Most car-shipping price pages give you one national average and a form to fill in. That average hides the thing that moves the price most: how far the car is going. This page collects what four public sources published in 2026 for one standard car on an open or enclosed carrier at four distances, says who published each number and when, and explains why a 2,500-mile trip costs more in total but far less per mile than a 500-mile one. Every figure is a price the customer pays (a shipper price), not what the truck is paid (carrier pay), and none of it is a quote.
Car shipping cost at 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,500 miles
The table lines up each source's 2026 figure for one running car at each distance. Where a source publishes a per-mile band instead of a total, we multiplied it by the distance and say so. All figures are customer prices (shipper side).
| Distance | Open carrier: published figures (source, date) | Enclosed carrier: published figures | Spread in this row |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 miles | FreightWaves Checkpoint (May 2026): $600–$700. Cars.com (May 2026): $669 average. Ship A Car (Sept 2026): about $650 typical for 300–600 miles, the median of its own bookings. | FreightWaves: $850–$1,000. Cars.com: $1,149 average. | Open $600–$700; enclosed $850–$1,149 |
| 1,000 miles | FreightWaves: $650–$800. Sherpa Auto Transport (July 2026): $700–$1,100 for a standard sedan. Ship A Car: about $1,100, or about $1.05 a mile. Cars.com: $1,069 average. | FreightWaves: $1,000–$1,200. Cars.com: $1,529 average. | Open $650–$1,100; enclosed $1,000–$1,529 |
| 1,500 miles | Cars.com: $1,209 average. FreightWaves' 1,500-mile-plus band of $0.55–$0.95 a mile works out to $825–$1,425 at 1,500 miles (our multiplication); its published 2,000-mile total is $1,200–$1,400. | Cars.com: $1,669 average. No other source we opened gives a 1,500-mile enclosed figure. | Open $825–$1,425; enclosed about $1,669 (one source) |
| 2,500 miles | Ship A Car: about $1,650, or about $0.60 a mile for 2,500 miles and up. FreightWaves' 1,500-mile-plus band of $0.55–$0.95 a mile works out to $1,375–$2,375 (our multiplication). Nearest published totals, at 2,000 miles: FreightWaves $1,200–$1,400; Sherpa $1,000–$1,600. | No source we opened publishes a 2,500-mile enclosed price. Ship A Car's premium of about a third, applied to its $1,650 median, gives about $2,200 (our arithmetic). Nearest published point: FreightWaves, 2,000 miles, $1,700–$2,000. | Open $1,375–$2,375; enclosed about $2,200 (derived) |
How to read it: the spread column runs from the lowest to the highest figure in that row. It is not a quote and not our price. A running sedan, a flexible pickup window and two addresses near an interstate land near the low end; an SUV or pickup, a fixed date, summer or snowbird timing and a rural address push toward the top or past it. One published figure is left out on purpose: Cars.com's 2,000-mile enclosed average ($1,460) sits barely above its 2,000-mile open figure ($1,439) and below its own 1,500-mile enclosed figure ($1,669), so we treat it as an outlier.
Why the price per mile drops as the trip gets longer
A car hauler does the same fixed work for every car: loading and strapping the car down, a written inspection, and slow city driving at both ends. Ship A Car's per-mile guide (updated September 5, 2026) gives that as the reason its rates fall with distance: the fixed work is spread over more miles. So a longer trip always costs more in total but less per mile. It is also why comparing quotes by their per-mile rate misleads; compare the totals for your actual route.
| Distance | Published price per mile, open carrier (source, date) |
|---|---|
| Under 300 miles | About $2.00 median, about $450 total (Ship A Car, Sept 2026). About $2.50 a mile at 150 miles (Cars.com, May 2026). |
| Under 500 miles | $1.25–$2.00 (FreightWaves Checkpoint, May 2026) |
| 300–600 miles | About $1.45 median, about $650 total (Ship A Car) |
| 500–1,500 miles | $0.65–$1.20 (FreightWaves) |
| About 1,000 miles | About $1.05 median, about $1,100 total (Ship A Car) |
| 1,500 miles and up | $0.55–$0.95 (FreightWaves) |
| 2,500 miles and up | About $0.60 median, about $1,650 total (Ship A Car) |
What changes the price
- Vehicle size. A bigger vehicle takes more deck space and weight allowance on the trailer. Sherpa's averages across all distances (July 2026, its own shipments): car $1,225, SUV $1,306, van $1,375, pickup $1,501. FreightWaves' under-500-mile ranges (May 2026): sedan $540–$900, SUV $600–$1,100, truck $650–$1,150.
