Ship Your Car from Phoenix to Memphis: Costs, Timelines & Everything You Need

Almost every guide to shipping a car worries about the destination. On this route the difficult end is where you are standing.

Memphis is one of the easiest deliveries in the country — it is a genuine logistics capital, with freight moving through it constantly by road, rail, river and air. A car arriving there joins traffic that already exists, and it shows in the price and the availability.

Phoenix in July is the other half of the story. Loading a vehicle onto a metal trailer in the middle of a Sonoran summer is a genuinely different exercise from doing it anywhere else in America. Surface temperatures on tarmac run far above the air temperature, adhesives fail, and the inspection everyone tells you to do carefully is happening in conditions where nobody wants to stand still.

None of that costs extra. It just means the twenty minutes at the start of this journey need a bit more thought than usual, and this page front-loads them.

What It Actually Costs

$800-$900 on open transport and $1,150-$1,300 enclosed, across roughly 1,300 miles. That works out at about $0.62-$0.69 a mile.

A Normal Rate for an Easy Road

Comfortably inside the industry band, which is what you would expect. I-40 east from Arizona through New Mexico, the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma and Arkansas into Tennessee is high-volume freight corridor the whole way, with no passes that close and nothing seasonal to plan around.

Memphis being a major logistics hub helps at the other end. There is no scarcity premium here of the kind you see on routes into smaller markets, because trucks are heading that way regardless of whether your car is on them.

Pricing by Vehicle

Deck space is what a trailer sells, so physical size moves the number more than value does:

What Moves Your Quote

• Month: the largest lever, worth $100-$200 across the year
• Lead time: $100-$150 for booking inside five days — on an $800 job, close to a fifth
• How big the car is: roughly $200 from smallest to largest
• Trailer type: $350-$400 to put walls round it
• Where in the Valley you are: around $75
• Date flexibility: $50-$100 for a window over a fixed day

If it does not run, budget another $150-$250 and some patience — only a minority of trailers carry a winch. Details on inoperable vehicle shipping.

City-to-City Price Breakdown

A tight grid on both ends — about $125 corner to corner, which is unremarkable for a mid-distance route between two well-served metros.

Phoenix Before the Valley Suburbs

Phoenix proper prices lowest because it is where eastbound loads get assembled. Scottsdale, Mesa and Glendale each add $25 or so and can pick up a transit day at the top of the range.

Nothing dramatic. If you are anywhere in the Valley, take the address that suits you — there is more money in the month than in the suburb.

Memphis and Germantown

Within $25 of each other, and both easy. Memphis sits where I-40 and I-55 cross beside the Mississippi, with one of the densest concentrations of freight infrastructure anywhere in the country. Germantown, Collierville and the eastern suburbs behave much the same.

That is worth appreciating if you have shipped into a smaller destination before. Some routes on this site carry a genuine penalty for delivering somewhere trucks were not already going. This is not one of them.

How Long the Journey Takes

4-6 days on the road from Phoenix, 5-7 from the outer Valley. Carrier assignment adds one to five days first, so five to eleven days from booking to delivery.

Both Ends Are Well Served

Unusually for our routes, neither city is the constraint. Phoenix generates substantial outbound freight and Memphis absorbs enormous inbound volume, so assignment tends toward the quick end — a day or two rather than the full five.

That advantage narrows in June to August when every lane in the country is busy, and it narrows a little further if your collection address is somewhere a 75-foot trailer has to work at.

Why Four Days and Not Two

Thirteen hundred miles is about twenty hours of driving, and federal rules cap a driver at eleven hours inside a fourteen-hour window. Two days is the theoretical floor before anybody collects or delivers anything.

Then add eight or nine other vehicles with their own addresses at both ends, each needing a person present. Four to six days is what the arithmetic produces, not padding.

The Road Is Reliable

I-40 east is a major freight artery that stays open. There is altitude through New Mexico that can see winter weather, but nothing that closes for long and nothing comparable to a mountain pass. In practice the transit estimate on this route is among the more dependable ones we publish.

What Shortens It

• A Phoenix collection rather than an outer-Valley one: more eastbound loads pass within reach
• Two to three weeks’ notice: still worth $100-$150 even when assignment is quick
• An early-morning pickup slot in summer: more likely to run to time, for reasons covered below
• Accepting a window rather than a named day: quicker, and $50-$100 cheaper

Even on a well-served route, nobody credible guarantees a date on a nine-car trailer. Transit times by distance gives the comparison.

