The first transcontinental highway for automobiles, the Lincoln Highway, ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco when it was dedicated in 1913. After the interstate system arrived, I-80 replaced most of the old route between the New York area and San Francisco. So a car shipped between these two cities still makes roughly the same trip.
Carriers usually pick up I-80 in northern New Jersey or take I-78 into Pennsylvania. The northern route continues through Ohio, Chicago, and the Great Plains. Southern California deliveries more often take I-70 or I-40, joining I-15 into Los Angeles and San Diego. The trip covers 2,800 to 3,000 miles and typically takes 7 to 10 days. Winter storms in the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada can add time to northern routes between November and April.
Ports and auctions sit at both ends. The Port of New York and New Jersey anchors the eastern end, and the Port of Oakland anchors the western end of the northern route. Dealer cars move between the auction lot in Newburgh and auction lots in Hayward and Anaheim, which helps keep trailers full in both directions.
Work drives much of the demand. Professionals transfer between New York and Los Angeles in media and entertainment, and between New York and San Francisco in finance and tech. Summer is busy with family moves and students starting at UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford. Snowbirds who winter in Palm Springs ship west in the fall.
Safeeds Transport connects you with a licensed, insured carrier that already runs this coast-to-coast lane.
Shipping somewhere else? See how state-to-state car shipping works.
