California Car Shipping

When shipping a car to or from California, I-5 is your friend. That is the main trucking artery in the state. The bulk of all auto transports are up and down the I-5. The closer your pick up and delivery locations are to I-5, the quicker and cheaper your transport will be. The friendliest shipping locations in the state are Sacramento in the north and Los Angeles in the south and any location along the I-5 in between those two cities. San Diego isn’t bad either but given its extreme southern location on I-5, it can sometimes make for a slightly more expensive and longer transport time than those cities further north along I-5.

Other friendly car shipping locations in California include those cities along CA-99, which runs parallel to I-5 and is east of I-5. Those cities would include Chico in the north, down to Yuba City, Modesto, Fresno, and Bakersfield in the south.

Finally, San Jose and the cities along US-101 down to Los Angeles round out the friendly car shipping locations in California.

Now let’s look at the challenging car shipping locations in California. These are locations that will most certainly cost more to ship cars to and from, and where auto transports will take more time to complete.

First up is San Francisco. This isn’t the most challenging location, but it’s certainly not one of the easiest cities to ship cars to or from in California. San Francisco is very time consuming and expensive for car carriers to service. Toll bridges to and from the city are expensive and San Francisco has the highest gas prices in the country. There are also many streets in the city that are restricted to smaller vehicles. All of this makes San Francisco the most unfriendly metro areas west of the Mississippi for car carriers. Be prepared to pay a premium to ship a car to or from San Francisco!

Speaking of the bay area, while San Francisco is challenging, the cities of Oakland, San Leandro, and Fremont aren’t too bad because car carriers don’t have to deal with toll bridges and road restrictions.

The most challenging car shipping locations are going to be those locations that hug the coastline along CA-1 or those locations along US-101 north of San Francisco, those locations in or near the vast forested and mountainous areas of California, and those locations north of Chico that aren’t along I-5 (far northern California).

While we are a door-to-door auto transport company, we have our limitations. There are just some locations trucks can’t get to. If you live in a remote area up in the mountains or deep in a forested area, or if you are shipping to or from one of those restricted streets in San Francisco, you’ll likely have to meet a driver somewhere along a major highway or interstate near your location.

The other challenging aspect of car shipping to or from California is the price of gas in the state. Even in the best economic times the price of gas in California is almost always the highest in the country. Carriers have to make a living so they don't eat those increased costs. They pass them along to you the consumer! As a result, all things being equal, auto transports in and out of California are going to be higher just because of the price of gas in the state so be prepared for that.

To find out what your California auto transport is going to cost and how long it's going to take, get an instant quote on our website or call us (800) 656-7638.