It is a vehicle moved on a trailer with no roof and no sides. Nine or ten cars travel together on two decks, strapped down at the wheels. It is the same equipment every franchise dealer in the country receives new inventory on, and it carries the large majority of cars shipped in the United States.

By distance. Under 500 miles, $450 to $900 for an operable mid-size vehicle. From 500 to 1,500 miles, $900 to $1,600. From 1,500 to 2,500 miles, $1,250 to $2,100. Beyond 2,500 miles, $1,600 to $2,500. The table on this page puts a real measured load inside each of those bands.

Because a band on its own is just a claim. We work through corridors load by load and publish what we find on the route pages, so it costs us nothing to show you the evidence here. It also lets you see the honest part: two of those measured lanes come in below their band.

Because the bands are national and some corridors are much busier than average. Chicago to Tampa starts at $825 over 1,180 miles, under the $900 floor for that distance. Both ends are dense freight markets with traffic running two ways, so a car fills a space on a trip already happening.

No, it means they are averages. On a quiet corridor the same distance costs more than the band, and on a busy one it costs less. That is why we publish measured figures per route wherever we have done the work, and quote live where we have not.

Yes, and the volume is the reassurance. Manufacturers move millions of brand new cars this way every year rather than choosing something more protective. Your vehicle is secured at the wheels rather than the body, and it is exposed to the same weather it would meet being driven.

A roof and walls, and about 80 percent on the price. Enclosed trailers carry fewer vehicles, so each one costs more. Open is the right answer for a daily driver. Enclosed earns its money on a collector car, fresh paintwork, low bodywork or anything where a stone chip is a real expense.

When the car is worth protecting rather than simply worth moving. Classics, exotics, show cars, restorations and anything freshly painted are the clear cases. A long winter route across salted highway is a reasonable second reason. Ask us to price both and decide with the two figures in front of you.

Usually nine or ten, on two levels. That shared capacity is the whole reason open transport is the cheaper option: the cost of the truck, the fuel and the driver's day is divided across everything on the deck rather than carried by your car alone.

The driver decides on the day, based on weight, height and the order of his drops. Both are equally secure. If your car is particularly low or particularly tall, say so at the quote stage, because that genuinely affects which position and sometimes which trailer suits it.

Distance first. Then vehicle size and weight, because a trailer is limited by both. Then how busy your corridor is, whether the car runs, and how much flexibility you can give on the collection date. Season matters too, since summer and the snowbird months are the busiest.

Widen the collection window and book a week or two ahead. A driver with one space left takes whichever car is convenient rather than driving further for a better-paid one. Every extra day you can offer is another chance to be that convenient car.

The spread of days we work within to get a trailer to you, six days as standard or three with expedited. It sits before the road days rather than inside them. Adding the two together wrong is the most common reason a shipment seems late when it is running to plan.

One to three days under 500 miles. Two to five days out to 1,500. Four to eight days to 2,500. Seven to ten days coast to coast. Federal rules cap the hours a driver may spend at the wheel, and there are other cars coming off along the way. Those two things set the pace.

It depends on the distance, and we will tell you which side you are on. It tightens the collection window from six days to three and does nothing to the drive. On a short run that window is most of your timeline and the money buys you dates. Coast to coast it is a much thinner benefit.

No. Door to door is how we run every open shipment and it is already inside the prices above. Where a street cannot take a 75-foot rig safely, the driver arranges a spot a short walk away, and that is included rather than charged for.

Length, mostly. A loaded open trailer is around 75 feet and needs somewhere to stop, load and pull away without blocking a road or scraping a tree. Narrow streets, low branches, tight corners and heavy parked cars are the usual reasons we agree a nearby spot instead.

Carrier Cargo Insurance, and the policy belongs to the trucking company assigned to your vehicle rather than to us. It is live from loading to unloading with nothing uncovered between. We hold the certificate as soon as a carrier accepts the job and will send it whenever you ask.

Yes, on a government database, in about a minute. SAFER is the FMCSA's free public lookup. Enter a USDOT number and it returns whether that company holds authority to operate and what insurance sits on file for it. Ours is USDOT 2887232, MC 969368.

Not with us. Whoever loads it is whoever unloads it, with no second company partway and no night in a storage yard. Damage in this business clusters at exactly that transfer, so a route without one removes the opportunity rather than insuring against it.

Usually yes, within reason. Keep it to around a hundred pounds, in the trunk and below the window line so the driver can see out. Carrier Cargo Insurance covers the vehicle rather than its contents, so anything valuable or hard to replace is better carried with you.

Wash it, because dirt hides the marks the condition report should record. Take your things out. Leave about a quarter tank of fuel. Turn the alarm off. Then photograph all four corners in daylight. Five minutes of that makes the handover at the far end simple.

Weight. A full tank adds real pounds to a trailer that is already loaded to a legal limit, and a quarter is plenty to drive on and off. It is a small thing, but multiply it across ten cars and it matters to the driver.

The driver walks the car with you and writes a condition report, noting any existing marks. You both sign it. Then he loads and secures the vehicle. Keep a copy, because that document is what any conversation at the far end refers back to.

The driver calls ahead and you agree a spot and a time. Then you compare the car against the pickup condition report before signing it off. Do that in daylight if you can, and take your own photographs again while you are there.

Yes, on a trailer fitted with a winch and a driver equipped to use it. Budget $200 upward on top of the prices above. Three answers decide which rig we send, so have them ready: does it roll, does it steer, does it brake.

All standard on open trailers. Bigger means more deck and more weight, so it prices above a mid-size sedan. Send the year, make and model plus any lift kit or oversized tires, and we will price the vehicle you actually own rather than a size bracket.

Yes, and it is worth asking about. Two vehicles to the same address save the driver a stop, and that efficiency shows up on the second car. Quote them together rather than as two separate orders.

Yes, and plenty do. Bring it to about half charge, give us the exact model so the weight is right, and switch off anything that wakes the car while it sits. The heavier EVs price a little above a comparable gas car, because weight is what a trailer is limited by.

Two. Summer is the heaviest, with family and college moves in the same months. Then October through April the snowbird corridors fill southbound and reverse in spring. Booking two to three weeks out matters most in those stretches.

Someone does, to release or receive the car and sign the condition report, but it need not be you. Any responsible adult will do: a partner, a relative, a neighbor, a building superintendent, a coworker. Give us their name and a cell number at booking.

Yes. The price we quote is the price you pay, as long as the vehicle, the route, the condition and the shipping details stay the same. That is the Smart Price Promise, and it is why this page shows you the loads behind the bands rather than asking you to take the bands on trust.