Auto CarrierOpen
Albuquerque, NMLakeland, FL
7 Cars, Operable. Lumper paid by receiver · 1,804 mi
- Total Pay
- Call for rate
- Rate / Mile
- Weight
- 28,000 lb
- Load Type
- FTL
Auto Carrier freightCar Hauling Loads
Car Hauling Loads
Open And Enclosed Auto Transport
Auto carrier loads are vehicle moves, dealer transfers, auction runs, fleet repositioning, single cars for private customers, hauled on an open multi-car trailer or an enclosed one. An open carrier typically takes seven to ten vehicles, an enclosed carrier five to seven. Every car hauling load on this board shows its rate and its vehicle count before you make a call.
- Open carrier
- 7 to 10 vehicles
- Enclosed carrier
- 5 to 7 vehicles
- Cargo insurance
- commonly $250,000+
- Gross limit
- 80,000 lb
Live Auto Carrier Loads
Read straight off the board, not a sample. Rates are what the broker posted, the figure you invoice, with nothing taken out of it.
- Open right now
- 198
- Median rate per mile
- $3.11/mi
- from 136 loads quoting a rate
- Origin states
- 46
Auto CarrierOpen
Tampa, FLElk Grove Village, IL
7 Cars, Operable. Lumper paid by receiver · 1,203 mi
- Total Pay
- Call for rate
- Rate / Mile
- Weight
- 21,400 lb
- Load Type
- LTL
Auto CarrierOpen
Oklahoma City, OKMilwaukee, WI
7 Cars, Operable. Drop trailer at shipper · 864 mi
- Total Pay
- $2,625
- Rate / Mile
- $3.04/mi
- Weight
- 31,700 lb
- Load Type
- FTL
Every auto carrier load on the board, with the rate on it. Free account, no card.
Start FreeInsurance decides what you can book
A loaded nine-car open carrier is carrying a quarter of a million dollars of somebody else's property, and an enclosed carrier with classics or exotics on it can be carrying several times that. Cargo insurance requirements in this segment are correspondingly higher than in general freight: $250,000 is a common floor for open carriers and enclosed work regularly requires far more. Brokers will check the certificate before they tender, and a limit that is too low simply removes most of the board from you.
Read your own policy for the exclusions as well as the limit. Damage during loading and unloading, and the exact definition of what counts as in your care, are where car hauling claims are actually argued.
What is an auto carrier load board?
A board filtered to vehicle moves, dealer transfers, auction runs, fleet repositioning and single cars, with the vehicle count and the rate on every listing. On this freight the gate is rarely the trailer: it is cargo insurance, and shippers commonly ask for $250,000 or more before they will tender a load.
Which is why the vehicle count is on the posting. Seven to ten cars on an open carrier, five to seven enclosed, and the whole combination still has to come in under 80,000 lb gross, so the count and the mix of vehicles decide the job as much as the mileage does. Checking that against your policy limit before you call is the difference between a booking and a wasted hour.
Open against enclosed
Open carriers move the overwhelming majority of vehicles in the country. They are cheaper, they hold more, and everyday cars do not need protection from weather they were designed to be driven in. Enclosed carriers move classics, exotics, prototypes and anything where the customer is paying for the car not to be seen or rained on. Enclosed rates are substantially higher per vehicle, and so are the standards, the insurance and the customer's expectations.
A third category worth knowing about is single-car and hotshot auto transport, one or two vehicles on a gooseneck or a wedge trailer. It serves the moves a full carrier cannot economically make, and it is where a lot of operators start.
Who ships vehicles
- Dealerships, moving inventory between stores and taking delivery from auctions.
- Auctions, which generate a large and steady share of the volume and run on tight collection windows.
- Manufacturers and their logistics providers, moving new vehicles from plants and ports.
- Rental and fleet operators repositioning cars seasonally between regions.
- Private customers relocating, and snowbird traffic north and south with the season.
- Insurance and salvage operators moving damaged and non-running vehicles, which need a winch and pay accordingly.
