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The Original Car Shipping Cost Calculator
Direct Express Auto Transport’s no personal information car shipping cost calculator has been the best since 2004.
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Car transport brokers and carriers explained
The auto transport industry can be best separated into Brokers and Carriers. The car transport brokers book the vast majority of customer orders and rely heavily on auto transport carriers to move the vehicles. It is a very efficient system, which allows brokers and carriers, usually on load boards such as CentralDispatch, to collaborate and get vehicles shipped. The brokers absolutely need carriers. The reverse is also true, as the carriers are too busy on the road, and must depend on the brokers to fill their truck space.
When Do You Need Auto Transport Services?
People turn to auto transport services when they are buying a vehicle hundreds or thousands of miles away, and they need it shipped to their home. Or they are moving to another city or state and don’t want to drive their vehicle themselves. So they ship it instead. College students and military personnel commonly use car shipping services for the same reason. Retirees, often called snowbirds, will use car transport companies to save the hassle of driving. Auto transport services are usually very affordable because carriers use the same trucks that also deliver new vehicles to dealerships.
Should you drive or ship a car?
Car shipping costs vary greatly depending on distance, size of the vehicle, locations, and seasonality. There is no easy answer whether to drive or ship a car? For the most part, it is less expensive to drive your vehicle … unless one thing goes wrong. Then you will have wished that you had shipped the car and saved yourself the stress and aggravation. All in all, car shipping is remarkably affordable and easier than you ever imagined. Curious about what it will take for your auto shipment? Our customer service staff can give you great advice by calling 800-600-3750.
How To Order A Car Shipment
- Get Your Car Shipping Quote
- Select From Three Auto Transport Quote Rate
- Order Your Auto Shipment
- Assignment To A Car Transport Carrier
- Your Shipping Contact Is Notified And Vehicle Picked Up
- The Auto Transporter Delivers Your Vehicle
1. Get Your Car Shipping Quote
Simply enter your origination and destination zip codes. The city, town or area will usually auto-populate. Then choose the year, make and model of the vehicle(s) you are shipping. Select whether it is running or non-running? And then finally, choose whether you wish to go Open or Enclosed transport? That’s it. You should see your car shipping cost in 5 seconds or less! Direct Express does not ask for any personal information before providing you with a car shipping quote. We are one of the only auto transport brokers in the business to do this! Your name, phone number and email address are not required to get a quote.
2. Select From Three Auto Transport Quote Rate
At Direct Express Auto Transport, we offer three rate of pricing based upon how much of a hurry you are in? Most customers don’t realize it, but they are actually competing against other customers for space on a car transport trailer. Obviously, a carrier will want to select the best paying orders. We are very good at figuring that out. Our car shipping cost calculator determines the most basic rate (Standard Tier), that works well on popular routes with little competition. But in remote locations at either end, or in stiff competition on popular routes, we recommend selecting the Expedited Tier. If in an even bigger hurry, choose the Rush Tier, a very good idea during extreme seasonal fluctuations.
3. Order Your Auto Shipment
Once you’ve decided the best car shipping cost tier for you, please proceed online to easily place your vehicle shipment order in just minutes. Or call a Direct Express Auto Transport customer service representative during normal business hours at 800-600-3750. Either the online form or customer service representative will ask you to provide pertinent information such as your pickup and destination contacts, and the first date that your vehicle is available for pickup. Upon checkout, please enter your credit or debit card information so that your order is officially entered. Your credit card will only be charged upon assignment. Isn’t that nice? No deposit is required to place an order.
4. Assignment To A Car Transport Carrier
Upon booking, you will instantly receive an Order Confirmation email. Look for that in your email inbox or drag it over from another folder. Direct Express Auto Transport will notify you via email regarding your carrier assignment, which will contain the name of the driver, his phone number, and the estimated dates for pickup and delivery. The earliest you may see the Carrier Assignment email is a few days prior to your first available date to ship.
But it may also be a number of days after your first date available before a carrier calls to lay claim to your order. It is generally not every day that a carrier is leaving one town for another with a full load. The first available date is simply the starting date. Talk to our customer service team about how to hasten the car shipping process?
5. Your Shipping Contact Is Notified And Vehicle Picked Up
At the same time that Direct Express notifies you via email of the Carrier Assignment, we also send the carrier your pickup and destination information, including contacts. Please be sure your contacts make themselves available to speak with the carrier. Your pickup contact needs to be vigilant and react quickly. You don’t want to miss the car transport carrier because it might be awhile before another is ready to go.
