How to ship a car across the country

By the Nation Moving data team · Updated July 2026

Ten steps, in the order they actually happen, from deciding whether to ship at all through to signing the delivery report. Transit runs about 2–5 days on short interstate routes and 7–10 days coast-to-coast, with a pickup window on top of that.

The sequence

1. 1. Decide whether to ship or drive

   Price the drive honestly, all in: fuel, tolls, hotel nights, meals, wear on the car, and the days you are not working. On a route you can drive in one day, driving almost always wins. On anything needing two or more overnight stops, shipping deserves a real comparison, especially for a second vehicle nobody wants to caravan.

2. 2. Book three to four weeks ahead

   Auto transport books like household moving: the further ahead you commit, the more likely you get the dates you asked for rather than a wide window. Summer and autumn snowbird lanes fill first. Last-minute is possible but you trade price and flexibility for it.

3. 3. Get three written quotes for the same specification

   Same route, same transport type, same vehicle, same door-to-door or terminal choice. Quotes that are not specified identically are not comparable, and the cheapest is frequently the one that quietly assumed terminal service or an operable vehicle.

4. 4. Verify authority and insurance before you pay anything

   Look up the USDOT and MC numbers at fmcsa.dot.gov and confirm the operating authority is active and the insurance on file is current. Establish whether the company is a carrier or a broker; both are legitimate, but you should know who touches your car and whose cargo coverage applies in transit.

5. 5. Declare the vehicle and the access accurately

   Year, make, model, and any modification that changes the footprint: lift kits, oversized tyres, roof racks, aftermarket bumpers. Say whether it runs, steers, and brakes. Describe the street at both ends honestly. Every re-quote at pickup traces back to one of these being wrong.

6. 6. Prepare the car the week before

   Wash it so existing damage is visible, leave about a quarter tank of fuel, remove toll transponders and parking passes, fold or remove roof racks and aerials, disable alarms, and check for fluid leaks. Empty it: personal items sit outside cargo coverage and add weight nobody priced.

7. 7. Document condition and sign the Bill of Lading at pickup

   Photograph the car in daylight from all four corners plus roof and wheels, with timestamps. Walk the vehicle with the driver, make sure every existing mark is recorded on the condition report, and keep your copy. This document is the entire basis of any later claim.

8. 8. Track the shipment and stay reachable

   Get the dispatcher's and the driver's numbers. Delivery is a window, not an appointment, and the driver will usually call ahead a few hours before arriving. If you cannot be there, nominate someone over 18 in advance and brief them on the inspection.

9. 9. Inspect before you sign at delivery

   In daylight if at all possible. Compare against your pickup photographs, check the roof and the lower panels people forget, and start the engine. If anything is wrong, write it on the delivery report before signing. A signed clean report is very difficult to reverse.

10. 10. File a claim promptly if you need to

    Notify the carrier in writing straight away, attach the pickup and delivery photographs and the annotated Bill of Lading, and keep every message. If the carrier will not engage, complaints against FMCSA-regulated carriers go through the federal complaint process at fmcsa.dot.gov.

Timing it against your household move

The two shipments are separate contracts on separate trailers with separate windows, and they will not arrive together. Decide which one you need first. If you are flying in with no other transport, the car should land before the furniture, which usually means booking the vehicle for an earlier pickup than instinct suggests. If you are driving one car and shipping a second, the opposite is true and the vehicle can follow at its own pace.

The simplest arrangement is to let your interstate mover coordinate auto transport through a partner carrier, so both legs are planned together and one person chases both. It is still quoted as a separate line. Our driving distance reference gives the drive time and overnight count for every corridor we cover, which is what you need to sequence the two sensibly, and the bundling guide covers the coordination side.

The paperwork that matters

• The written quote

  Names the route, the transport type, the specific vehicle, door-to-door or terminal, and what happens if the vehicle turns out to be inoperable or oversized. Keep it. It is what you hold the company to if the price moves.

• The Bill of Lading

  The contract and the condition report in one document. It records the state of the vehicle at pickup and again at delivery, and both signatures matter. Do not sign either end without reading it.

• The insurance certificate

  Ask for it rather than accepting 'fully insured' as an answer. You want the cargo limit per vehicle and confirmation the policy is current. On a valuable car, check the limit actually covers it.

• Your own photographs

  Not paperwork the carrier issues, but the most useful evidence you will have. Daylight, all four corners, roof, wheels, and close-ups of existing damage, at pickup and again at delivery.

The same verification instincts apply to whoever moves your household goods, and the mechanics are close enough that it is worth reading how to avoid moving broker scams and your rights on an interstate move before you book either one. Pricing for both car transport formats, from about $450 on a short interstate route to $2,000 coast-to-coast, is on the cost page.