Berkeley Car Shipping

On an open carrier, a sedan runs $900 to $1,100 to Portland, $700 to $1,050 from Denver, $1,200 to $1,550 to or from Wichita, $1,100 to $1,700 to Cleveland, and $1,450 to $1,800 to or from Hartford. A smaller truck to a flats address in Berkeley adds a fee we quote before you book, and for a trip in the opposite direction on a lane row, the calculator emails an estimate.

Counting from loading day, Portland is 1-2 days away, Denver 2-3, Wichita 3-5, Cleveland 5-7 and Hartford 6-8. A Berkeley pickup is generally set within one to three days of the first date the car is ready, and the I-80 lot is fixed at booking so the driver knows where to meet you.

The standard carrier does not; the city keeps it to the posted routes and the hills would stop it anyway. The hand-off is at a University Avenue or Gilman Street lot at I-80, ten minutes from most of town. A flats address can take a smaller truck for a fee.

You make the booking and pay, and she meets the driver at the University Avenue lot near I-80, a short bus ride from the dorms. Put her name and cell number on the order as the receiver, and the driver phones her the day before the truck arrives. Move-in week in mid-August crowds that lot, so a date a week earlier or later is easier to schedule.

For a collector car, a high-end sports car or anything with low ground clearance, it is worth it: a liftgate raises the car level onto the deck and the walls keep road grit and weather off. An everyday sedan or SUV does fine on an open trailer for less, and our enclosed carrier guide compares the two.