The western states of California, Nevada and Utah have a combined population of 45.2 million people, which is about 13.6% of the total U.S. population, according to the 2020 US Census. California alone is home to 39 million people. If it were its own country, California’s economy would rank sixth worldwide. No surprise that California is bustling with auto transport carriers. The Los Angeles basin, in particular, is a fantastic place to ship a car.

San Diego is often overlooked and in Los Angeles’ shadow. But it is a huge metropolitan center and an excellent place the best auto transport quotes and service. Once over The Los Angeles Grapevine, as they call it, which is over the San Gabriel Mountains, all of a sudden the road turns to desert. Things get tough in the desert even for towns like Bakersfield and Fresno. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range is also hard for auto transport service companies.

The San Francisco Bay Area, which also includes Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento, is wonderful for auto transport companies. Santa Cruz and Monterey are actually touch-and-go. It happens, but not as fast as you would hope. North of Sacramento, vehicle shipments slow to a crawl. If you are using our auto transport cost calculator, you will see that the best pricing is in the Los Angeles Basin and San Francisco Bay areas.

In Nevada, Las Vegas is a very popular destination for car shipping companies. Everywhere else in Nevada is a lot slower, including Reno. The same holds true for Utah, where auto transport quotes and service go very well in Salt Lake City, but for the rest of the state a customer may wait a while longer for a car shipping service.

The southwestern states are generally considered to be Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. According to the 2020 US Census, the combined Texas, New Mexico and Arizona population is roughly 38.9 million people, or about 11.7% of the total U.S. population.

Texas is almost like two very different states. The eastern part that includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, is where most of the Texas population resides, and therefore, most auto transport services happen. Dallas is one of the four easiest places to ship your car in America, the others being Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.

The western part of Texas, including Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa, and along the Mexican border in places like El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, are so spread out that it becomes very difficult for car transport companies to get things done quickly. The auto transport cost goes way up at the border. It is practically speaking, the end of the distribution line, folks.

New Mexico has only one reliable place for car shipping and that’s Albuquerque. No other place can be counted on, including Santa Fe. For sure vehicles are shipped all over New Mexico, like Las Cruces, but it typically takes longer than average.

In Arizona, Phoenix is wonderful for auto transport services. That includes Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale. All wonderful for the best auto transport rates and service. Farther south, Tucson is good too. Flagstaff much less so because of the higher elevation. Use our original auto transport cost calculator to see the difference.

The Midwest is generally considered to be Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is not hard for an auto transport company to put together a full load in the Midwest. Just look at the big cities packed so closely together: Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Des Moines and Minneapolis. Those are very popular car shipping routes. The combined Midwest population is roughly 62.3 million people, or about 18.8% of the total U.S. population.

The freeway system throughout the Midwest is beautifully laid out. For that, we have President Dwight D. Eisenhower to thank. Way to go Ike! The East-West Interstates I-70, I-80, I-90 and I-94 cut through the Midwest states, while the North-South interstates I-35, I-39, I-55, I-57, I-65, I-69, I-71, I-75, I-77 and more, weave their way as well.

Being in the center of the country, folks in the Midwest are using auto transport services in every direction. Chicago is king, but there are scores of huge metropolitan areas all over the Midwest. Direct Express Auto Transport created the very first auto transport rate calculator in 2004. Try it now in the Midwest.

Florida is probably the largest car shipping state in the country during “snowbird season”. Every year the snowbirds flock to Florida in the winter, and then return home again in the spring. An auto transport company can’t go wrong following the I-95 corridor along Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Melbourne, Port St. Lucie, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Those are all great destinations from and to Florida. According to the 2020 US Census, the Florida population has roughly 21.8 million people, or about 6.6% of the total U.S. population.

It is much the same thing on the Gulf of Mexico side, following I-75 through Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and Naples. Shipping cars to the Gulf coast is a like an easy tropical breeze. Snowbirds from the Midwest states tend to favor the Gulf of Mexico side. The east coast folks tend to favor the Atlantic side, and in particular, New Yorkers gravitate to Miami. But really, you find people from everywhere in Florida. And many are just searching for their lost shaker of salt, as Jimmy Buffett might say.

Go south of Homestead into the Florida Keys, however, and all bets are off. Shipping a car to Key West is extremely difficult. Not many car transport carriers just passing through. Do yourself a favor by meeting an auto transport carrier in either Key Largo or Homestead. You will get the best auto transport cost and service the closer you get to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. That’s good advice to everybody in Florida.

The Eastern Seaboard states are generally considered to be New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. According to the 2020 US Census, the combined eastern states population is roughly 73.5 million people, or about 22% of the total U.S. population, which obviously helps auto transport cost and service.

New York is like a tale of two cities. The Big Apple is America’s largest city and its positive effect on auto transport companies extends to northern New Jersey, southern Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania. Upstate New York has far more in common with New England, a mixed bag when it comes to auto transport delivery. Almost all of New Jersey is accessible, including Atlantic City.

In Delaware, Wilmington is by far the best city for auto transport cost and service. In Maryland, what is called the DC corridor, or I-95, runs from Baltimore to Washington, DC and is great for auto transport carriers anywhere. The far western and eastern regions of Maryland (next to Delaware) can be a tad slower. As always, trying to meet an auto transport driver near a big metropolitan area cures the remote location logistical hurdles. Well, that and money. Making it worth an auto transport carrier’s while to go out of his way helps a great deal too.

Southeastern Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia area, is absolutely fantastic for auto transport rates and service. Venture to central Pennsylvania and the Pocono Mountains, however, and it gets sporadic. The warmer weather months are fine for auto transport carriers. But the winter brings a host of auto transportation logistical problems, as many remote areas become almost impassable for large car transport carriers. If you are also shipping from or to a remote location, the problem of timely auto transport delivery becomes even more pronounced.

Following I-95 straight down the corridor, and we run into Virginia, which is wonderful for auto transporters in the Arlington and Alexandria areas near D.C., and for the most part okay into Richmond and Norfolk. It gets slow in the western part of Virginia near Lynchburg, and the southwestern region as well.

North Carolina is actually easier for auto transport service carriers to Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham. However, the tawny coastal towns from Elizabeth City to Wilmington are tougher for auto transporters. The same holds true in South Carolina from Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head, with the possible exception of Charleston. Columbia is by far the best place for transporting a car in South Carolina.

New England consists of six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Despite a low population density, it is relatively easy to ship a car to any three of those six states regardless of the distance. According to the 2020 US Census, the combined New England population is roughly 15.1 million people, or about 4.5% of the total U.S. population.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut are easier for auto transporters than it is for Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Boston is actually the best big hub for auto shippers from or to New England. By far, Boston is the main auto transport hub in New England.

Southern New Hampshire, for example, is fine for vehicle shipping, because of its proximity to Boston. But once an auto transport service ventures farther north into upper New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, it becomes increasingly more difficult to move cars in a timely fashion. Our first of a kind Direct Express Auto Transport cost calculator considers that hurdle and adds an incentive for the auto delivery driver.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The distance between origination and destination is probably the number one factor determining how much it costs to ship a car.