Shipping a Car to College: What Students and Parents Should Know
Moving away to college involves a long checklist: housing, tuition, class registration, furniture, clothes, and everything needed to turn a dorm room or apartment into a temporary home. For students attending school far from home, there may be another question to answer: How are we getting the car there?
Driving may seem like the obvious solution, but a long-distance road trip isn’t always practical. Depending on the distance, families may have to consider fuel, hotels, meals, time away from work, mileage on the vehicle, and the logistics of getting everyone home afterward.
For many families, shipping a car to college provides another option. Here’s what students and parents should know before arranging college auto transport.
Why Ship a Car to College?
College students attend schools hundreds or even thousands of miles from home. While some students fly to campus, having access to a vehicle may still be useful for commuting to an off-campus apartment, traveling to work, completing internships, buying groceries, or returning home during school breaks.
Shipping the vehicle allows the student to travel separately while a professional auto carrier transports the car. This can be particularly helpful when attending college several states away.
Instead of spending multiple days driving across the country, the student can fly to their destination while the vehicle makes the trip independently.
How Does College Car Shipping Work?
Most student vehicles are transported using open auto transport, the same type of carrier commonly used to move vehicles for dealerships and manufacturers. The process generally begins by providing the auto transport company with:
Pickup city and state
Delivery city and state
Vehicle year, make, and model
Desired transportation dates
Whether the vehicle operates normally
Contact information for pickup and delivery
An auto transport broker then works to coordinate the shipment with an available motor carrier traveling along or near the requested route. Once a carrier is assigned, pickup and delivery details are coordinated with the appropriate contacts.
When Should You Book a Car Shipment for College?
Whenever possible, avoid waiting until the day before you need the vehicle moved.
Late summer is a busy relocation period across the United States. Families are moving, students are returning to college, and vehicles are traveling between states for many different reasons. Booking ahead gives you more time to coordinate a carrier and more flexibility with pickup dates. That doesn't mean you always need to arrange transportation months in advance. However, families with fixed move-in schedules should begin researching college car shipping services before move-in week arrives. The more flexibility you have, the easier it may be to coordinate the vehicle with a carrier already traveling along the route.
Can the Car Be Delivered Directly to a College Campus?
Sometimes—but campus delivery isn’t always the best option. Large auto carriers require enough room to maneuver safely. Narrow residential streets, parking garages, low-hanging trees, campus traffic restrictions, security checkpoints, and crowded move-in areas can make certain locations inaccessible. If the carrier cannot safely reach a dorm or campus address, the driver and customer can typically coordinate a nearby location with adequate space for loading or unloading.
Large shopping centers or other easily accessible areas may work better than trying to maneuver a multi-vehicle transporter through a crowded campus.
Note: Students should also verify their university’s parking rules before shipping a vehicle.
How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Car to College?
There is no universal price for student auto transport. The cost to ship a vehicle depends on factors including:
Distance
Pickup and delivery locations
Vehicle size
Carrier availability
Fuel prices
Seasonal demand
Open or enclosed transportation
How quickly pickup is needed
Major transportation corridors may have more carrier traffic than rural or remote college towns. For example, transporting a vehicle between two large metropolitan areas may provide more carrier options than shipping to a university located far from major interstate routes.
This is why getting a quote for your specific vehicle and route is more useful than relying on a generic per-mile estimate found online.
Should Students Choose Open or Enclosed Transport?
For most student vehicles, open auto transport is the practical choice. Open carriers transport multiple vehicles at once and are widely used throughout the auto transportation industry.
Enclosed transportation provides extra protection from weather and road conditions and is generally better for exotic, luxury, antique, collectible, or particularly valuable vehicles.
For an everyday sedan, crossover, or SUV heading to college, open transportation is typically sufficient.
How Should You Prepare a Car for College Auto Transport?
Preparing your vehicle ahead of pickup can help the process go smoothly.
Remove Personal Belongings
A vehicle transporter is moving your car—not functioning as a household moving company.
Avoid filling the vehicle with clothing, furniture, electronics, dorm supplies, or other personal property.
Discuss any questions about belongings with your broker before pickup.
Remove Valuable Items
Take toll transponders, electronics, important documents, loose accessories, and valuables with you.
Check the Vehicle
Make sure the car starts, drives, steers, and brakes normally unless you have specifically arranged transportation for an inoperable vehicle.
Photograph the Vehicle
Take clear photos before pickup so you have a record of the vehicle’s condition.
Provide Accurate Contact Information
Make sure the transportation company has working phone numbers for whoever will be present at pickup and delivery.
For college students, that may mean listing a parent at the origin and the student at the destination.
What About Shipping the Car Home for Winter or Summer Break?
College auto transport isn’t limited to the beginning of the school year. Students attending school far from home may also choose to transport their vehicle:
Home for summer break
Back to campus for fall semester
Home during extended winter breaks
To a new university after transferring
To another state for an internship
After graduation
Families that know they’ll need transportation at the end of the semester can begin planning ahead rather than waiting until final exams are underway.
Watch Out for Extremely Cheap College Car Shipping Quotes
College expenses add up quickly, so it’s understandable that families want to save money wherever possible. However, choosing an auto transport company solely because it provides the lowest quote can create problems later.
Carriers decide which vehicles to accept based on the route's economics. If a quote is dramatically below the current market, a carrier may not be willing to transport the vehicle for that price. A reliable transportation company should provide a realistic estimate based on the actual shipment rather than using an artificially low number simply to attract a customer.
Parents and students should evaluate the company itself—not just the advertised price.
Make the College Move a Little Easier
There are already plenty of logistics involved in sending a student away to college. Getting the car there shouldn’t become another road trip to coordinate. Whether your student is moving a few states away or across the country, professional auto transport can offer an alternative to adding hundreds or thousands of miles to the vehicle.
Need to ship a student’s car to or from college?
Request a quote from Beam Me Up Auto Transport today and let us help coordinate reliable vehicle transportation for your student’s move.