Line Haul Transport — Long-Distance Hub-to-Hub Vehicle and Freight Moves

• Dealer groups balancing inventory between stores — see dealer transport
• Rental car companies repositioning fleets — see rental car transport
• Auction buyers and wholesalers moving units in volume
• Remarketing and off-lease vehicle programs
• Corporate fleets relocating vehicles between regions
• Manufacturers and upfitters shipping finished vehicles

In trucking, "line haul" means the long-distance movement of freight between two hubs or terminals, as opposed to the local pickup and delivery at each end. In auto transport, line haul transportation usually means moving full or near-full loads of vehicles over long distances on a set lane — for example, from a port or auction hub in one region to a distribution center or dealer group in another.

The local legs, called pickup and delivery or "drayage" in some contexts, collect vehicles from individual addresses and bring them to the line haul truck, or take them from the hub to final destinations. Separating the two lets each truck do what it's best at: long highway runs for the line haul truck, and short city runs for local carriers.

Door-to-door shipping is what most individual customers use: one carrier picks up your car at your address and delivers it to your destination, often stopping for other cars along the way.

Line haul trucking is built for volume. A carrier runs a set lane on a regular schedule with full loads, and vehicles are consolidated at the origin and distributed at the destination. It's efficient for dealer groups, rental fleets, OEM distribution, auction houses and fleet operators moving many vehicles between the same regions.

For a single car, door-to-door auto transport is usually the better fit. For dozens of vehicles a month on the same lanes, line haul can lower the per-car cost and make scheduling predictable.

Line haul works best on busy, consistent corridors where trucks can run full in both directions:

• Southwest to Southeast: Texas and California hubs to Florida and Georgia along I-10 and I-20.
• Northeast to Florida: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York to Florida along I-95 — see New Jersey to Florida.
• Midwest to Texas: Chicago and Detroit hubs to Dallas and Houston — see Chicago to Dallas.
• West Coast corridor: Seattle to Los Angeles along I-5 — see Seattle to Los Angeles.
• Ports to inland markets: Vehicles arriving at coastal ports moving to inland distribution points.

• Volume: Estimate weekly or monthly units per lane.
• Vehicle mix: Sedans, SUVs, pickups and vans load differently.
• Hub locations: Where vehicles will be consolidated and distributed.
• Schedule: Fixed departure days help carriers commit trucks.
• Condition reporting: Bill of Lading inspections at each handoff.
• Exceptions: How non-running or oversized units will be handled.

Share these details and we'll recommend a plan that balances cost and speed.

• Dealer groups moving inventory between stores and reconditioning centers — see transporting cars for dealerships.
• Rental companies rebalancing fleets between markets — see rental car transport.
• Auction houses and remarketers moving units from consignors to sale sites.
• Corporate fleets relocating company cars or swapping vehicles between regions.
• Resellers with steady volume between buying and selling markets — see auto transport for car resellers.

Line haul pricing is usually set per vehicle per lane, based on distance, volume, vehicle size, and how consistently the lane runs full. Higher, steadier volume lowers the per-car price. Seasonal swings, fuel and empty return legs push it up. We quote line haul programs after reviewing your lanes and volume.

Not every shipper has enough volume to fill a truck every week. When volume is uneven, we can mix line haul for your steady lanes with single-car and partial-load shipments for everything else. That way you get the savings of line haul where it fits, without waiting for a full truck on lanes that only move a few cars a month.