Shipping to California from the East Coast is the classic cross-country run — top mainland zone, every carrier competing, and prices that move often. Our live run below prices a real box from Newark to Los Angeles; if you are shipping from within the West, the number drops sharply with the zone.
A single real box, priced 2026-07-27 on the Newark to Los Angeles lane. What the carriers quoted is what you see.
This page's benchmark is a 12 × 10 × 6 in, 5 lb box of household goods, quoted live through the SMKlog calculator on the classic coast-to-coast lane, Newark to Los Angeles. The table repeats the carrier responses word for word. Its price column is the finished checkout amount, SMKlog's charge and all.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $17.30 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.14 | 6 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $19.30 | 6-7 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $20.50 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $27.17 | 3-4 business days |
On the Newark run the ground tiers packed into the mid-to-high teens with USPS and UPS cents apart, which is typical of the most contested lane in American shipping. Ship from within California, or from Nevada or Arizona, and you drop several zones and several dollars. LA, San Diego or the Bay as the endpoint changes little; the origin is the lever. And since carriers refile rates constantly, this table is a snapshot with a date on it, not a promise.
The Newark table spans $17.30 to $27.17, but it also spans 3-4 to 7-8 business days. Whether roughly ten dollars more for UPS 3 Day Select makes sense depends entirely on what's in the box and who's waiting for it. Price and window together tell the story.
Reusing a sturdy shipping box is completely fine; carriers only care that old labels are covered and the seams hold. What to avoid is extra air. On a cross-country lane, a box sized down to its contents quotes better and survives handling better.
Coast to coast means days in trucks and several terminal transfers. If the contents would be painful to replace, adding shipping protection at purchase is the sober move; SMKlog offers it alongside the label. Cheap contents can travel bare.
Our cross-country benchmark, quoted 2026-07-27: a 12 × 10 × 6 in box at 5 lb started at $17.30 with USPS Ground Advantage out of Newark, with UPS's ground tiers within about two dollars of that. It's the complete price at checkout, SMKlog's charge included. Closer origins quote lower; run yours to see by how much.
The 2026-07-27 quotes ran 6-7 business days for USPS Ground Advantage, 6 for UPS Ground Saver, 6-7 for UPS Ground, 7-8 for FedEx Ground Economy, and 3-4 for UPS 3 Day Select. Those windows came from the carriers with the prices and are listed per row above.
In the teens for ground service from the East Coast on our run, with $17.30 the floor for a 12 × 10 × 6 in, 5 lb box. Heavier, bigger or faster pushes the figure up; a nearby origin pulls it down. The calculator prices your actual box before you commit to anything.
It doesn't. Describe the item or enter dimensions, look over the live rates, pay for one, print it. Tracking is part of every label, guest or not.