The used-car auction industry’s best-known name comes from a small borough in Lancaster County. In 1945, a group of local businessmen opened a one-lane car auction just outside Manheim, Pennsylvania. It grew into one of the country’s largest wholesale vehicle networks, and the original site still operates. Dealer trucks leave that region daily, loaded with cars bound for the eastern half of the country. If you’re buying through a Pennsylvania auction, there’s a good chance your car starts its trip there.
The state’s main highways serve different regions. The Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76 and I-276) runs from the Ohio line past Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. I-80 crosses the northern tier through the Poconos, I-81 follows the Cumberland Valley from Harrisburg to Scranton, and I-95 serves Philadelphia. The Turnpike uses all-electronic tolling based on license plates, and carriers include those tolls when they plan a route.
Pennsylvania also has two working waterfronts. PhilaPort, on the Delaware River in South Philadelphia, handles a steady stream of cargo for the Mid-Atlantic. The Port of Erie gives the state a terminal on the Great Lakes, and Pittsburgh’s river terminals serve barge traffic on the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela rivers.
Winter is the main scheduling factor. Snow and ice on I-80 between the Poconos and State College, and on the Turnpike’s mountain sections near the tunnels, can slow trucks by a day. Penn State move-in in mid-August draws families to State College, and Philadelphia-area retirees ship cars to Florida each fall. Military moves center on Carlisle Barracks, home of the Army War College, along with Tobyhanna Army Depot and Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg.
Newly registered cars must pass Pennsylvania’s annual safety inspection. Safeeds Transport books your move with a licensed carrier that already runs your corridor.
