Georgia Auto Transport Rates and Quotes

Shipping a car to or from Georgia? What it costs depends on the route, the vehicle and whether it runs. We ran real quotes from our platform for twenty-eight Georgia lanes, from a 149-mile run from Atlanta to Augusta to a 2,186-mile haul from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and an open-trailer sedan ranged from $170 to $1,310. Here’s what it costs by vehicle type, why the direction of the trip matters and flips from one corridor to the next, what Georgia expects once your car arrives, and what shapes shipping in a state where almost every route runs through Atlanta. We also show eight real jobs from signed bills of lading, with photos.

What it costs to ship a car to or from Georgia

Every figure below is a real quote from our platform for one vehicle on an open trailer, running, priced separately for each vehicle type on October 13, 2026. Atlanta stands in for most of Georgia, with Augusta for the eastern edge and Savannah for the coast, and each lane is labeled by its actual cities. The Denver and Los Angeles lanes were quoted for our Colorado and California guides on the same day:

We did not quote coupes separately; in our earlier state guides a coupe was always priced the same as a sedan, so read a coupe off the sedan column. The platform rates its confidence in each price, and a few are less certain than the rest, such as the Atlanta to Savannah pickup (56 percent, rated low) and the Atlanta to Newark pickup (56 percent). Bigger is not always more expensive: an SUV priced below the sedan on 5 of the 28 lanes, for example $909 against $944 from Atlanta to Boston and $640 against $698 from Atlanta to Philadelphia, so check the SUV price on your own route rather than assuming it is higher. Treat these as a guide, and get a live quote for your exact pickup and delivery points.

How the price per mile changes with distance

Distance is the biggest driver, but the price per mile falls as the trip gets longer. For a sedan it ran $0.90–$1.84 per mile under 450 miles and $0.57–$0.89 per mile at 1,000 miles or more. A short run costs more per mile because the driver still has to load, unload and reposition the truck whether the trip is 150 miles or 1,500. Atlanta to Nashville is 250 miles and cost $460, or $1.84 a mile, while Atlanta to Los Angeles is 9 times as far but a sedan cost only 2.7 times as much ($1,252 vs. $460).

Pickups and vans cost more than sedans

Size matters, and the gap grows with distance. On the lanes of 700 miles or more a pickup cost about 1.3 to 2.4 times a sedan, and the widest gap was Atlanta to New York, where a pickup was $1,651 against $701 for a sedan. On Atlanta to Dallas a van was $1,575 against $689 for a sedan. On the shortest lanes the gap was smaller: Atlanta to Augusta was $170 for a sedan, $234 for an SUV and $289 for a pickup.

Popular Georgia car shipping routes

Georgia’s biggest corridors run north to Ohio, the Northeast and the Midwest, south to Florida, west to Texas, Colorado and California, and up the coast to the Carolinas, with what we quoted for a running sedan on an open trailer. Typical transit is the usual open-trailer range for the distance, not a guarantee, and the clock starts when the driver picks up the car.

Georgia to Ohio and the Midwest

Ohio is the most-searched route in our Georgia keyword research, though we treat the very large volume with caution. Atlanta to Columbus is 568 miles and a sedan was $560 going to Ohio against $488 coming back, so leaving Georgia cost 15% more. Atlanta to Chicago is 690 miles and was $721 out against $500 back, a 44% gap, and Atlanta to Detroit is 723 miles at $769 out and $838 back, where arriving in Georgia cost 9% more. Allow about 2 to 4 days.

Georgia to New York, New Jersey and the Northeast

Newark to Atlanta is 871 miles and a sedan was $989, against $555 going the other way, so arriving in Georgia cost 78% more. New York to Atlanta was $1,031 against $701, 47% more, and Boston to Atlanta $1,001 against $944. Philadelphia to Atlanta, at 800 miles, was within about $20 either way ($719 against $698). Allow about 3 to 5 days.

Georgia to Florida and the Carolinas

Atlanta to Orlando is 440 miles and a sedan was $396, against $400 coming back, almost the same either way. Atlanta to Charlotte is 245 miles and was $300 going out and $400 coming into Georgia, so arriving cost 33% more. Allow about 1 to 3 days. Georgia is also the pass-through for much of the snowbird traffic between the Northeast and Florida, which is one reason the Florida and Georgia lanes behave so differently from the Northeast ones.

Georgia to Tennessee, Texas and Colorado

Atlanta to Nashville is 250 miles and a sedan was $460 going out against $371 coming back. Atlanta to Dallas is 784 miles and was $689 out and $557 back, and Atlanta to Denver is 1,407 miles at $1,069 out and $885 back. Allow about 2 to 5 days.