The carrier driver will not just show up unannounced. He or she will call your pickup contact first to coordinate time and place to meet, and also verify information. Most times it is necessary to meet the carrier close by your neighborhood at a place the driver can safely maneuver his or her big truck. That is still in the spirit of door-to-door service. Keep in mind no money changes hands at pickup. Simply fill out a vehicle condition report authorizing the car shipment and hand over the keys. No other paperwork is necessary. It’s actually very easy.
6. The Auto Transporter Delivers Your Vehicle
The auto transporter, or carrier, is once again not supposed to just show up unannounced. The driver ideally should call the day before to alert your destination contact of his pending arrival, and will give a rough estimation of what time of day to expect. They almost always miss the target time, so please be patient and understanding. Other customers may delay him. Traffic conditions might slow him. Mechanical difficulties or inclement weather might throw a monkey-wrench into his plans. He wants to deliver your car as fast and as badly as you do. Time is money and delays frustrate him too.
When the car transport carrier does arrive, you should thoroughly inspect your vehicle for any damage, which rarely happens. That is your opportunity to speak up, make proper notes on the vehicle condition report and even take digital photos. Any issues will be addressed later. Regardless of the condition, industry rules state that you are to pay the carrier the balance owed with Cash or Money Order before receiving your vehicle. There you have it. Direct Express Auto Transport usually makes this six-step process a breeze and you can drive off with your vehicle.
Direct Express Auto Transport’s Three Tiered Pricing
Standard Rate
Usually Assigned to a carrier 1-8 days from the first date available.
And then typically picked up one or two days after assigned.
There is such a thing as a basic auto transport quote and this is it. You are competing against other customers for car transport trailer space. Standard tier, or rate, works well when there is little competition and the route is popular. Otherwise, go to a higher tier to avoid being frustrated.
Show More There is such a thing as a basic auto transport quote and this is it. You are competing against other customers for car transport trailer space. Standard tier, or rate, works well when there is little competition and the route is popular. Otherwise, go to a higher tier to avoid being frustrated.
Expedited Rate
Usually Assigned to a carrier 1-4 days from the first date available.
And then typically picked up one or two days after assigned.
If there is a logjam of similar vehicles priced at or near the Standard pricing, just a little bit more can go a long way. With the Expedited tier, or rate, all of a sudden your vehicle is more appealing to car carriers than other vehicles waiting for a lower price. The Expedited car shipping quote might also be used to lure a transport service to a remote location. Take our good advice and just do it. The Expedited car shipping quote is very popular with our customers ...
Show More If there is a logjam of similar vehicles priced at or near the Standard pricing, just a little bit more can go a long way. With the Expedited tier, or rate, all of a sudden your vehicle is more appealing to car carriers than other vehicles waiting for a lower price. The Expedited car shipping quote might also be used to lure a transport service to a remote location. Take our good advice and just do it. The Expedited car shipping quote is very popular with our customers ...
Rush Rate
Usually Assigned to a carrier 1-2 days from the first date available.
And then typically picked up one or two days after assigned.
Some people are in a big hurry. The higher paying Rush tier, or rate, orders tend to get assigned to a car carrier quicker. Since most orders get picked up within one or two days of assignment, the customer also receives his vehicle faster. Of course, there still needs to be a car delivery service making that run and one vehicle alone cannot make that happen. But those situations are the exception and not the rule. Don’t want to mess around? Go with the Rush car shipping quote.
Show More Some people are in a big hurry. The higher paying Rush tier, or rate, orders tend to get assigned to a car carrier quicker. Since most orders get picked up within one or two days of assignment, the customer also receives his vehicle faster. Of course, there still needs to be a car delivery service making that run and one vehicle alone cannot make that happen. But those situations are the exception and not the rule. Don’t want to mess around? Go with the Rush car shipping quote.
The Main Factors That Determine Car Shipping Cost
Car Shipping Quote Distance
The distance between origination and destination is probably the number one factor determining how much it costs to ship a car. The farther the car moving distance, the higher the expense for car shipping services in terms of fuel, wear and tear on the truck, and time. The price per mile goes down with longer distance, but the overall car shipping quote is higher. The rule of thumb is that the average solo driver (no team), will travel roughly 500 miles per day. Our auto transport quotes calculator was not only the first in the industry, it is still the best at determining the right car shipping price for distances short and long.
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Vehicle Length
A great question is whether the length of the vehicle affects the car delivery service cost? The average sedan or shipping car is about 189 inches long. Any vehicle less than 189 inches becomes more desirable to a professional car shipping service, because it may allow car movers to also ship a longer vehicle for more money. In that vein, longer vehicles over 196 inches start to squeeze a car shipping trailer and he needs to carefully consider how to fit it. Vehicles over 200 inches should certainly have higher pricing to help compensate for the presumed loss in any of the auto transport companies trailer space to accommodate other cars, trucks, vans and SUV’s. Our original first in the industry instant car shipping quotes calculator adjusts for length.
