch matters here in a way it never does with a car.
Permits, Escorts and When It Can Move
Anything over legal dimensions needs an oversize permit from every state on the route, each issued for a specific path and period. Wider or taller loads add escort vehicles, and the largest add route surveys.
Permitted loads generally travel in daylight on weekdays, with restrictions on holidays and in some places during peak commuter hours. Because permits are route specific, changing the destination usually means starting again rather than amending. Give the dimensions early so permitting can run alongside everything else.
Preparing an RV Is Not Like Preparing a Car
This is where most transit damage originates, and almost all of it is preventable.
- Retract every slide out and confirm each is locked. A slide that creeps open at speed is a serious problem.
- Secure awnings with the travel locks, and remove anything clip on.
- Lower antennas, satellite domes and vent covers. These are the parts most often lost, and they are what sets your true travel height.
- Turn off and disconnect propane at the tank. Many carriers require tanks closed, and some require them empty or removed.
- Drain fresh, gray and black tanks. Water is heavy, it sloshes, and it freezes.
- Latch cabinets and secure the interior. Anything loose inside will move for the whole trip.
- Check tires and their age. RV tires often fail from age rather than tread, and a blowout on a driveaway is your problem and your delay.
- Photograph everything, including the roof. The roof is where damage hides and the one place nobody looks at delivery.
What It Costs
Rates vary more than car transport because the variables are wider. As a rough guide, driveaway for a running motorhome commonly runs about $1.00 to $2.00 per mile depending on size and route, with a minimum for short moves. Towing a travel trailer is usually less. A non running unit on a flatbed costs considerably more, because it needs specialized equipment and often a permit.
Permits, escort vehicles and any route survey are additional and are quoted per state. That is why an accurate set of measurements changes the price so much: it is the difference between a legal load and a permitted one.
At Pickup and Delivery
Walk the vehicle with the driver and complete a condition report covering the roof, the sides, the underside, all glass and every slide out and awning. Take your own photographs in daylight. Record the odometer, which matters more on a driveaway than on any other kind of transport.
At delivery, inspect before signing. Check the roof from a ladder if you can, extend the slides, and test that the awnings and vents still operate. Note anything on the paperwork while the driver is present, because a clean signed report is difficult to revisit later.
Common Questions
Can my motorhome go on a trailer? Usually it should not. Adding deck height to a tall vehicle often creates a permit problem that driving it avoids.
What is driveaway? A qualified driver drives the RV to the destination. It is the standard method for a running motorhome and normally the cheapest.
Does it add mileage? Yes, and that is the real trade against the lower price. Weigh it on a long move.
Do I need a permit? If it is over 8 feet 6 inches wide or 13 feet 6 inches tall, yes, from every state on the route.
Can you move one that does not run? Yes, on a flatbed or lowboy. Say whether it rolls and steers, because that changes the equipment.
What about the propane? Closed and disconnected at minimum. Ask the carrier, since some require tanks empty or removed.
Get a Quote
Call Ship A Car, Inc. at (866) 452-3657 with the year, make, model and your measured height, width, length and weight, or read more about specialized transport.