- A car that doesn't run. It has to be winched on and off, and not every truck has a winch. Sherpa's non-running shipments averaged $296 more than running ones ($1,576 vs. $1,280); FreightWaves puts the add-on at $150–$300. Sherpa notes the car still has to roll, brake and steer to go on a standard carrier.
- Enclosed trailer. Sherpa's enclosed shipments averaged $614 more than open ones ($1,852 vs. $1,238), and about 93% of its customers chose open. Published premiums: about a third (Ship A Car), 30–50% (Cars.com), 30–60% (FreightWaves). Enclosed makes sense for classic, exotic or high-value cars, not most daily drivers.
- Season, including snowbird months. Sherpa (July 2026) puts June–August 10–20% above average, flags October–November and March–April as snowbird months on routes to and from Florida and Arizona, and calls January–March the off-peak window. FreightWaves says prices are usually highest in spring and summer; Ship A Car says summer moves and winter snowbird routes firm up prices, while fall usually prices lowest. If you are heading to Florida this October or November, expect the busy end of the range.
- A flexible pickup window. Flexibility lets your car ride on a truck that is already passing through. Sherpa suggests a 3–5 day pickup window rather than a single day. At the other extreme, FreightWaves says expedited service can cut the pickup window to 24–48 hours and is the most expensive option.
- Rural pickup or delivery. A full-size car hauler cannot always get down a narrow or unpaved road. Sherpa says rural or remote addresses may add $50–$200 and sometimes mean meeting the truck in a nearby town; FreightWaves says addresses near major metro areas usually pay less.
- Fuel. Car haulers burn diesel. EIA's U.S. average on-highway diesel price is $6.276 a gallon for the week of October 19, 2026 (EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update). FreightWaves notes fuel is built into car-shipping prices, so a price guide written in 2025 or earlier likely understates what you will see today.
Ship it or drive it?
Shipping is not automatically the expensive choice, and driving is not automatically the cheap one. The answer depends on distance and on whether you count wear on the car. Here is the comparison laid out with public numbers you can swap for your own.
Worked example (illustrative)
The move: one running midsize sedan, two trip lengths: about 1,000 miles (roughly Philadelphia to Orlando) and about 2,500 miles (roughly coast to coast).
Assumptions (ours, for illustration): 28 miles per gallon; about 500 miles of driving a day, so 2 days and 1 hotel night for 1,000 miles and 5 days and 4 nights for 2,500 miles. Regular gasoline at EIA's U.S. average of $4.331 a gallon (a fixed gasoline snapshot for this illustration, from EIA's table for the week of October 12, 2026; it is not the weekly diesel figure above). A hotel night at GSA's standard federal lodging rate of $113 and meals at its standard $68 a day for fiscal 2027 (Federal Register, September 10, 2026), used as stand-ins for a modest road trip.
| Line | About 1,000 miles | About 2,500 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel at 28 mpg and $4.331/gal | 35.7 gal ≈ $155 | 89.3 gal ≈ $387 |
| Hotel at $113 a night | 1 night: $113 | 4 nights: $452 |
| Meals at $68 a day | 2 days: $136 | 5 days: $340 |
| Out of pocket to drive | ≈ $404 | ≈ $1,179 |
| Full cost to drive: IRS rate of 76¢ a mile (includes fuel, wear and depreciation) + hotel + meals | $760 + $113 + $136 = $1,009 | $1,900 + $452 + $340 = $2,692 |
| Ship on an open carrier (published 2026 figures, table above) | $650–$1,100 | about $1,375–$2,375 |
| Your time behind the wheel | 2 days | 5 days |
Reading it: at 1,000 miles, driving is clearly cheaper out of pocket ($404 against at least $650), and about even once you count wear on the car ($1,009, inside the $650–$1,100 shipping range). At 2,500 miles, the out-of-pocket cost of driving ($1,179) is just under the low end of shipping ($1,375), but the full cost ($2,692) is above the top of the published range, and you have spent five days at the wheel. The 76-cent figure is the IRS business standard mileage rate for July 1 – December 31, 2026 (IRS); the IRS bases it on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a car (IR-2025-128), so it already includes fuel. Two things the table leaves out: shipping does not get you there, so add a one-way flight or ride to the shipping column; and you would buy some meals anyway, so you can drop that line, which lowers the driving totals by $136 and $340.