Georgia to California and California to Georgia

Atlanta to Los Angeles is 2,186 miles and a sedan was $1,252, against $1,310 for Los Angeles to Atlanta, within about 5 percent either way. Allow about 7 to 10 days coast to coast.

Within Georgia

Atlanta to Augusta is 149 miles and a sedan was $170, and Atlanta to Savannah is 249 miles and was $244. In-state trips usually finish in 1 to 2 days, and they are common for dealer transfers, auction pickups, students and soldiers moving between Fort Stewart, Savannah, Augusta and Atlanta. For a lane we did not quote, such as Macon, Columbus, Athens or Valdosta, use the price explorer above to see the nearest real lanes, or get a live quote.

Real Georgia jobs: how long they took

These are eight recent jobs that started in Georgia, taken from the signed bills of lading and the pickup and delivery photos the drivers filed. Four of them started at an auction lot, two at Manheim Georgia and two at Manheim Atlanta, one at a dealership in Athens and one at a dealership in Snellville, and several went to independent dealers in Colorado, Connecticut and Kentucky. The Tundra started at a Byron address that a directory lists as one of Copart’s Georgia yards. Customer names, street addresses, VINs, plates and carrier details are left out, and the photos are blurred where needed. Dates are the pickup and delivery dates on each bill of lading. Miles are approximate road distances between the cities, estimated by us because a bill of lading does not record them. It does not record the price either, so the prices on this page are our quotes above, not what these customers paid.

Delivered

Four of the eight arrived within a day

• Same day: the Tundra to Panama City Beach (about 290 miles) and the SQ5 to Kentucky (about 330).
• 1 day: the GMC Terrain to Kentucky (about 330) and the Porsche Cayenne to Texas (about 810).
• 2 days: the Audi Q5 to Connecticut (about 880) and the BMW X5 to Colorado (about 1,430).
• 3 and 4 days: the Silverado to Nebraska (about 970) and the Mach-E to Colorado (about 1,400).

Examples, not promises: your timing depends on the lane, the carrier and your dates.

See the photos below ↓

Photos are from the drivers’ inspections at pickup and delivery. License plates, signs and bystanders are blurred or out of frame.

Inoperable and enclosed vehicles: what they add

The quotes above are for running vehicles on open trailers, the most common and least expensive way to ship a car. Two options change the price, and on our platform they are priced as adjustments to the open quote:

• Inoperable (a car that does not run): adds about $100, because the driver needs a winch and extra time to load it.
• Enclosed transport: adds about 75% over the open price, because enclosed trailers carry fewer cars and fewer of them run on any given route.

Here is the 784-mile Atlanta to Dallas lane with each option applied:

The inoperable and enclosed columns are calculated from the open quote, not separately quoted, so use them as a planning guide. Enclosed makes sense for luxury, classic and high-value cars, and for summer and storm-season moves when you want the car out of sun and hail; for most daily drivers, open transport is the standard. A salvage or auction vehicle that does not run is the usual inoperable case.

Does direction change the price?

In Georgia it did, and it flipped from one corridor to the next. We quoted thirteen corridors in both directions:

A sedan leaving Georgia cost more on five corridors, mostly heading west and into the Midwest: Atlanta to Chicago was 44% higher than Chicago to Atlanta ($721 vs. $500), Atlanta to Nashville 24% higher ($460 vs. $371), Atlanta to Dallas 24% higher ($689 vs. $557), Atlanta to Denver 21% higher ($1,069 vs. $885) and Atlanta to Columbus 15% higher ($560 vs. $488).

A sedan arriving in Georgia cost more on five others, mostly from the Northeast: Newark to Atlanta was 78% higher than Atlanta to Newark ($989 vs. $555), New York to Atlanta 47% higher ($1,031 vs. $701), Charlotte to Atlanta 33% higher ($400 vs. $300), Detroit to Atlanta 9% higher ($838 vs. $769) and Boston to Atlanta 6% higher ($1,001 vs. $944). Orlando, Philadelphia and Los Angeles were within about 5 percent either way. The price follows how many cars are moving each way on that lane, so if you can ship in either direction, or can drive one way and ship the other, check both.

Did you know?From 28 real Georgia lanes and 4 vehicle types

1. 78% more into Georgia

   Newark to Atlanta cost 78% more than Atlanta to Newark

   A sedan from Newark to Atlanta was $989 and from Atlanta to Newark $555 on the same 871 miles. New York to Atlanta ran 47% above the trip out.

2. 44% more leaving for Chicago

   Atlanta to Chicago cost 44% more than Chicago to Atlanta

   A sedan from Atlanta to Chicago was $721 and from Chicago to Atlanta $500 on 690 miles, the biggest gap among the thirteen corridors we quoted both ways.

