Shipment modes
Car Freight Shipping: Moving Vehicles as Freight, Not as a Road Trip
Car freight shipping is specialized auto-hauler capacity—not a dry van full of spare parts. COL Freight Solutions brokers vehicle moves and tells you when the paperwork is heavier than the car.
Updated 2026-08-20 · car freight shipping
Car freight shipping means the vehicle is the cargo: cars, light trucks, and similar units moving on open or enclosed auto carriers. It is not household-goods packing, and it is not a driver delivering a unit under its own power unless you specifically ask for drive-away. COL Freight Solutions, a licensed property broker, arranges qualified auto-hauler capacity across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Cross-border car freight is a different product from a domestic dealer-to-dealer hop. Titles, VIN lists, temporary import permits, and Mexican or U.S. customs treatment can stop a trailer that is otherwise mechanically ready. We coordinate the freight; licensed customs professionals handle the entry. Offices in Saint Petersburg, FL, and Los Gatos, CA, support bilingual communication with plants, auctions, and dealerships.
Open versus enclosed auto haulers
Open carriers are the workhorse for running changes, dealer inventory, and units that can live with road exposure. Enclosed transport is the usual ask for specialty, classic, or high-value cars that cannot collect rail dust or hail. Neither option is a 53-foot dry van with cars driven inside unless a specialized loader is involved—and that is a different quote.
If you are actually shipping auto parts, engines, or body panels, say so. That freight belongs on FTL, LTL, or flatbed, not on a car hauler. Mixing the two conversations wastes a day of capacity hunting.
- Running inventory and standard used units often move open
- Show cars, prototypes, and low-clearance vehicles often need enclosed or modified ramps
- Inoperable units must be disclosed; winching and forklift flags change the carrier
USA–Mexico vehicle moves are not a standard FTL
A car crossing at Otay Mesa or Laredo may need a temporary import, a definitive import, or a manufacturer in-bond story. Auction and dealer units have different document packs than a plant transferring a prototype. We will not invent a 24-hour border SLA; inspection of VINs at the port of entry is common and depends on customs.
Pacific lanes often pair San Diego / Tijuana dealer and maquila traffic with Otay Mesa. Texas dealer groups and Monterrey-area plants more often use Laredo’s commercial bridges or Colombia Solidarity when the routing fits Nuevo León. El Paso/Ciudad Juárez is the natural gate for Chihuahua automotive suppliers—not a detour through Laredo unless the carrier’s network says so.
What we need to quote car freight shipping
Year, make, model, running condition, operable brakes, pickup type (residence, dealer lot, port, or plant), and whether the unit is modified or lowered. For Mexico, add whether the vehicle is new, used, or a company asset, and who the agente aduanal is. Photos of ground clearance help more than a marketing adjective like “exotic.”
COL does not store cars at a branded lot we do not operate. If a unit must dwell, we discuss partner yards—not a fake street address. Call 561-880-9808 with the VIN list when you are ready to move more than one unit on the same dispatch.
Adjacent freight: parts, tires, and unfinished bodies
Many “car freight” searches are really automotive supply chain: tires, glass, harnesses, and stamped metal. Those move as standard truck freight through the same border gates, often as FTL into IMMEX plants. We can quote both the finished vehicle and the parts lane, but they use different equipment pools.
