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California to Pennsylvania car shipping
Shipping a car from California to Pennsylvania costs roughly $1,670–$1,900 and takes 7–9 days over 2,713 road miles (Los Angeles to Philadelphia). Below is what moves that number, and how to get real quotes for this lane.
| Vehicle & trailer | Price | Transit |
|---|---|---|
| Sedan, open trailer | $1,670–$1,900 | 7–9 days |
| SUV or crossover, open | $1,790–$2,030 | 7–9 days |
| Any vehicle, enclosed | $2,290–$2,600 | 7–9 days |
Estimates from distance and vehicle type. Actual price depends on how busy the lane is the week you ship.
The mileage here was taken between Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia end is where the weight of this corridor sits. It is the point the road was measured to, it holds the largest single block of licensed companies on the lane, and the gauge of freight-market thickness at the far end, printed beside this text, reads near the top of its range. On a crossing this wide the far end is usually the open question. Here it is the settled part.
Price leans the same way. This direction carries the smaller multiplier of the pair, the leg back toward California the larger, and both sit under the model's flat baseline. The westbound figure is not this one reversed, and more people go looking for it than come here.
This corridor, measured
| California → Pennsylvania | back | |
|---|---|---|
| Measured between | Los Angeles → Philadelphia | Philadelphia → Los Angeles |
| Road miles | 2,713 | 2,715 |
| Transit | 7–9 days | 7–9 days |
| Open carrier, sedan | $1,670–$1,900 | $1,680–$1,910 |
| Direction multiplier | 0.974 | 0.981 |
| Carrier reloads at the far end | 0.99 — easily | 0.95 |
| Licensed companies based there | 303 | 117 |
Distance is measured between Los Angeles and Philadelphia by a routing engine, not as a straight line. Registered companies at the California end cluster in Los Angeles, San Diego, Fontana; at the Pennsylvania end, in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Manheim. A register counts businesses filed at an address, not trucks on this road today.
The other direction has its own page: Pennsylvania to California.
The shorter register holds the taller town
Pennsylvania has far fewer licensed companies on the federal register than California does, and Philadelphia still holds more of them than any town at the California end. That inversion is the useful fact here: the shorter list has the taller town, and the taller town is the one your car is arriving in. Behind it the Pennsylvania side drops off quickly, with Pittsburgh next and then Manheim, Lancaster and Newtown. So the delivery end of this lane is concentrated rather than deep, and what it is concentrated on is the exact point the mileage was measured to.
Eastbound carries the smaller multiplier
Each direction here is priced with a multiplier of its own, and this page holds the lower one. Neither sits far from the flat baseline, so neither end of this pair is charging anybody for a difficult finish. What a multiplier reads is the far end rather than the driving, which is why the same trip east and the same trip west do not land on one figure. The calendar then separates them again: this lane carries the snowbird flag, so the month you pick moves the estimate on top of whatever the direction did.
When to ship it
This lane runs against the retiree migration. southern California fills up from October and empties from March, so the direction you are going is the cheap one in autumn and the dear one in spring — trucks come back out of it needing a load.
| Month | Sedan, open trailer | vs year-round |
|---|---|---|
| January | $1,840–$2,090 | +10% |
| March | $2,000–$2,280 | +20% |
| May | $1,670–$1,900 | level |
| July | $1,870–$2,120 | +12% |
| October | $1,470–$1,670 | -12% |
Indicative only. Fuel is indexed to the U.S. weekly retail diesel average, last read 2026-09-07.
What drives the price on this lane
- Distance. 2,713 miles puts this lane at about $0.66 a mile. Coast to coast is the cheapest per mile and the slowest in days. Trucks fill up completely before departing, so flexible dates are worth real money here.
- Season. This is a snowbird lane. Southbound fills from October and northbound from April, and in those windows a week of lead time is worth more than any amount of haggling. Running north, it fills up in spring when the same vehicles go home.
- Direction. Pennsylvania is a dense freight market, so a carrier delivering here can reload quickly and does not need the trip to pay for the run back. This direction usually prices a little under Pennsylvania to California.
