The registration record is public. Read it before the deposit, not after the truck is late.
The parcel side settles this in one attempt
To record the boundary rather than assert it, a 2018 Honda Accord was described to our own quote path on 2026-07-29 at 192 x 73 x 58 in and 3200 lb, Berkeley Heights, NJ to Dallas, TX. Nothing came back. Both parcel carriers publish the ceilings that explain it, and a sedan clears them by an order of magnitude.
| Ceiling | What the carrier publishes | The sedan |
|---|---|---|
| Weight, UPS | Packages can be up to 150 pounds | 3200 lb |
| Length, UPS | Packages can be up to 108 inches in length | 192 in |
| Length plus girth, UPS | Packages can be up to 165 inches in length and girth combined | 454 in |
| Freight threshold, FedEx | Shipments over 150 lbs. are considered freight | 3200 lb |
That is where the parcel question ends and a different industry begins. A vehicle rides on a car hauler booked as a job, priced per vehicle, per route and per date. Individual parts are a separate matter and do go by parcel, which the last section covers.
Two kinds of company answer the phone
Most numbers people collect for a car move come from companies that will never touch the car. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration draws the line in short sentences, written for household goods moves but describing exactly the two roles a vehicle shipper deals with. This wording was read from fmcsa.dot.gov on 2026-07-29.
| Question | Mover | Broker |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Owns trucks and employs moving staff | Does not own trucks or have professional movers |
| Role in the job | Assumes full responsibility for the transport of your goods | Acts as a middleman; not authorized to transport goods |
| Registration | Both interstate movers and brokers are required to be registered with FMCSA | |
| Who they may use | Brokers for interstate moves are also required to only use interstate movers registered with FMCSA | |
FMCSA also requires a household goods broker to reference in its advertisements its physical business location, MC number, and its status as a broker that does not transport household goods but arranges for this service. Read the fine print at the bottom of any auto transport website with that sentence in mind. A site that never says which of the two it is has told you which of the two it is.
Neither role is the villain. A broker with a good roster finds a truck already running your lane, which is often the fastest way to get a car moved. The problem is only ever a broker presenting itself as the carrier, because the person you paid and the person holding your keys turn out to be strangers to each other the first time something goes wrong.
What to read before the deposit clears
Three public records answer most of what a quote will not. None of them takes more than a few minutes, and all three were checked as sources on 2026-07-29.
The registration record
FMCSA's register returns the location of the company headquarters, contact information, registration status, the type of moving business such as carrier or broker or freight forwarder, complaint information and safety information. The type field is the one that settles who you are actually hiring.
The USDOT number
FMCSA requires one from anybody operating in interstate commerce with a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more. A car hauler is far past that, so a genuine carrier has a number, and a company that will not give you one is not the party moving the vehicle.
The broker's financial security
A broker has to hold a surety bond or trust fund agreement in the amount of 75,000 dollars, filed on FMCSA form BMC-84 or BMC-85. It exists because brokers hold other people's money, and it is the thing a claim runs against when a deposit goes missing.
FMCSA takes consumer questions on 1-800-832-5660. Worth a call before a deposit rather than after one, because the register is the only place where the answers do not come from the company selling you the job.
Why two quotes for the same car are not the same object
A price from a carrier is a price: that company owns the truck, sets the schedule and carries the liability, and the figure covers the work it will perform. A number from a broker is an estimate of what it expects to pay a driver, plus its own margin. FMCSA's own description is the giveaway, since a broker is not authorized to transport goods and is arranging for the service rather than providing it. Until a carrier has accepted the load, no truck is committed to the number you were quoted.
This is why the cheapest quote on a comparison site is often the one that goes quiet. The realistic questions to ask are whether the company is the carrier or the broker, whether a specific carrier has been assigned yet, what happens to the deposit if none is found within the pickup window, and whether the price is fixed once a driver accepts. Get those four answers in writing and the number stops being a guess.
If the car is crossing an ocean rather than the country, the arithmetic is different again and the rules are published by the shipping line rather than negotiated. Our vehicle to Hawaii guide covers that route, including what a carrier makes you strip out of the car before it is accepted.
The part of the move we can price
Vehicle transporters restrict what may travel inside the car, so most people end up with boxes to send separately. Those are ordinary parcels, and they price in seconds. Two representative cartons were quoted from Berkeley Heights, NJ on 2026-07-29.
| Carton | Destination | Cheapest returned | Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 x 18 x 16 in, 28 lb | Dallas, TX 75201 | $39.22 UPS Ground | 5-6 business days |
| 24 x 18 x 18 in, 45 lb | Los Angeles, CA 90011 | $73.30 UPS Ground | 6-7 business days |
Parts follow the same route. A bumper, a hood, a door, a battery or a set of wheels all ship as parcels or as freight depending on size, and each has its own guide on this site with figures captured the same way. Send the vehicle with a transporter, send the contents and the spares yourself, and the two halves of the job stop competing for the same conversation.
Where these rules come from
- FMCSA, Movers vs. Brokers — the role descriptions, the registration requirement and the advertising disclosure. Read 2026-07-29.
- FMCSA, Search for a Registered Mover — the fields the public register returns and the consumer phone number. Read 2026-07-29.
- FMCSA, How do I register with FMCSA as a broker — the financial security amount and the BMC-84 and BMC-85 forms. Read 2026-07-29.
- FMCSA, Do I Need a USDOT Number — the 10,001 pound rating and the definition of interstate commerce. Read 2026-07-29.
- UPS, How To Avoid Shipping Charge Corrections — the maximum weight, length and length plus girth accepted. Read 2026-07-29.
- FedEx, How to Ship Automotive Parts — the weight at which a shipment is treated as freight. Read 2026-07-29.
Federal requirements and carrier limits both change without warning. The wording above belongs to the date shown; read the current version before acting on it.
Car shipping questions
How much does it cost to ship a car?
There is no published figure, and this page does not print one. A car moves under a contract written for one route, one vehicle and one set of dates, and the number settles when a driver accepts the load. What can be established before any money moves is whether the company quoting you is registered to do the work.
Can a parcel carrier move a car?
No. A 2018 Honda Accord described at 192 x 73 x 58 in and 3200 lb returned no parcel rates on 2026-07-29. UPS accepts packages up to 150 pounds and up to 165 inches in length and girth combined, and FedEx treats a shipment over 150 lbs as freight.
What is the difference between an auto transport broker and a carrier?
FMCSA states it in one line each. A mover owns trucks and employs moving staff and assumes full responsibility for the transport of your goods. A broker does not own trucks or have professional movers and acts as a middleman, not authorized to transport goods. Both interstate movers and brokers are required to be registered with FMCSA.
How do I check a company before paying a deposit?
Look it up in the FMCSA register. The record shows the location of the company headquarters, contact information, registration status, the type of moving business such as carrier or broker or freight forwarder, complaint information and safety information. FMCSA also answers questions on 1-800-832-5660.
What should I do with the things inside the car?
Empty it and send them yourself. An 18 x 18 x 16 in carton at 28 lb went from Berkeley Heights, NJ to Dallas, TX for $39.22 on 2026-07-29, and a 24 x 18 x 18 in carton at 45 lb reached Los Angeles for $73.30 the same morning. Both are the cheapest service returned for that box.