How Much Does It Cost To Ship A Vehicle?

When you need to ship your vehicle from one location to another, one viable option you have is to turn to an auto shipping company that can take care of that process for you.

There are countless businesses out there up for the job, but for many consumers, the decision will inevitably be based on the price. However, as you soon discover if you look into the subject, there is no easy answer to the question ‘how much does it cost to ship a car?” Instead, let’s take a look at how the prices are set in this industry to help you calculate how much a company should ask for moving your vehicle.

What’s an Auto Shipping Rate?

The auto shipping rate is a way for a company to estimate how much it would cost for a particular shipment. It’s usually calculated at $X/mile, meaning you estimate the cost of moving the vehicle by taking the total miles it needs to travel and multiply it by the cost per mile the company has.

The cost itself, however, is not necessarily a fixed number, aside from the fact that it can differ greatly from company to company. You can have variations in the cost per mile based on specific criteria you need to ship your vehicle.

What Influences the Auto Shipping Rate?

The auto shipping rate you get will be established based on how easy or complicated the transport is. Some factors that influence the auto shipping rate include:

• The distance
• The route
• The type of vehicle
• The type of truck used for shipping
• The method of shipping
• The condition of the vehicle.

Let’s take a look at each factor and see how they play into the final price.

1. Distance

The bigger the distance, the more you have to pay for the auto shipping service. The rate itself can be modified based on distance as a lot of companies will actually provide a better rate when the car needs to travel coast to coast, as opposed to traveling to a nearby state or city only.

2. Route

The way the car travels will also affect your final price. When you ship from one big city to another, the auto transport company has a much easier job, and its trucks just have to stay on the big, spacy highway.

But, if you need to ship a car to a remote location, or a small city or village, the company may need to take additional measures to be able to complete the job. They could ship the vehicle to a nearby city, then have to switch to a different, smaller truck that could fit on narrower country streets.

3. The Type of Vehicle

Shipping a motorcycle or a regular passenger vehicle is usually cheaper since they are smaller. Smaller cars can be loaded together on the same truck and shipped at the same time, which means the company spends less to ship multiple vehicles. For you, that translates to smaller rates.

Bigger vehicles like SUVs or even trucks cost more to ship because they take up a lot more space. You will also likely pay more to ship an expensive, luxury vehicle, but that ties in more with the next factor on the list.

4. The Type of Truck

You have two options here: open trucks, or enclosed. Open trucks are cheaper than enclosed ones because they allow for more vehicles to be transported at the same time.

Enclosed trucks? Not so much. It’s why it’s a service reserved for luxury or vintage pieces that could be damaged if transported in an open carrier. If you have a regular vehicle, you don’t need to worry about enclosed shipping.

5. Method

The method here is the type of service you want. Do you want your car to be picked up from your garage and dropped off exactly at your new location? That costs extra. It’s a lot cheaper to opt for terminal to terminal shipping, when possible, but that’s obviously less convenient. In the end, it depends on your budget and what you’re looking for.

6. Vehicle Condition

Some people don’t realize they need to prepare the vehicle before shipping:

• Washing it
• Having a routine check-up
• Leaving some gas in the tank

If you don’t do these things, the company will handle it, but they will cost extra.

Over to You

The cost of moving your vehicle is greatly influenced by your particular requirements, but there’s no denying some companies offer way better rates than others. If you need to work with a company that can provide pristine services at great rates, contact Ship Vehicles now.