What It Costs

Most transport companies will not publish a price. We will. Not because our numbers are magic, but because the vagueness in this industry is doing real damage to people planning a move around a figure nobody will commit to.

Here is what interstate vehicle transport actually costs in Australia, what moves the number, and why the cheapest quote you receive is often the most expensive one you end up paying.

The per-kilometre reality

Across the Australian market, interstate car transport sits at roughly $0.45 to $0.70 per kilometre for a standard sedan. Long depot-to-depot runs land at the bottom of that band. Urgent, remote, enclosed or door-to-door work sits at the top.

That range is wide because the cost is not really about distance. It is about how full the truck is and how far it deviates from a route it was running anyway. A car going Sydney to Melbourne on a truck that already had a gap is cheap. The same car going to a property two hours off the highway is not.

Prices by corridor

Indicative starting prices for a standard sedan, depot-to-depot, one way, including GST.

What pushes the price up

What brings it down

• Depot-to-depot. If you live near a capital and can spare an hour at each end, this is the single biggest saving available.
• Flexible dates. Telling us “any time in the next three weeks” lets us put you on a run with a gap. A fixed date means we build the run around you.
• More than one vehicle. Per-vehicle pricing drops sharply for the second and third unit on the same truck.
• Booking early. Not a discount as such, but late bookings get whatever capacity is left, which is rarely the cheapest.
• Accepting rail on the long hauls. Perth and Darwin by rail is considerably cheaper than road. It is slower. If you are not in a hurry, take the saving.

Why the cheapest quote often is not

Most companies quoting you for interstate transport do not own a truck. They take your booking, post the job to a load board, and wait for a carrier to accept it. That model produces two specific problems, and both cost you money.

The quote is an estimate, not a price. If no carrier picks the job up at that rate, it gets re-listed higher, and you are asked for more, often once your move is already locked in and you have no leverage.

Nobody has committed to a date. A job sitting unaccepted on a load board is a job not moving. This is where the six-week delivery stories come from. Have a look at the reviews for any transport company you are considering and count how many mention a vehicle sitting in a depot.

What our price includes

• A named departure date at booking
• The price held for 30 days: no fuel levy added later, no re-rate once the vehicle is loaded
• Goods-in-transit cover for the whole journey
• A photographed condition report at collection, signed by both parties
• The same report repeated at delivery and compared against collection
• A call ahead of delivery so nobody waits around
• Our own truck and our own employed driver
• Balance settled on delivery, not before

When to book