The enormous population is the most important factor in California’s auto transport industry. More people means more dealerships, breakdowns, body shops, car shows, restoration projects, motorsports, home relocations, and other reasons to move a car. More people means a larger need for auto transport. And California is famous for its car culture, people love owning cars here.
The state continues to grow. Recent graduates and seasoned professionals alike find themselves with better opportunities to the west. California does have the fourth highest unemployment rate in the US however, so jobs aren’t the only reason people come here. There’s a very attractive culture and way of life. For vehicle transporters this means snow birds. People come from all over to vacation around LA specifically, it’s kind of like a second Florida and the regular snowbird pattern is followed. People come from colder states between October and December and go back up to those colder states between April and May when winter is over. Because there are a limited amount of trucks running a certain route if you try to ship your car at the same time as the snowbirds you will be looking at very inflated prices.
California also has a huge network of ports. California exports a huge amount of products ranging from tech related items to produce, but that doesn’t affect auto transport. Japan is one of the leading countries in auto manufacturing today and it is certainly cheaper for them to ship cars to the west coast than to the east coast. Furthermore there are a lot of personal vehicle shipments through the ports as well. This includes people moving to Hawaii, people moving to Asia, or people who purchased a car in a foreign country and want to bring it to the US. The ports are a huge boost to California’s auto transport economy.
Shipping from California to almost anywhere is easy, especially if you live in the Los Angeles area. Like any state living near a big city helps. If you are located in or near the national forests or along the coast further than 50 miles from Los Angeles, San Diego, or San Francisco the price will be much higher. However, being California, eventually you will have a carrier pass by almost any city.