Military PCS Car Shipping: Rules, Reimbursement and Timing

What does the government cover on a PCS move?

It depends on where you are going. On most overseas orders, the government ships one privately owned vehicle through the Defense Personal Property Program (details and booking at PCSmyPOV): you drop it at a vehicle processing center, it is shipped by sea, and you collect it at the destination center. On domestic orders, the government usually does not ship a car at all; it reimburses mileage for driving your vehicles to the new station, and the assumption is that you drive.

That leaves the gaps that commercial shipping fills. A second car when only one can be driven. A motorcycle. A car that would not survive the drive, or one you do not want to add three thousand miles to. A vehicle left behind on overseas orders that needs to go to a relative or into storage. A car that needs to arrive before you do because you are flying, or after you do because you are driving a moving truck. All of these are ordinary commercial shipments, and this guide is about doing them well around a military timetable.

How should I time the shipment around the report date?

Work backwards from the day you need the car at the new station. Add the transit window for the lane, three to five days for a 1,000 to 1,500 mile move, seven to ten coast to coast. Add one to five days for a carrier to be assigned and reach you. Then add a margin for weather. That gives a pickup date; book two to three weeks before it.

Summer is the crunch. June, July and August are peak PCS season and also the busiest months for every other kind of car shipping, so trucks are full and prices sit at the top of the range. If your orders allow, a pickup in late May or early September is cheaper and easier to book. If they do not, book as early as you have dates, and tell your specialist the report date so it is on the record if anything moves.

Where does the truck pick up and deliver?

Most installations do not admit commercial car haulers, and a 75-foot truck cannot use a residential street on base housing anyway. Drivers know this and arrange a meeting point: the visitor center lot, a commissary or exchange lot outside the gate, a shopping plaza a mile away, or your off-base address. Your specialist confirms the arrangement when the carrier is assigned. It does not change the price.

If you are shipping from base housing before you leave, plan the handover for a lot outside the gate and give the driver a mobile number that will still work after you have moved. If someone else is handing over or receiving, name them at booking and give them the driver's details, the pickup photos and a copy of the registration.

What are the common PCS lanes and what do they cost?

The busiest are between the large installations in California, Texas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington state, and between those and the Northeast and Midwest where many families are from. California to Texas runs about 1,500 miles at $1,000 to $1,400 open for a running sedan, three to six days on the truck. Georgia to Florida is a short regional hop at $450 to $700 and one to three days. California to the East Coast is the long one: $1,400 to $2,000 open, seven to ten days. SUVs and pickups add 12 to 20 percent; enclosed transport adds 40 to 60 percent. Every route page on this site shows the range for its lane.

Some of our carrier partners offer a discount for active duty, reservists and veterans. We apply it when the carrier does; ask your specialist and have your ID available.

What should I do to the car?

The same as any shipment, with two additions. Remove base decals and gate passes that should not travel, and remove anything that would identify the vehicle's owner as service personnel if you would rather it did not. Otherwise: wash it, photograph every panel and the odometer, fuel at a quarter tank, remove the toll tag, disable the alarm, and keep belongings under 100 pounds and uninsured. Household goods go with the household goods shipment, not in the car.

What if the orders change?

They do. Dates can be changed without charge until a carrier is dispatched, and PCS shipments are common enough that carriers expect it. Tell your specialist as soon as you know. If a carrier is already assigned and the date moves by a day or two, the driver usually absorbs it; if it moves by a week, the load is re-posted. If the destination changes, the price is requoted for the new lane. None of this involves a penalty from us.

Storage while you are overseas

If you are shipping a second car to storage rather than a new station, the shipment is the same and the delivery contact is the storage facility or the relative. Ask the facility about its receiving hours and whether it accepts car haulers at the door; many do, and a driver can unload straight into a covered space. Keep insurance active at a storage-only level, and put a battery tender on the car if the facility allows it.

How do I book?

Enter the pickup and delivery locations, the vehicle and your first available date in the quote form. Your route is measured as you type, before you enter a phone number. A specialist calls, confirms details including the report date and base access, quotes a firm price from a carrier already running the lane, and checks whether a military discount applies. Then the shipment runs like any other, with one phone number to call if anything changes.