New York

New York has two very distinct sections, upstate and downstate. Upstate consists of cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany. Downstate is New York City, Long Island, and everything nearby. Downstate New York is one of the easiest places to get a car shipped from, rivaled for this claim only by Los Angeles. Such a huge population in such a small area is an auto transporter’s dream, the drawback is accessibility. Roads are small, bridges are low, and the roads are constantly packed with cars. Upstate has less of these problems but a lot less volume. If you are in one of the bigger cities along interstate 90 your transport experience will still be mostly easy; anywhere far from interstate 90 could be an issue, especially if you are coming from the northeast corner of the state like Watertown or Plattsburgh.

Every company shipping cars to New York City handles the challenges uniquely. Some will send a smaller truck directly to your home to drop off or pick up the car, others will drive the larger trucks into the city and have you meet them somewhere nearby, and others have facilities in the city where they will ask you to come get your car from. Work with your driver so the process is easy for everyone. New York City is notoriously difficult, small, poorly paved roads, misleading signs, and constant change make one of the best auto transport cities in the US also one of the most difficult. Because of this so many more trucks are in Los Angeles than NYC even though auto transport volume is about the same.

Snow birds are a huge part of New York auto transport. More so in upstate than in downstate, though both are greatly effected. Between October and December folks head south, mostly towards Florida, for the winter. Prices will be extremely high from anywhere in the north to anywhere in the south but very low in the other direction. Try to ship in the opposite direction if possible. Between April and May the effect is reversed and transport becomes very expensive from Florida and the south to New York and the north as these people return home.

If you live in downstate, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, or Albany then you are in an excellent situation. Transport to almost anywhere is possible because of the large number of trucks passing through. A number of other fairly large cities are just poorly situated geographically for transporters. These are cities like Ithaca, Binghampton, Watertown, and Plattsburgh. And cities off of the main interstate in very rural areas are extremely poorly situated because of the mountainous and thickly forested roads coming in and out. Only a select few trucks go on these routes and they only take cars to a select few locations. Finding a truck from these areas is always worth a try but in most situations you will end up having to meet the driver.