Yes, You Can Ship a Car Across the Country. Here Is How It Works
Shipping a car across the country is routine: your vehicle rides on a carrier truck while you fly or drive ahead, and it arrives without 2,800 highway miles of wear. As a general estimate, cross-country open transport runs about $0.84 to $2.05 per mile depending on distance and vehicle, coast-to-coast moves take roughly 5 to 7 days of transit plus a short pickup window, and you book the whole thing with one phone call or an online calculator quote. A move usually counts as cross country car shipping at about 2,000 miles or more east to west, or 1,300 to 1,500 miles north to south.
This guide covers the best way to ship a car across the country, what it costs, how long it takes, and how the process works step by step, with an honest look at driving it yourself for comparison.
The Best Way to Ship a Car Across the Country
For most vehicles, the best way is open carrier transport arranged through a licensed broker. Open carriers are the double-deck trucks you see on every interstate: they run every major corridor daily, which keeps prices competitive and pickup windows short. Your car is strapped down professionally, covered by the carrier’s cargo insurance, and inspected at both ends against a bill of lading.
A broker like Ship A Car, Inc. matches your route and dates against a nationwide network of vetted carriers, which matters most on long routes where scheduling and carrier quality vary. For a classic, exotic, or other high-value vehicle, enclosed transport adds full protection from weather and road debris for roughly a third more.
What It Costs to Ship a Car Across the Country
The cost is set by distance, vehicle size and weight, transport type, season, and how flexible your dates are. On average, expect roughly $0.84 to $2.05 per mile; long coast-to-coast routes usually price near the lower end of that band per mile, while enclosed transport prices toward the higher end. As a reference point for open car hauling:
- 4-door sedan from CA to NY (roughly 2,800 miles): often estimated around $2,400 to $2,900 by open carrier
- SUV, van, or truck from CA to NY: typically quoted somewhat above sedan rates for the same route
- Shorter runs such as NY to FL cost less in total, though the per-mile rate is usually higher than on a coast-to-coast move
- Classic car from NY to FL: expect a meaningful premium over open-carrier rates for enclosed transport.
These prices are estimates, not quotes; the exact figure depends on the time of year, your scheduling flexibility, and driver availability on your route. Fall (September through November) is usually the cheapest season to ship, summer and January snowbird season the most expensive. For your route and vehicle, the auto transport calculator prices it in seconds.
How Long Does It Take?
Plan on about 5 to 7 days of transit for a true coast-to-coast move, and less for partial crossings, plus a pickup window of a few days at the start while the carrier fills its deck. Carriers drive under federal hours-of-service limits, so a 2,800 mile route cannot responsibly arrive in two days. You will have your driver’s name and phone number before pickup, so you can check progress at any point.
Driving or Towing It Yourself: The Honest Comparison
Doing it yourself can be the cheapest option on paper, but total the real costs first. Driving coast to coast means roughly 40 plus hours behind the wheel, fuel, several nights of hotels and meals, and close to 3,000 miles of depreciation, tire wear, and rock-chip risk added to your car. Towing it yourself means renting a trailer or installing a hitch, and the fuel bill of a tow vehicle. For one-way relocations, most people find the math lands surprisingly close to a transport quote, without the week of vacation time spent on an interstate.
Steps to Ship the Car
- Pick a car shipping pickup location and destination
- Choose your dates for pickup and delivery
- Find a top auto shipping company to work with
- Secure a car shipping quote
- Prepare your vehicle for shipment to maximize efficiency
- Establish plans to drop your car off and pick it up
Choose the Right Car Shipping Company
Compare companies on the things that actually protect you. Verify credentials: a legitimate broker or carrier is registered with the FMCSA, and you can check their USDOT and MC numbers in a minute (Ship A Car, Inc. is USDOT 2303542, MC 784930). Confirm insurance: the carrier hauling your vehicle must hold active cargo coverage, and a good broker verifies that before dispatch. Read the quote’s fine print so you know what is included, and be wary of a number far below every other quote; on transport lanes, a too-cheap price usually means a bait-and-raise later. Reviews across the BBB, Google, and Transport Reviews tell you how a company behaves when something goes sideways, which matters more than how it behaves when everything goes right.
The Bottom Line
You can absolutely ship a car across the country, and for most people it beats driving: no added miles, no week on the road, and a cost that lands close to the true cost of the DIY route. Get a real number for your move in seconds with the auto transport calculator, or call (866) 821-4555 and a Ship A Car coordinator will price your route, book a vetted carrier, and manage the move door to door.
