Texas car shipping starts with one fact: the state is enormous. El Paso to Houston is about 745 miles on I-10, and Texarkana to El Paso is roughly 800, so a move inside Texas can take as long as a trip from Dallas to Atlanta. The good news is that Texas has some of the busiest car carrier lanes in the country. I-10, I-35, I-45 and I-20 feed Houston, Dallas to Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, and trucks run them every day.
Demand is constant in both directions. People move to Texas for jobs in energy, tech, health care and logistics, and Austin and the Dallas to Fort Worth suburbs have absorbed heavy relocation traffic from California and the Northeast. Houston is tied to the Gulf and the Port of Houston, San Antonio hosts Joint Base San Antonio, and El Paso is home to Fort Bliss. Each creates steady shipping needs, from new hires and PCS orders to dealer and auction transfers.
Sahara Auto Transport moves cars to, from and within Texas on open and enclosed carriers. We plan around the things that matter here: summer heat, Gulf hurricane season, toll roads that bill by plate, and suburbs so spread out that two addresses in the same metro can be an hour apart. Tell us your pickup and delivery points and we will give you a realistic window and a carrier that runs your lane regularly.
Pickup and delivery
Where we ship in Texas
Houston
A sprawling metro where Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands and Pearland sit far apart, so carriers plan pickups around I-10, I-45, I-69 and the Beltway 8 and Grand Parkway loops.
Dallas to Fort Worth
Two downtowns and dozens of suburbs such as Frisco, Plano, McKinney and Arlington, linked by I-35E, I-35W, I-30 and I-20, with heavy relocation demand in the northern suburbs.
San Antonio
A military city built around Joint Base San Antonio, where I-10 and I-35 cross and many newer neighborhoods line Loop 1604.
Austin
Tech relocations to Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Pflugerville keep volume high, though I-35 through downtown is one of the most congested stretches in the state.
El Paso
Far West Texas on I-10, closer to Albuquerque and Phoenix than to Dallas, with steady Fort Bliss moves and loads that often pair with New Mexico and Arizona.
Rio Grande Valley
McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville draw Winter Texans from the Midwest every fall, making the Valley a seasonal hotspot for snowbird car shipping.
Routes our carriers use
Main corridors in and out of Texas
I-10
Crosses roughly 880 miles of Texas from El Paso through San Antonio and Houston to Beaumont, the longest stretch of any interstate inside a single state.
I-35
Runs from Laredo through San Antonio, Austin and Waco to Dallas to Fort Worth and on to Oklahoma, the main north to south artery through the center of the state.
I-45
Connects Dallas and Houston in about 240 miles and continues to Galveston, one of the busiest in-state car shipping runs.
I-20
Splits from I-10 west of Pecos and runs through Midland, Odessa, Abilene and Fort Worth to Dallas, then east toward Shreveport and Atlanta.
I-69 and US-59
Links Houston with the Rio Grande Valley and East Texas, with sections still being upgraded to interstate standard.
Ports and logistics hubs
- Port of Houston, one of the busiest ports in the country, handling roll-on/roll-off vehicle and equipment cargo
- Port Freeport south of Houston, a major vehicle import and processing port on the Gulf
- BNSF Alliance intermodal facility north of Fort Worth
- Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal in Wilmer, south of Dallas
Transit times
How long shipping from Texas takes
Chicago, IL
925 to 1,100 miles · 2 to 4 days
Est. $900 to $1,150
Denver, CO
800 to 1,050 miles · 2 to 4 days
Est. $875 to $1,100
Orlando, FL
950 to 1,100 miles · 3 to 4 days
Est. $900 to $1,150
Los Angeles, CA
1,400 to 1,550 miles · 3 to 5 days
Est. $1,075 to $1,375
New York, NY
1,550 to 1,650 miles · 4 to 6 days
Est. $1,125 to $1,425
Transit starts once your vehicle is loaded. Prices are November 2026 estimates for a running sedan on an open carrier, not quotes. Ocean shipments to Alaska and Hawaii are priced individually.
Hurricane season, summer heat and the rare deep freeze
Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November, and the Texas coast from Brownsville to Beaumont is exposed, with the highest risk usually in August and September. When a storm threatens Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi or the Golden Triangle, evacuation traffic jams I-45, I-10 and US-290, and carriers hold off until roads reopen. If your shipment touches the coast during that window, keep your dates flexible and your phone handy so we can reschedule quickly.
Summer heat is the other constant. Highs above 100 degrees are common from June through September across much of the state, which is hard on weak batteries, old tires and low coolant, so make sure the car is mechanically sound before pickup. Winters are usually mild, but North Texas and the Panhandle get ice storms, and a severe freeze like the February 2021 storm can stall traffic statewide for days.
Demand follows the calendar too. Winter Texan traffic toward the Rio Grande Valley peaks from October to December, and the return north builds in March and April. Summer is moving season for families relocating to Austin, Dallas to Fort Worth and Houston, so booking a week or two ahead in June and July helps you get the pickup date you want.
Local know-how
Tips for shipping a car in Texas
- Texas toll roads are mostly cashless. TxTag, Harris County's EZ TAG and the NTTA TollTag all work across Texas toll roads, and Texas tags are also accepted in Oklahoma and Kansas. Without a tag, bills by mail follow the license plate.
- If you use a portable toll transponder, take it out of the car before pickup so it does not travel with the vehicle.
- Texas generally gives new residents about 30 days to register a vehicle. Emissions testing still applies in the larger metro counties around Houston, Dallas to Fort Worth, Austin and El Paso, so check TxDMV and your county tax office for the current steps.
- Houston and Dallas suburbs often have narrow residential streets and strict HOAs. A grocery store or big box parking lot near a main road is an easy backup meeting spot.
- In summer, avoid leaving the car parked in direct sun for days before pickup, and check the battery and tire pressure, since heat accelerates both problems.
- In-state moves are real moves here. Shipping from El Paso to Houston or from Amarillo to the Valley takes 2 to 4 days after pickup, about the same as many interstate trips.