Open, enclosed, and expedited auto transport for Long Beach and the harbor area, with real answers on imports, the 710, and race week.
Fast, secure pricing in 30 seconds.
Long Beach, California
Car shipping in Long Beach happens in the shadow of the busiest port complex in the Western Hemisphere.
Ship Guy is a licensed auto transport broker. We arrange vetted carriers for Long Beach households, students, and importers, and we do not own trucks.
The Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles sit side by side. Both are at the bottom of the 710. Truck traffic from those terminals shapes every carrier’s day here.
This page covers the port lanes and what happens after an imported car is released. It also covers Grand Prix week and the waterfront streets a carrier cannot use.
Most pickups happen within 1 to 2 days, with carriers working the 710, 405, and 605 constantly.
San Diego is a same-day lane. Las Vegas and Phoenix take about a day. Texas runs three.
Grand Prix week each April closes streets downtown for setup and racing. If you live near Shoreline Drive, book around it.
The Port
More trucks run through Long Beach than almost any city its size.
The 710 is the port’s main artery, and container trucks fill it around the clock. Car carriers use it too, along with the 405 and the 605.
That density is good news for availability. A carrier is almost always within an hour of any Long Beach address.
The trade-off is congestion near the terminals. Drivers avoid the harbor end of the 710 during peak port hours when they can.
For a pickup in Bixby Knolls, Lakewood, or Signal Hill, none of this matters much. Near the waterfront, timing the window around port traffic helps.
Imports
Vehicles arriving by ship come through Long Beach and San Pedro terminals in large numbers.
The ocean leg and customs clearance are an international process we do not arrange. Once the car is released, though, it becomes a domestic shipment like any other.
We pick up from the release point and deliver anywhere in the country. Enclosed transport is common for high-value imports.
Tell us the expected release date when you book. Terminals charge storage after a grace period, so a ready carrier saves money.
Our enclosed auto transport page explains the covered option in full.
Lanes & Costs
Common lanes out of Long Beach, with estimated open-transport ranges. Price your exact route above.
| Route | Corridor · distance | Est. transit | Est. open rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, CA | I-405/I-5 · ~110 mi | Same day | $180–$300 |
| Las Vegas, NV | I-15 · ~280 mi | 1 day | $300–$450 |
| Phoenix, AZ | I-10 · ~380 mi | 1 day | $330–$480 |
| San Jose, CA | I-5 · ~360 mi | 1 day | $350–$520 |
| Sacramento, CA | I-5 · ~400 mi | 1–2 days | $370–$540 |
| Denver, CO | I-15/I-70 · ~1,030 mi | 3 days | $750–$1,050 |
| Seattle, WA | I-5 · ~1,150 mi | 3 days | $800–$1,150 |
| Austin, TX | I-10 · ~1,390 mi | 3 days | $900–$1,250 |
| Chicago, IL | I-40/I-55 · ~2,030 mi | 4 days | $1,050–$1,450 |
| New York, NY | I-40/I-70 · ~2,800 mi | 5–6 days | $1,200–$1,700 |
*2026 estimates, running sedan, open trailer. SUVs and trucks add 10 to 25 percent or so, enclosed adds more. Carrier availability for your dates sets the final quote.
Long Beach pricing tracks the rest of the Los Angeles metro closely. Sun Belt lanes to Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are the busiest and most competitive.
Imported vehicles heading inland often ship enclosed, which costs more. The cost guide covers the other variables.
Race Week
Every April, downtown Long Beach turns into a race track.
The Grand Prix runs on a street circuit along Shoreline Drive and the waterfront. Setup begins weeks ahead, and closures spread through downtown during race weekend.
A car carrier cannot work through that. For addresses near Shoreline, Pine Avenue, and the convention center, we schedule pickups before setup or after teardown.
The rest of the city runs normally that week. Belmont Shore, Bixby Knolls, and Lakewood are unaffected.
If your dates land in April, mention your neighborhood when you book. We will steer around the circuit.
Access
The waterfront neighborhoods are lovely and hopeless for a seventy-five-foot truck.
Naples Island has canals, small bridges, and streets barely wide enough for two cars. Belmont Shore’s residential blocks are narrow and tightly parked.