How a legitimate car-shipping quote works
Many car-shipping companies are brokers: they find a carrier (the business that owns the truck) for your car. Sherpa and Ship A Car, two of the sources above, both describe themselves that way. Using a broker is normal, and FMCSA requires interstate brokers to be registered. What separates a sound booking from a bad one is how the price, the payment and the dates are handled.
- An estimate comes first; a firm price comes later. Price pages and calculators, this one included, give estimates. FreightWaves (May 2026) says third-party calculators are only rough, most quotes are good for 24–48 hours, and many companies do not provide binding estimates, so the final amount can change. Ask whether the price is fixed if your car matches its description. Ship A Car's guide says to expect a written agreement with the final figure before the truck arrives.
- Know whether you are dealing with a broker or a carrier. FMCSA's consumer advisory about automobile transporters says auto brokers only arrange the transportation of your car, and to be suspicious of any website where it is not clear which one the company is. Interstate auto transporters and brokers must both register with FMCSA and receive an MC docket number; transporters also get a USDOT number. The advisory says to avoid any company that does not prominently display its MC number on its website. Federal rules also require a broker's advertising to show that it is a broker (49 CFR 371.7). Our guide on how to verify a car shipper walks through the lookup.
- No payment until a carrier is assigned. Ship A Car's guide says a legitimate quote never needs a deposit before a carrier is assigned. Some companies take a partial payment once a truck is confirmed and the rest at delivery; Sherpa's published process ends with inspecting the car, signing the bill of lading and paying the remaining balance at delivery.
- Pay by card and watch the statement. FMCSA's advisory says that if you pay by credit or debit card, closely monitor the transactions with that company and make sure the amount you approved is all that is taken. Be wary of anyone who asks for a wire transfer, a payment app or gift cards instead.
- Expect a pickup window, not an exact date. FreightWaves says most carriers need a window of one to five business days after your scheduled date to assign a driver and route, and suggests budgeting two to seven extra days on top of transit time. Sherpa says carrier assignment typically takes 1–7 days after booking. A promise of an exact pickup hour weeks ahead does not match how car haulers schedule.
- Inspect and document at both ends. The driver records the car's condition on the bill of lading at pickup and again at delivery (Ship A Car; Sherpa). Wash the car first, take dated photos from every side, and write any new damage on the bill of lading before you sign at delivery.
Red flags worth walking away from
- A price far below every other quote. Ship A Car warns that this is usually a booking hook that gets raised after you commit.
- A deposit demanded before a carrier is named.
- No MC number on the website, or no clear statement of whether the company is a broker or a carrier (FMCSA advisory).
- A fuel surcharge added after you book. Ship A Car notes fuel is already in the rate a carrier accepts.
- Pressure to pay by wire, payment app or gift card.
If something goes wrong with an interstate auto transporter or broker, FMCSA's advisory says you can file a complaint through its website or by calling 1-888-368-7238, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern.
Where these numbers come from
We opened four public pages that published 2026 car-shipping prices: FreightWaves Checkpoint (a consumer guide, May 29, 2026), Cars.com (a consumer guide, May 20, 2026), Sherpa Auto Transport (a broker that publishes averages from its own shipments, updated July 2026) and Ship A Car, Inc. (a broker that publishes medians from its own bookings, updated September 5, 2026). All figures are customer prices for one vehicle. The pages differ in method: Sherpa and Ship A Car report what their customers paid, while FreightWaves and Cars.com publish typical ranges and averages without saying exactly how they were built. All four earn money from car shipping, directly or through referral links, which is one more reason to compare at least three written quotes for your own route. None of the figures is ours.
Two limits worth knowing. Averages blend routes: a busy interstate corridor and a rural back road at the same distance can price far apart. And the sources were written between May and September 2026, while diesel kept moving; check the week's EIA diesel price against the date on any guide you read, this one included.