3. 3 corridors within 5%

   Orlando, Philadelphia and Los Angeles cost about the same both ways

   Atlanta to Orlando was $396 against $400 coming back, Philadelphia $698 against $719 and Los Angeles $1,252 against $1,310, while the other ten corridors were at least 6 percent apart.

4. 3× the cost per mile

   A 250-mile trip cost three times more per mile than a cross-country one

   Atlanta to Nashville (250 miles) cost $460 for a sedan, or $1.84 a mile. Atlanta to Los Angeles (2,186 miles) cost $1,252, or $0.57 a mile. The driver’s time to load, unload and reposition is spread over fewer miles on a short trip.

Get a Georgia auto quote →

Soldiers, students, snowbirds and when to ship

A few patterns recur in Georgia car shipping. These are general industry experience and Georgia’s own calendar, not our October quote data, so compare a live quote for your date:

• Military moves. Georgia has some of the largest Army posts in the country, including Fort Stewart near Savannah, Fort Benning near Columbus and Fort Gordon near Augusta (the Army has renamed some of these posts more than once, so use the name on your orders), plus Hunter Army Airfield, Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. They generate permanent change of station moves, which follow the military’s own summer peak.
• Students. August move-in and May move-out are busy at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Emory in Atlanta, Georgia Southern and the other campuses, and many students ship a car to or from out of state.
• Snowbirds passing through. Georgia sits between the Northeast and Florida, so I-95, I-75 and I-85 fill with southbound cars in the fall and northbound cars in the spring. That can tighten carrier capacity on those corridors, though we do not have Georgia-specific timing data for it.
• Storm season. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and can affect the coast around Savannah and Brunswick, and Atlanta sees occasional winter ice. Keep your pickup window flexible if a storm is forecast.

A flexible pickup window of a few days usually gets a faster carrier match, and booking a few days ahead matters more around the summer military moves and the August student moves.

Distance, transit time and the main corridors

Georgia is built around Atlanta, and a few interstates carry nearly everything:

• I-75 runs from Florida through Macon and Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tennessee and on to the Midwest, and is the main route to Ohio, Michigan and Chicago. I-85 runs from Montgomery, Alabama through Atlanta to Greenville, Charlotte and the Northeast, and I-20 crosses the state east to west through Atlanta from Augusta to Birmingham, Dallas and beyond.
• I-95 runs along the coast from Florida through Savannah to the Carolinas, and I-16 links Savannah to Macon. I-285, the Perimeter around Atlanta, is one of the most congested roads in the country, so pickups inside it are best timed away from rush hour.
• Atlanta is the hub. Atlanta to Augusta was 149 miles and Atlanta to Savannah 249 miles on our lanes, and most of our long-distance lanes were quoted from Atlanta because that is where the carriers are.
• Ports. Savannah and Brunswick are major ports for vehicle imports and exports, and some carriers pick up and deliver at port yards.

Typical open-trailer transit is about 1 to 2 days for trips under 450 miles, 2 to 4 days for 570 to 900 miles, 3 to 5 days for 1,100 to 1,400 miles and 7 to 10 days coast to coast. Those are industry-typical ranges rather than guarantees, and the clock starts when a driver picks the car up, not when you book. Our recent Georgia jobs (see the real jobs section) took the same day for about 290 to 330 miles, 1 to 2 days for about 810 to 1,430 miles and 3 to 4 days for about 970 to 1,400 miles. A flexible pickup window of a few days usually gets a faster carrier match.

Moving to Georgia: registration, emissions, insurance and tax

If you are moving to Georgia, the car arrives before the paperwork starts. These are the rules the Georgia Department of Revenue and the county tag offices publish for vehicles brought in from another state:

1. Register within 30 days. New residents have 30 days after establishing residency to register a vehicle in Georgia. Registration is handled by your county tag office, not by the Department of Driver Services, and many offices want you to hold a Georgia driver’s license first. A late registration can carry a 10 percent penalty on the title tax.
2. Bring the title and the application. You surrender the out-of-state title for a Georgia title and complete the title and tag application (form MV-1). Some counties require the original out-of-state title, not a copy. If a lender holds the title, the county needs the lienholder’s details.
3. Carry Georgia liability insurance. Georgia requires at least $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 for injury to more than one person and $25,000 for property damage. Your insurer reports the policy to the state’s insurance database, and the county checks it when you register.
4. Check whether you need an emissions test. Emissions testing applies to most gasoline vehicles in 13 metro Atlanta counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale. The newest three model years and vehicles 25 model years or older are generally exempt, and the cutoff moves every year.
5. Expect a title tax and fees. Georgia charges a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) when a car is titled, instead of an annual property tax on the car. A DeKalb County checklist lists it at 3 percent of the car’s fair market value for a new resident, while other sources list 7 percent, so ask your tag office what applies to you. Registration and title fees are small by comparison.

