Ship a car from Texas to Florida

This lane runs on relocations more than vacations. Military families move between Texas and Florida installations, such as Fort Cavazos, Fort Bliss and Joint Base San Antonio on one end and Eglin, Hurlburt Field, NAS Pensacola, MacDill and NAS Jacksonville on the other. Our military PCS car shipping page covers timing a shipment to orders. Energy-industry transfers, retirees and families chasing a coastline round out the rest.

Distances vary more than on almost any other Florida lane. Houston to Pensacola is only about 550 miles. San Antonio to Miami is close to 1,400. Texas is also truck country, and plenty of the vehicles on this lane are full-size pickups. If yours is lifted or carries a lot of aftermarket gear, read SUV and truck shipping before you get a quote.

From Houston, carriers head east on I-10 through Beaumont, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Between Lafayette and Baton Rouge the interstate runs on a bridge across the Atchafalaya Basin for about 18 miles, with no exits for most of it, so a single breakdown can back traffic up for hours. Many trucks then take I-12 north of Lake Pontchartrain instead of going through New Orleans, rejoin I-10 for Mobile and Pensacola, and continue across the Panhandle to Tallahassee.

• Gulf Coast and Central Florida deliveries switch from I-10 to I-75 near Lake City, heading south to Gainesville, Ocala, Tampa and Orlando.
• Jacksonville and the Atlantic coast stay on I-10 to its end, then follow I-95 south.
• From Dallas–Fort Worth, trucks usually start on I-20 through Shreveport and Jackson, Mississippi, then either cut down to I-10 or continue to Birmingham and Atlanta for I-75.
• From San Antonio and Austin, the truck simply begins farther west on I-10, adding roughly a day of driving before Houston.

Three calendars overlap on this lane. Family moves cluster between school years, from May through August. Military permanent change of station moves peak in the same summer months. And the Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, with the Gulf typically most active from August into October. Both ends of the trip sit on the Gulf Coast.

Hurricanes rarely cancel a shipment, but they do move it. When a storm is forecast, carriers hold off on loading, I-10 can see evacuation traffic, and deliveries in the storm's path wait until roads reopen. If your dates have any give, avoid booking your pickup into an active forecast cone, and keep the delivery window flexible in late summer and early fall.

Open transport carries most cars on this lane, and it's the quickest to schedule in a busy summer. The real exposure here is weather rather than road salt: sun, heat and summer downpours, none of which hurt a car in good condition. Enclosed transport is worth it for collector cars, fresh paint jobs and anything low to the ground.

Height is the more common issue. A lifted truck, oversized tires or a tall roof rack can push a vehicle past what fits under an open carrier's upper deck, or rule out certain positions. Give us the real height, and we'll match the vehicle to a carrier that can take it.

• Houston: suburbs like Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Clear Lake and The Woodlands are generally easy. Inside the Loop, neighborhoods like the Heights and Montrose have narrow streets and deed-restricted blocks, so plan on a nearby main road. Our Houston car shipping guide covers the details.
• Dallas–Fort Worth: Plano, Frisco, Arlington and the newer master-planned suburbs have wide streets, though HOAs sometimes keep tractor-trailers out. Older neighborhoods like the M Streets and Lakewood are tighter. See the Dallas guide.
• San Antonio and Austin: Stone Oak, Alamo Heights, Round Rock and Cedar Park are mostly straightforward, while central Austin's older blocks need a meeting point.
• Military bases: a car carrier generally can't get onto Fort Cavazos, Fort Bliss or JBSA without clearance, so pickups usually happen just outside the gate. Tell us your installation and we'll plan the handoff spot.

The Panhandle is the first stop on this lane and often the quickest delivery: Pensacola, Navarre, Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City Beach. Beach-town streets along 30A are too tight for a full carrier, so plan a lot along US-98. Farther east and south, Tampa Bay and Orlando are the biggest delivery markets on this lane, and South Florida is the far end of the run. For on-base housing at Eglin, Hurlburt Field or MacDill, the same rule applies in reverse: delivery is usually just outside the gate.