For both, the driver meets you along Second Street or at the Marina Pacifica lot. It is only a few minutes from your door.
Signal Hill has grades a loaded trailer avoids, so the flat streets below it work better. Downtown high-rises with underground garages meet at a surface lot nearby.
Bixby Knolls, Lakewood, and the east side are wide and easy. There, the truck usually pulls right up to the house.
Who Ships Here
Beyond the port, Long Beach moves look like the rest of the region.
Cal State Long Beach sends cars in each August and home each May. The car can go to student housing or an address nearby.
The Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos sits just across the Orange County line. Guard and reserve members ship vehicles through here on orders.
Households leaving for Texas, Arizona, and Nevada ship one car and drive the other. Ship Guy is a private broker with no ties to the military.
Your Options
Open transport is the everyday choice, and the coastal climate suits it.
Enclosed transport covers a car against salt air, road grit, and attention. It is standard for imported exotics and any collector piece.
A commuter car is well suited to an open trailer. The open and enclosed pages cover both in detail.
The Basics
A shipment is a price, a pickup, and a delivery, in that order.
You approve the price, and we book a carrier for the car. The driver records its condition on a Bill of Lading at pickup, and you sign it. At delivery, you compare the car to that record before signing again.
Our how it works and preparation guides go step by step.
Why Ship Guy
We know the port schedule, the race calendar, and which streets a truck cannot enter.
Ship Guy holds FMCSA brokerage authority and a $75,000 surety bond, both active and verifiable.
You deal with one coordinator the whole way through. Open, enclosed, and expedited transport are all available on that one line. The services page lists everything.
Nearby
Carriers that work Long Beach also cover these nearby cities.
Statewide guide: California auto transport · See all 66 cities we serve →
Visit Us
Our office is on Ocean Boulevard downtown, steps from the Grand Prix circuit and minutes from the port.
Long Beach FAQ
Yes, once it has cleared customs and the terminal has released it. The ocean leg and clearance are an international process we do not arrange. After release, we treat it as a domestic shipment. Tell us the expected release date so a carrier is ready. Terminals charge storage after a grace period. Enclosed transport is common for high-value imports.
San Diego is a short same-day lane at the low end. Las Vegas and Phoenix run a few hundred dollars. Texas and Colorado cost more, and the East Coast passes a thousand. Pricing tracks the rest of the Los Angeles metro. SUVs and trucks run 10 to 25 percent higher. Get a quote for a firm number on your lane.
Only if you live near the circuit. Setup along Shoreline Drive begins weeks before race weekend in April. Streets around Pine Avenue and the convention center close during the event. We schedule downtown pickups before setup or after teardown. Belmont Shore, Bixby Knolls, and Lakewood run normally. Mention your neighborhood if your dates land in April.
Not onto the residential streets themselves. Naples has canals, small bridges, and very narrow blocks. Belmont Shore is tightly parked. The driver meets you along Second Street or at the Marina Pacifica lot instead. It is only a few minutes from your door. We fix the spot before the driver rolls.
About three days for Austin or Dallas. The route runs east on Interstate 10, roughly fourteen hundred miles. Driver hour limits, weather, and other stops shape the window. We give you a realistic window and never pretend to know the exact hour. We keep you updated along the way.
Near the harbor end of the 710, it can. Container trucks fill that stretch around the clock. Drivers avoid peak port hours when they can. For most of the city, port traffic is not a factor. A pickup in Bixby Knolls or Lakewood is unaffected. Near the waterfront, a mid-morning window works best.
Yes, we handle student moves each August and May. Parents ship cars in for the school year and back for summer. The car can go to student housing or an address nearby. An adult must be on hand to meet the driver and sign. Two weeks of notice books fastest in those weeks.
Yes, non-running cars ship out of Long Beach routinely. The carrier uses a winch, and that extra time adds a fee. Let us know if it rolls, steers, and brakes. Those answers set the carrier and the pickup plan.
We start with the pickup and delivery addresses. Then we need the year, make, and model. Tell us whether the car runs and rolls. Choose open or enclosed and give us your dates. That produces an accurate Long Beach quote. Precision on your end keeps the estimate tight.
Get Started
A quote takes a couple of minutes. Then name your neighborhood, and we will steer around the port traffic and race week.