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Vehicle Height
Height matters. Most sedans are about 57 inches high, midsize SUV’s 67 inches and larger SUV’s 73 inches on average. SUV’s are typically have higher pricing to transport than sedans. And special, taller SUV’s are still more than the regular SUV’s because it forces a lower paying sedan to fit over or under it. To compensate for the loss in revenue, we recommend that car shipping companies need more money from the pricing of the much taller SUV’s. And that’s why height matters in car shipping quotes. You can count on our free instant car transport quote calculator to factor height of the vehicle.
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Vehicle Ground Clearance
Direct Express makes sure all vehicles are insured while on the transport carrier. Not everybody is as diligent. The last thing an auto transporter wants is a damage claim. The lower the vehicle ground clearance, the more prone to damage, especially when shipping Open transport. A good rule of thumb would be that any vehicle with 4 inches ground clearance and lower should ship Enclosed, where it can be treated with kid gloves. Any vehicle over 5 inches ground clearance should be safe to go Open. It is that middle inch between four and five that vexes brokers and car transportation services. It can go Open, or to be safe Enclosed. The latter is more expensive by about 40-50%, sometimes more.
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Vehicle Curb Weight
All car shipping services are cognizant of the weight scale stations they must pass through. Nobody wants to be told to remove freight, in this case a vehicle, because he is overweight. Heavier vehicles are also a drag on fuel consumption. That is why vehicles that approach 4,500 pounds and heavier start commanding higher and higher car shipping quotes.
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Vehicle Condition
Is your car operational? Does it run at least well enough to drive it on and off the auto transport carrier? Good. You just saved $200 and maybe more on the non-running fee. It matters to car movers because it is hard to wrestle non-operational vehicles on and off. Car shipping companies prefer to have the option of repositioning a truckload of transport cars, and non-runners put a damper on that flexibility. Finally, there are a limited number of vehicle transport services with a wench to handle the non-runners, and that means they don’t ship nearly as fast as running cars.
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Ship A Car Open or Enclosed
Almost 97% of all car shipments go Open transport. That means they are exposed to the elements. It is the same type of auto transport services that you often see new cars being delivered to dealerships. Open transport is the most cost effective way to ship a car.
The alternative is Enclosed transport. It is the luxury way to ship a vehicle, but costs significantly more. The average Enclosed transport price is roughly 40-50% higher. Part of the reason is that an Enclosed auto hauler can fit only six vehicles, whereas an Open car mover can accommodate nine or ten. Both types of auto transport companies (Open & Enclosed) travel the same distance and have similar expenses. The six vehicles on an Enclosed transport, therefore, must make up the difference in revenue from the Open car moving carrier’s nine or ten.
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Auto Transport’s Seasonal Fluctuations
There are seasonal fluctuations that may affect the car shipment cost, sometimes dramatically. The “snowbirds” from the colder northern states flock to the warmer southern states in the Winter, driving up the price to places like Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and Florida. They return home by the tens of thousands in the Spring, and then car shipping quotes in that direction start to escalate. Our best in class car shipping quotes calculator reflects market conditions during seasonal fluctuations.
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Car Shipping Locations
Location has a big effect on faster shipping service. According to the 2020 United States Census, 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas. That concentration of people makes it easier on car shippers to amalgamate full loads of several vehicles and get on the road. Even still, it is not every day a full load is leaving any city for another. But the chances of it happening sooner rather than later are higher for routes that have higher populations. No personal information is required to use our car shipping quote calculator.
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Finding the Right Car Transport Service
Car Shipping Service To The New England States
New England consists of six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont…
Auto Transport Service To The Atlantic Seaboard States
The Eastern Seaboard states are generally considered to be New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., Maryland…
Car Transport Service To Florida
Florida is probably the biggest car shipping state in the country during “snowbird season”….
Auto Transport Service To The Midwest States
The Midwest is generally considered to be Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota…
You Just Found The Best Auto Transport Company
We originated the instant car shipping quote calculator nearly twenty years ago. It didn’t exist before Direct Express Auto Transport unleashed it, and changed the industry overnight.
We were also the first to allow customer cancellations any time prior to the shipping of the vehicle, with absolutely no penalty. The rest of the auto transport industry soon followed our lead. They had to.
We have always been pro customer, and still don’t ask for any personal information prior to giving a car shipping quote. Whether online or on the phone with a Direct Express representative, the customer can easily get a hassle-free quote, which further separates us from the pack. That’s confidence, folks!
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A RELIABLE CAR SHIPPING COMPANY
Direct Express Auto Transport’s original car shipping cost calculator is the easiest and most reliable. Discover how much to ship a car fast anywhere nationwide.
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