PCS Car Shipping
Orders are a date. Carriers are a window. Plan the POV early, assume an off-base lot, and approve the hauler before anyone is charged.
A POV is not HHG
Household goods ride a different contract than the car you still need on the other side of a Permanent Change of Station. This page is only the privately owned vehicle. For the broader military product and the $75 verification, start at military car shipping.
Bigfella Auto Express coordinates PCS lanes across the 48 contiguous states. We do not book Alaska or Hawaii. We are a brokerage: the assigned carrier drives the truck. You approve that carrier before dispatch. Read broker vs carrier.
When to start the car
Start the quote when you have a losing and gaining ZIP, even if the report date is still a range. Carrier space in late spring and summer is tighter because everyone else has orders too. Expedited matching can help prioritize. It does not turn a transit range into a guaranteed report-day drop.
Typical drive time after the car is on the trailer follows the same mileage bands as how long car shipping takes. The wait before a truck is assigned is a second clock. Do not treat the quote date as pickup day.
On-base pickup is the exception
Most installations will not let a civilian auto carrier through the gate without a long sponsor process the driver does not have time for. Plan a legal lot just outside the gate, a nearby exchange parking area the post allows, or a wide street the trailer can sit on. That is still door-to-door for this work.
San Antonio, San Diego, Norfolk-area Virginia, and other installation-heavy metros show up often. City notes: San Antonio, San Diego, Washington, DC.
What to put on the quote
- Real losing and gaining addresses or the nearest off-base ZIPs
- Year, make, model, and whether the car runs and steers
- Open vs enclosed — most POVs ship open
- Report date in the notes, labeled as a planning date, not a promised delivery
- That you want the military $75 review so we can verify eligibility
Inoperable POVs need winch equipment. Select that on the quote. See inoperable vehicle transport.
Orders, leave, and the car
If you will already be gone when the truck arrives, name a spouse, friend, or neighbor who can meet the driver with ID and sign the inspection. The carrier will not leave a car in a fire lane because the sponsor flew out Tuesday.
If you are driving one POV and shipping the other, say which address is empty on pickup day. Empty driveways in gated Texas or California neighborhoods still need a truck-legal meeting point.
What we will not promise
We will not promise the car will beat you to the gaining base. We will not invent Alaska or overseas POV shipping. We will not charge the card until you approve the carrier. $0 is charged today.
Process recap: how car shipping works. Texas home-market context: Texas car shipping and Houston car shipping cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is PCS car shipping the same as household goods?
No. This page is the privately owned vehicle only. HHG is a separate move contract.
Can the carrier pick up on base?
Only if the installation allows it. Most PCS pickups meet just outside the gate or at a nearby legal lot.
How do I get the $75 military amount?
Book the quote as usual and mention eligibility. We verify active duty, veteran, Guard, or reserve status on the shipment.