Military members stationed in Georgia under orders may be exempt from the title tax, so ask the tag office. Rules and fees change, and Georgia’s state sites do not always load for automated checks, so confirm each item with your county tag office before you go:

Georgia Department of Revenue: new to Georgia →   Georgia’s Clean Air Force: emissions testing →   DeKalb County Tax Commissioner: new residents →

Atlanta, the Army, the ports and the universities

Several things make Georgia a steady car-shipping market:

• Atlanta. One of the largest metro areas in the country, with a large dealer, auction and relocation market and Hartsfield-Jackson, the busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic, drawing a steady flow of job moves.
• The Army and Navy. Fort Stewart, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, Hunter Army Airfield, Moody Air Force Base and Kings Bay bring thousands of moves in and out each year. Ask your carrier how gate access will work, and consider meeting the driver outside the gate.
• Universities. The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Emory, Georgia Southern and the other campuses draw students from across the country.
• Ports and manufacturing. The ports at Savannah and Brunswick and the automotive plants in the state mean a lot of new vehicles move through Georgia on trucks and rail.
• Relocations. Georgia gains residents from the Northeast and Midwest every year, and many movers ship a second car instead of driving two.

Dealerships and auctions in Georgia

Dealers and auction yards are some of the most common pickup and delivery points for car carriers, and they are commercial addresses where a full-size trailer can usually reach. There is no single official ranking of Georgia’s dealerships, so these are examples drawn from the companies’ own sites and published directories rather than a top-ten list.

Auction yards

• Atlanta area — Manheim Atlanta in College Park and Manheim Georgia in Atlanta, plus Copart yards around the metro (including Atlanta West in Austell and Atlanta South in Ellenwood) and several IAA yards.
• Elsewhere in the state — Copart and IAA yards near Macon, Savannah, Augusta and Tifton.

Wholesale auctions such as Manheim mostly sell running dealer inventory, while Copart and IAA sell salvage and damaged vehicles that often do not run, so price those as inoperable. Four of our eight recent Georgia jobs started at Manheim Georgia or Manheim Atlanta, so auction cars are a big part of Georgia shipping. Each yard has its own release and gate-pass rules, so confirm them before the driver arrives. Auction locations change and some directory entries are years old, so check each company’s location finder. Dealers shipping cars to out-of-state buyers, and buyers having a car delivered to their Georgia home, are both common, and the same open, enclosed and inoperable pricing above applies.

How to choose a car shipping company in Georgia

Searches for the best car shipping companies in Georgia find long lists of names, but there is no official ranking, and the right company is the one that is licensed, insured and clear about price. Check these before you book with anyone:

• Look up the company’s federal registration. Every interstate auto transporter or broker needs a USDOT number and operating authority. You can check them on the FMCSA company snapshot and the FMCSA licensing and insurance search.
• Know whether you are dealing with a broker or a carrier. A carrier owns the trucks. A broker or marketplace like Transportli matches your car with a vetted carrier on your lane and shows you the price up front.
• Ask what the quote includes. Our quotes are for one vehicle on an open trailer, and inoperable and enclosed are priced as adjustments, as shown above. Be wary of a price far below the others, because it may not find a driver.
• Understand the pickup window. Carriers give a window, not an exact time, and a flexible window of a few days usually gets a faster match.
• Inspect and document at both ends. The bill of lading is your condition report. Take dated photos, note any damage before you sign, and keep your copy.

Storms, heat and transit reliability

Georgia’s weather is usually mild for car carriers, but not always. Summer thunderstorms and the occasional tropical storm can pause pickups, hurricanes can close coastal roads and ports around Savannah, and an ice storm in the Atlanta area can shut down roads that are not built for it. If you ship in winter or during hurricane season, leave extra time and keep your pickup window flexible.

Weather matters for the car as well. Georgia sun and heat are hard on paint and interiors, and hail is possible in spring, so keep the car in a garage or covered spot until the driver arrives, and ask about enclosed transport for a high-value car or a classic.

Preparing your car for pickup

Wash the car so existing damage is easy to see, take dated photos from every side, remove personal items and toll tags such as your Peach Pass, leave about a quarter tank of fuel and note anything that does not work. Our auto transport guide has the full checklist, including what to inspect at delivery before you sign.

Georgia auto transport: frequently asked questions

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