Most standard sedans on open transport move for somewhere between roughly $500 and $2,000, and the most honest short answer is that the figure tracks distance more than anything else. FreightWaves Checkpoint puts the 2026 average near $1,150, with short regional hauls around $540 and cross-country runs climbing past $3,000. ConsumerAffairs, drawing on quotes for a Toyota Camry on open carriers, lands on a similar band of $500 to $1,700. A widely quoted national “average” near $1,200 does exist, but it describes a median trip under 1,000 miles on a mid-size car, so it seldom matches the vehicle sitting in your driveway.
Where the money actually goes
Strip away the marketing and a car shipping price is two things stacked together: what a trucking company needs to physically haul your vehicle on your route, and the margin a broker adds for arranging it. The American Transportation Research Institute, in its 2026 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, reported that the industry-average cost to operate a truck hit $2.336 per mile in 2025, the highest per-mile cost in the report’s history, while non-tank deadhead ran 16.5 percent of miles, meaning about one mile in six carried no freight and earned nothing. Diesel, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly index, averaged $5.599 per gallon nationally for the week of August 31, 2026, up $1.865 from a year earlier. Because the American Trucking Associations’ 2025 American Trucking Trends report found that 91.5 percent of US carriers operate ten trucks or fewer, most haulers decide load by load whether your lane and pay are worth the drive. Brokers post accepted shipments on Central Dispatch, the Cox Automotive load board that dominates the industry, at a carrier-pay rate, and carriers claim the loads that fit their route and pay enough.
Why one average can’t fit your shipment
Per mile is not a fixed rate, and that trips up most first-time shippers. RoadRunner’s 2026 shipment data shows a median of $1.23 per mile at a median distance of 987 miles, but the full range runs from about $0.33 to $2.00 per mile. The same dataset puts cross-country moves near $0.33 per mile against roughly $0.80 under 500 miles. The reason is structural: loading, inspection, and paperwork are largely fixed per vehicle, so on a 300-mile haul that overhead dominates, while on a 2,500-mile run it barely registers. Distance sets the total, but density sets the deal. Two shipments of identical mileage can price hundreds of dollars apart because one runs a dense metro corridor thick with trucks and the other threads a rural route where a driver has to leave the interstate. A heavier SUV or truck takes more deck space and fuel and costs more than a compact. A vehicle that will not roll, steer, or brake needs a winch, which FreightWaves Checkpoint prices at an added $150 to $300 and Move.org puts at roughly $100 to $300. Tight neighborhoods, snowbird season, and a one-day pickup window all push the number up. If you want to see how the per-mile decline looks laid out, one company’s distance-banded rate tables show open rates falling from about $1.56 per mile in the 0 to 500 mile band toward the mid-40-cent range beyond 2,500 miles, figures that company labels as its own estimates rather than industry averages.
The four numbers, and the gaps between them
A calculator estimate, a written quote, a booked price, and the final charge are four different numbers, and the spread between them is the part almost no pricing page explains. A calculator estimate is a modeled band drawn from historical data. A written quote is a provider’s stated offer for your details. The booked price is what you agree to when a carrier is assigned. The final charge is what you actually pay at delivery. Move.org, an independent comparison publisher, has reported that a final bill can run 25 to 50 percent above the first quote, as much as $650 more than expected. The mechanism is simple once you see it: a broker who posts your load too low on Central Dispatch may find no carrier will take it, then circles back asking for more so the car can move. A number that never gets picked up is not a price.
What expedited actually buys
Expedited is sold as one thing but usually means several. Expedited assignment moves you to the front of the matching queue. Expedited pickup aims to get a truck to you within a day or two. Guaranteed pickup commits to a specific collection window for a premium, often 30 to 50 percent above standard, though your car still rides a shared multi-car trailer rather than a private truck. Guaranteed delivery is the one to treat skeptically: road time is roughly fixed at 400 to 500 miles per day under federal hours-of-service limits, so no one can compress a coast-to-coast haul by paying more. Pay to lock the pickup end when a deadline is real, and treat the arrival date as an estimate with a buffer built in.
Building an estimate you can defend
Start with your route’s likely per-mile band from two or three independent sources, multiply by your mileage, then adjust up for a large or inoperable vehicle, a rural end, a peak season, or a narrow window. Calculators are useful for that starting band as long as you treat the output as a range, not a promise. When you gather quotes, normalize them before comparing: same transport type, same pickup window, same door or terminal service, same operable status. A quote that sits far below the rest is not a bargain to grab, it is a signal the load may sit unassigned. Who you deal with matters too. Consumer Reports found direct carriers ran 20 to 30 percent more than brokers, and the roles reach past price: a broker generates the quote, but an independent motor carrier moves the car and holds cargo liability under the Carmack Amendment. The broker’s $75,000 federal bond protects carriers against non-payment, not your vehicle. Before you put down a deposit, verify the company’s MC number, confirm whether the quote is an estimate or a locked total, and read the cancellation terms.
