Vehicle shipping for San Jose and the South Bay
San Jose moves cars for different reasons than most cities. A large share of our South Bay shipments are tied to jobs: an engineer relocating to a company's Austin or Seattle campus, a new hire bringing a car from Michigan, a family heading back to Chicago after a few years in Sunnyvale. Another large share involves electric vehicles, which are more common on the roads here than anywhere else in the country and which have a few shipping quirks worth knowing.
Big Bear handles both. Use the quote tool above for an instant, all-in price, or call the San Jose desk at (669) 338-2449 if you want to talk through a relocation timeline or a vehicle with special requirements.
Shipping an electric vehicle from San Jose
Teslas, Rivians, Lucids, Polestars and the EV versions of mainstream brands ship on the same open and enclosed carriers as gasoline cars, with a few differences in how the load is handled:
- State of charge. Ship with the battery between roughly 30 and 60 percent. It needs enough charge to drive on and off the trailer at both ends, with a margin for a week in transit, but a full battery adds weight and gains nothing.
- Weight. A Model S or an R1T weighs 1,000 to 2,500 pounds more than a comparable gas vehicle. Carriers are limited by axle weight, so heavy EVs are sometimes priced as a larger vehicle. The quote tool accounts for this when you select the model.
- Transport mode. Put the car in its transport or tow mode before loading so the driver can roll it and so the parking brake does not engage automatically. Leave a key card or fob with the driver; a phone key alone is not enough.
- Low ground clearance. Performance trims and air-suspension cars set to their lowest height can scrape on standard ramps. Raise the suspension before pickup, or choose an enclosed carrier with a liftgate.
Common routes from San Jose
Carriers load in the South Bay and typically head south on the 101 or over the Altamont on the 580 to pick up Interstate 5 for the long eastbound lanes. Pacific Northwest routes run up the 5 through Redding. Representative transit times and open-carrier estimates:
| Route | Distance | Transit | Open carrier est.* |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose → Los Angeles, CA | 340 mi | 1–2 days | $450–$650 |
| San Jose → Las Vegas, NV | 525 mi | 2 days | $550–$750 |
| San Jose → Portland, OR | 690 mi | 2–3 days | $650–$850 |
| San Jose → Phoenix, AZ | 710 mi | 2–3 days | $650–$900 |
| San Jose → Seattle, WA | 840 mi | 2–3 days | $700–$950 |
| San Jose → Denver, CO | 1,250 mi | 3–5 days | $900–$1,150 |
| San Jose → Austin, TX | 1,750 mi | 4–6 days | $1,000–$1,350 |
| San Jose → Chicago, IL | 2,150 mi | 5–7 days | $1,150–$1,500 |
| San Jose → New York, NY | 2,950 mi | 7–10 days | $1,400–$1,800 |
| San Jose → Boston, MA | 3,100 mi | 8–10 days | $1,450–$1,850 |
*Estimates for a standard running sedan on an open carrier with a flexible pickup window. Enclosed, oversized, inoperable and expedited shipments price differently. Your instant quote reflects live rates for your exact ZIPs.
Where we pick up in Santa Clara County and beyond
Door-to-door service covers San Jose and every city between Gilroy and the San Mateo County line. Most Valley neighborhoods are easy for a full-size hauler: wide suburban streets in Almaden, Evergreen, Cupertino and Sunnyvale allow pickup right in front of the house. The exceptions are the hills. Los Gatos above the Village, Saratoga's canyon roads and the Los Altos Hills estates are better handled at a meeting point on a main road, and your coordinator will set that up ahead of time. Corporate campuses in North San Jose, Mountain View and Palo Alto generally allow pickup in a visitor or loading area if security is notified in advance.
Corporate relocations and new-hire vehicles
If your employer is covering the move, we provide the documentation relocation companies and HR teams ask for: an itemized quote, a written pickup window, the carrier's insurance certificate on request, and a bill of lading with condition reports at origin and destination. We can also schedule pickups through an assistant or office manager and release the vehicle to a named colleague at the destination. For employees arriving in San Jose, inbound shipping works the same way in reverse, with delivery to a home, an extended-stay hotel or a company lot.
What a San Jose shipment costs
Silicon Valley rates track slightly above Los Angeles on the long eastbound lanes because fewer trucks originate here and most drivers add a positioning leg through the Central Valley. On Pacific Northwest and Southern California lanes the gap disappears, since the South Bay sits right on the 101 and the 5 corridor. Beyond distance, your price is driven by vehicle size and weight (which is where heavy EVs come in), open versus enclosed, how soon you need the pickup, and the time of year. Late spring and summer are busiest. If your dates are flexible, a two-week window instead of a fixed day is the single easiest way to lower the number.
Open or enclosed?
Open carriers are the standard and the economical choice for commuters and family cars. Enclosed shipping makes sense for a surprising number of South Bay vehicles: performance EVs with expensive paint protection film, collector cars that show at the Palo Alto Concours or the Los Gatos events, and anything with carbon-fiber aero that would not survive a ramp. Enclosed costs about half again as much, and in exchange you get a liftgate, soft straps and a trailer that keeps the car out of the weather and away from road debris across the Sierra and the plains.
Getting ready for pickup
Clean the car so the inspection is accurate, keep fuel to a quarter tank or charge to around half, remove the FasTrak tag and anything loose, and take your own photos. Disable any aftermarket alarm. If you have a car cover, send it along only for enclosed shipments; covers flap and scuff paint on an open trailer. Have the key ready, confirm the meeting point if you live in the hills, and let your coordinator know who will be there if it isn't you. Updates follow at pickup, in transit and on delivery.