Note the seasonality: auto transport has one of the clearest seasonal patterns in freight, with heavy southbound movement into the Sun Belt in autumn and the reverse in spring. Planning a year around it matters more here than in most segments.
Fraud, and why verification matters here
Vehicles are the most attractive freight in the country to steal, and auto transport attracts a disproportionate share of double brokering and identity fraud. The pattern is familiar: a load offered well above market, a carrier profile that does not quite match the authority, urgency applied to stop anyone checking. Verify the MC number against federal records yourself, check that the contact details match the registered ones rather than the ones in the email, and treat an unusually generous rate as a reason to slow down rather than to hurry.
The full set of warning signs is in how to spot a double-brokered load. Every broker posting on this board has their MC number checked against federal records before their loads appear.
Every auto carrier load on this board shows its rate before you call, and posting is free for brokers and shippers, which is why the freight is here. See how it works for carriers.
Auto Carrier Loads, Common Questions
How many cars fit on an auto carrier?
Seven to ten on a standard open multi-car carrier and five to seven on an enclosed one, depending on the vehicles. Larger SUVs and trucks reduce the count before the 80,000 lb gross limit does.
How much cargo insurance do car haulers need?
$250,000 is a common minimum for open carriers, and enclosed work frequently requires substantially more. Check the exclusions as well as the limit, loading and unloading damage is where claims are actually contested.
Do I need a CDL to haul cars?
For a multi-car carrier, yes, the combination is well over 26,001 lb. Single-vehicle transport on a small gooseneck can fall below the threshold, but the combination weight ratings decide it, not the number of cars.
Is enclosed car hauling worth the extra cost?
It pays considerably more per vehicle and carries fewer of them, so the economics depend on filling the trailer with the right freight. The insurance requirement and the customer expectations are both a step up from open transport.
How much do car hauling loads pay?
Per vehicle, and the load is the sum of what is on the trailer, which is why loading order and how full you run matter more here than rate per mile. A seven-car open load at a modest price per car beats a three-car load at a good one. Every listing here shows the rate for the move before you call.
How do you find car hauling loads?
Auto transport is posted separately from general freight because almost nothing about it is general — the insurance, the loading and the customers are their own world. Filter to auto carrier here and every listing shows the vehicle count, whether it is open or enclosed, and the rate, which is what decides whether a load is worth the deadhead to reach it.
Can you haul inoperable vehicles?
Only with the equipment to load one and the agreement to carry it. An inop cannot drive up a ramp, so it needs a winch, and most carriers charge more for one because loading takes longer and the vehicle has to be positioned rather than driven. A load posted as running that turns out to be an inop is a conversation to have before it is on your deck, not after.
Who is liable if a car is damaged in transit?
The carrier, and the inspection report at pickup is what decides the argument. Photographs and a signed condition report before the vehicle goes on the trailer are the whole defence against a claim for damage that was already there, which is why experienced haulers do it at both ends without being asked. The mechanics of a cargo claim are in the claims guide under Resources.
How much cargo insurance does enclosed car hauling need?
More than open, because the freight is worth more. Enclosed exists for classic, exotic and high-value vehicles, and shippers in that market check the certificate before anything else — a single car can be worth more than an entire open load. Brokers post the limit they require with the load, and it is the first filter on whether the work is available to you.
One Account Covers Every One Of Them
Change what you run and you never change boards. Set as many truck types on your profile as you actually operate and the board matches all of them.
- Lowboy LoadsLowboy and RGN loads with the rate on every listing. Heavy equipment, oversize machinery and permitted freight in all 50 states. Free to join, no commission.
- Flatbed LoadsFlatbed loads in all 50 states with the rate on every listing. Steel, lumber, machinery and tarped freight. Free to join, no commission, alerts as loads post.
- Hotshot LoadsHot shot loads nationwide with the rate on every listing. Gooseneck and bumper-pull freight for one-ton pickups. Free to join, no commission, lane alerts.