- Trailer. Enclosed protects from weather and road debris and costs about 37% more here ($2,290–$2,600). The premium grows with distance — an enclosed trailer carries fewer cars, so the longer the run the more deck revenue the carrier gives up. Worth it for low-clearance, classic or high-value cars; rarely worth it otherwise.
- Condition. A car that does not run needs a winch at both ends and adds about $200. Tell the broker up front — a driver who finds out at pickup can refuse the load.
Pickup and delivery on this lane
The companies that run California to Pennsylvania are registered in these cities. A carrier based near either end is the one most likely to already be heading your way, which is what makes the difference between a quote and a quote you can actually book.
Picking up around California
- Los Angeles12
- San Diego10
- Fontana9
- Chula Vista8
- Hesperia8
- Jurupa Valley8
- Riverside8
- Stockton7
- Burbank6
- Corona6
Delivering around Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia16
- Pittsburgh5
- Manheim4
- Allentown3
- Lancaster3
- Newtown3
- Warminster3
- Harleysville2
- Harrison Valley2
- Lebanon2
Counts are companies with active FMCSA authority registered in each city.
Licensed companies based in California
303 companies with active FMCSA authority are registered in California.
- AA UNITED AUTO TRANSPORTS INCGLENDALE, CA · broker · bonded
- ABC AUTO SHIPPINGIRVINE, CA · broker · bonded
- STAR CAR SHIPPINGLOS ANGELES, CA · broker · bonded
- ALL STAR DIRECT AUTO SHIPPING, LLCSANTA MONICA, CA · broker · bonded
- ALPHA AUTO TRANSPORT LLCDUBLIN, CA · broker · bonded
- AMAX AUTO TRANSPORTATION INC.BUENA PARK, CA · broker · bonded
All California auto transport companies →
California to Pennsylvania: common questions
Which cities is the distance actually measured between?+
Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Everything beside this text hangs on that pair of points, so a delivery to Pittsburgh, Manheim, Lancaster or Newtown is a different road, and so is a pickup in Hesperia, Fontana, Jurupa Valley or San Diego. Because the Pennsylvania end gathers at the metro itself, moving the delivery address off it changes the picture more than moving the pickup does. Give the companies the addresses you really have.
Is the trip back from Pennsylvania priced the same?+
It is not. Westbound holds the larger multiplier of the pair, so this figure does not run backwards. That direction is also the busier one to search, which tells you about who is planning a move and nothing about what a deck costs. If you expect to send a car the other way later, price that leg in the month you actually need it rather than working from this page.
Who is it that quotes a corridor like this?+
Licensed companies registered at one end or the other. At the Pennsylvania end, firms that own decks make up nearly the whole register; the California side carries a sizeable arranging trade alongside its carriers. This site is not among them: no operating authority, no equipment, and the car is never in our hands. Your request goes out to those companies and their answers come back to you. Which of them answers is not ours to decide.
How much does it cost to ship a car from California to Pennsylvania?+
Expect $1,670 to $1,900 for a running sedan on an open trailer. An SUV on the same lane runs about $1,790–$2,030, and an enclosed trailer about $2,290–$2,600.
How long does it take to ship a car from California to Pennsylvania?+
About 7 to 9 days in transit over 2,713 miles, plus one to three days to schedule pickup after you book.
Can the carrier pick up and deliver to my door?+
Yes on almost every lane. The truck gets as close as it legally and physically can — on a narrow residential street the driver will ask you to meet at a nearby lot.
How do I ship my car from California to Pennsylvania?+
Give the two ZIP codes and what you drive, and the request goes to a panel of licensed companies at once instead of you calling down a list. They quote, you compare side by side, and you deal directly with whoever you pick — we take no commission and nobody gets your number until you hand it over. You do not travel with the car: the driver collects it, you both sign an inspection report, and the same happens at the far end.
More lanes from California
More lanes to Pennsylvania
Where is the car going?
Two ZIP codes. No account, no obligation.
Shipping somewhere else in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania car transport →