A crated part rides freight; a whole car rides a car hauler. Neither one rides a parcel scale.
Where the parcel ceiling sits
FedEx states the line plainly on its own page about shipping oversized items, read 2026-08-18: a shipment is classified as freight once its weight is heavier than 150 lbs, or once its combined length and girth is more than 165 inches. Either condition alone is enough. A car's curb weight is measured in thousands of pounds before a single passenger climbs in, and a pickup truck weighs more again, so both conditions are broken by a wide margin the moment the vehicle is still sitting in the driveway.
That is not a gap in what SMKlog offers so much as a description of what a parcel network is built to carry. Nobody straps a car to a conveyor belt. The trade that actually moves one runs on entirely different equipment, priced a different way, and the rest of this page is about that trade rather than ours.
How the auto-transport trade prices a move
Auto-transport is its own industry, running open and enclosed car-hauler trailers rather than parcel vans or LTL freight docks. Transporters publish their pricing as per-mile estimates in distance bands, and every one of them labels those figures as seasonal averages rather than quotes — the number for your specific car, on your specific lane, is set by a person after seeing the vehicle.
The shape of that pricing is consistent across the trade: the per-mile rate is highest on short moves and falls steeply as distance grows, so the total flattens out past the first few hundred miles. The expensive part of a vehicle move is the two ends — loading, routing, and scheduling — not the miles in between, which is the same shape freight and long-haul parcel pricing both take once distance stops being the dominant cost.
Season, vehicle type, modifications and route complexity all move the final number, which is why this page prints no per-mile dollar figures: any figure copied from one transporter's site on one day would be stale by the time you read it, and it would still not be a quote for your car.
Open is the default
An open trailer is the cheaper, more common option and the same equipment dealerships use to receive new inventory. Weather and road debris reach the vehicle, which matters more for a daily driver than a project car.
Enclosed is a specific ask
A covered trailer costs meaningfully more per mile than an open one, and transporters price that premium by route and season. It earns its keep on a low-clearance, modified or collector vehicle rather than an ordinary commuter car.
Running matters to the loader
A vehicle that starts, steers and rolls under its own power loads in minutes with a ramp. One that does not needs a winch and more time on the lot, and that is exactly the kind of detail a person has to see before pricing it.
What an auto transporter will ask for
Our checkout sells United States domestic parcel labels, and a vehicle is never going to be one of them. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments. An auto transporter will ask for the make, the condition, both addresses and whether it runs before it prices that specific lane.
Where these figures come from
- FedEx, How to Ship Oversized Items — the 150 lb and 165 combined-inch freight threshold. Read 2026-08-18.
Every transporter publishes its own estimates and they change with the season. Every quote in this trade is per vehicle, per lane, set by a person after seeing the actual car or truck.
Shipping a vehicle, answered
Can I get a vehicle quote through the SMKlog calculator?
No. FedEx's own page on shipping oversized items, read 2026-08-18, states that a shipment is classified as freight once its weight is heavier than 150 lbs or its combined length and girth is more than 165 inches. A car's curb weight alone runs to several thousand pounds, well past that line before anyone opens a door. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments.
What does it cost to ship a car or truck across the country?
Auto-transport companies publish per-mile estimates in distance bands on their own sites, and every one of them labels those figures as seasonal averages that move with vehicle type and route — an estimate, not a quote. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments.
What is the difference between open and enclosed transport?
Open transport carries the vehicle on an uncovered multi-car trailer, the same equipment that delivers new cars to dealerships, and it is the cheaper default. Enclosed transport shields the vehicle inside a covered trailer and costs meaningfully more per mile; transporters price that premium by route and season.
What else moves the number besides distance?
Transport companies name vehicle type, modifications and route complexity alongside seasonal demand as the variables that move their published estimates. None of those are figures a table can guess at from a make and a model, which is why an actual mover prices the specific vehicle rather than a distance band alone.
How do I get an actual quote for a vehicle?
From an auto transporter, with the make, the condition, both addresses and whether it runs. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange vehicle or freight moves.