The per-mile bands (open transport)
Auto transport prices per mile, and the rate per mile <em>falls</em> as distance rises — short hops carry fixed pickup/delivery costs across few miles, long hauls spread them thin:
- Under 500 miles: roughly $0.90–$1.40/mile — an LA→Phoenix sedan lands around $300–$450.
- 500–1,000 miles: roughly $0.70–$1.00/mile — Dallas→Atlanta runs $600–$850.
- 1,000–1,500 miles: roughly $0.65–$0.85/mile — LA→Dallas runs $900–$1,300.
- 1,500–2,400 miles: roughly $0.55–$0.75/mile — LA→Atlanta runs $1,200–$1,600.
Those are sedan/crossover figures on open transport under normal demand. Full-size trucks and big SUVs add 10–20%; inoperable vehicles add $100–$250 for winch loading.
The five things that actually move your price
- Season and direction. Snowbird migration (CA↔AZ), summer relocation waves, and January’s Arizona auction season all tighten specific directions on specific lanes.
- Vehicle size and mods. A 9-car trailer is a Tetris board — lifted trucks and roof racks consume premium positions.
- Exact addresses. Metro-to-metro is cheapest; rural endpoints add routing time or a meeting point.
- Flexibility. A 2–3 day pickup window nearly always prices better than one fixed day.
- Running condition. Tell the carrier up front — surprises at the truck cost more than honesty at the quote.
Where broker markup hides
Most quotes you’ll collect online come from brokers, and their pricing works like this: quote you low to win the booking, post your car to a load board, and see if any carrier accepts it at the price that leaves them their fee. When no carrier bites, you get the call — “we need a little more to get this moved.” The teaser quote wasn’t a price; it was bait.
A carrier quote works the opposite way: we know our trucks, our lanes, and our costs, so the first number is the real number. When you compare quotes, ask each company one question: “Is your MC number a carrier authority or a broker authority?” Then check the answer on FMCSA SAFER — ours is right there.