You would think car shipping price is simple, XXX miles for $XX per mile and Wooalaa! Nope, that’s not the case…Many factors affect the pricing structure of moving your vehicle.
The car hauling industry studies have shown that the average cost of shipping can’t be square at a rate per mile across the board, too many factors affect how its calculated. Industry average of auto transport costs around $1.90 to 2.00 per mile for short distances, Medium distances will run you about $0.80 to $1.00 per mile and Long distances like cross country transport range around $.40 to $0.60 per mile.
Lets go over the most important factors that put together the secret recipe of the pricing structure of the auto transport industry.
Trailer type:
Open transport (open carrier, open air, etc) is the most common and most economical way to transport your car. You run a higher risk of damage (road rash, dents, cracked glass).
Enclosed carrier or enclosed vehicle transport offers much better protection but comes at a premium. This is a great option for high priced vehicles (Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW).
Recommendation: Consider enclosed auto transport if you are shipping a high valued vehicles, classic cars or cars with a sentimental value and also any car during the winter months to reduce the likelihood of damage.
Size of the vehicle:
Length, width, height and weight is crucial to pricing your vehicle transport. US-DOT and FMCSA regulates how much a car carrier can weigh when they are loaded. This can vary in some states.
The car transport company is fully responsible for their load and if overweight can mean huge fines for the auto transport companies and even the drivers!. Thies can snowball into delays in your transport service. Heavy and oversized vehicles limit how many cars a carrier can carry which in turn increases their cost per vehicle to move from point a to point b.
The bigger and heavier the vehicle the higher the cost.
Value of the vehicle:
Why is this important? Well, insurance! Car shipping companies have to make sure they are insured to cover if the unfortunate happens, being able to cover your vehicle in full is a must which drives insurance costs way up. This is factored into the price of transportation as the higher the vehicle is worth the more insurance they need to carry which translates to a higher shipping quote.
Distance:
Short hauls call for higher cost per mile. Time is money as they say, how much time it takes to load and unload the car for a 100 mile contract vs. a 2000 mile contract compared to the overall drive.
On average it takes approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour to load/unload and inspect your vehicle. This means the truck is stopped for 33% of the total time to complete a 100 mile move, the 1000 mile trip would just be 4% of the total time on average.
Seasonality:
High demand, means higher prices. A great example is the Florida auto transport market in the winter. anything going South for the winter or north in the spring can see a spike in price in some cases by 2x. Classic recipe of supply and demand. You are competing with many transport customers trying to get on a truck, drivers will always look for the best paying cars in the market.
Price of fuel:
The average car hauling Semi holds close to 300 gallons of Diesel. In recent months, prices of fuel have doubled wreaking havoc on the auto transport industry. What used to be a $600 fuel tab per fill-up is now $1200 and even $1500 in some California markets.
Auto shipping is not an easy task. The best way of knowing what it would cost you to transport your vehicle is by requesting a quote, keep in mind that prices will vary with time, so quoting today for shipping your vehicle in 6 months might be good for just a ballpark figure, for the most accurate shipping quote we suggest it be done within 30 days at the latest.
Want to ship a car? The Rev Auto Club Transport team is ready and highly trained to ensure the most accurate pricing for your needs. We offer enclosed car transport, open auto transport and door to door service nationwide.
Did this article clear up car shipping costs for you? leave comments below!