Seasonal Pricing: When to Book

The calendar moves this route by $100-$200, and on this particular corridor it is worth thinking about for a reason beyond the money.

The Calendar

• January-February: standard rates and good availability. Also the most comfortable months to hand a car over in Phoenix
• March-April: five to ten per cent below standard — the cheapest window, and pleasant at both ends
• May: transitional, back to standard, and the point at which Valley afternoons start to matter
• June-August: ten to twenty per cent above, and the stretch where the collection itself needs planning
• September-October: standard rates with good availability as the heat breaks
• November-December: steady until mid-December, then thin as drivers stop for the holidays

Why Summer Costs More Than the Percentage

Ten to twenty per cent is the visible part. The other part is that a July collection in Phoenix is genuinely harder work than a January one, and that shapes how it goes.

Drivers work early and finish early in the Valley summer for good reasons. An afternoon slot is more likely to slip, and an inspection carried out at forty-five degrees gets done faster than one carried out in March. Since that inspection is the document any later disagreement rests on, the season quietly affects your protection as well as your price.

The Practical Advice

March, April, September or October if the choice is yours. If it has to be summer, ask specifically for an early-morning collection window — it is a normal request, it costs nothing, and on this route it is worth more than it sounds.

Open vs. Enclosed Transport

About nine in ten cars on this lane travel open, and I-40 gives you almost nothing to weigh against that.

No salt, no passes that close, no seasonal closures. What an open deck collects across 1,300 miles of southern-tier interstate is dust, and a hose deals with it at the far end.

The Heat Argument, Answered Honestly

Given everything above about Phoenix summers, it is reasonable to ask whether a covered trailer helps. Mostly it does not, and it is worth being straight about why: an enclosed trailer without active climate control is a metal box in the same sun. It changes the airflow, not the temperature.

If heat is your actual concern, the things that work are emptying the cabin, clearing the glass and taking an early collection slot — all free. Climate-controlled enclosed transport does exist, but it is a specialist service for specialist cars rather than an answer to an Arizona July.

Cost and Wait

$1,150-$1,300 against $800-$900, so $350-$400 — modest in cash, close to half again in proportion. Covered trailers are roughly a tenth of the fleet, so assignment moves from one-to-five days out to three-to-ten.

Worth It When

• The car is valuable enough that you would want the cover limit confirmed in writing first
• It gets shown, judged or auctioned
• The roof is fabric
• The finish is one a body shop would end up blending rather than matching outright
• It sits low enough at the front that a ramp is a genuine gamble; covered rigs mostly load on a lift gate

Both services: open transport, enclosed transport, and the comparison.

Who Ships Phoenix to Memphis

Four booking types account for most of this corridor, and for three of them the summer collection advice above is the part that actually matters.

The move back east

People who came to Arizona and are returning — to family, to a job, or because the desert turned out not to suit. Often two vehicles, frequently in summer because that is when the decision gets made. Worth quoting both cars as a single job, and worth taking an early collection slot.

The seasonal resident heading home

Winters in the Valley, summers in Tennessee. Complete flexibility on dates and rarely any use made of it — leaving in April rather than June means standard rates and a collection that is simply a collection.

The logistics or corporate transfer

Memphis’s freight economy draws people, and those moves come with fixed start dates and reasonable notice. Lead time is the lever, and this is the group best placed to use it.

The car bought at a distance

Bought at one end, delivered at the other, nobody travelling with it. Everything rests on the record: the seller photographing it with dates before the truck arrives, a Bill of Lading describing the car as the driver finds it rather than as the listing did, and someone in Tennessee entitled to sign for it.

The Complete Shipping Process

One trailer, one driver, Phoenix to Memphis. No handover partway and no yard where the car waits.

1. Price it

Both addresses, the vehicle and the month. It takes a minute.

2. Ask for the collection slot you want

The step specific to this route. Between May and September, request an early-morning window at booking rather than accepting whatever comes. It is an ordinary request, drivers generally prefer it, and it materially improves the quality of the inspection.

3. Compare three quotes

Look at the deposit and how firmly the pickup window is stated alongside the number. Both ends of this route are well served, so vagueness about the window says more about the broker than the lane.

4. Book two to three weeks out

$100-$150 cheaper even though assignment here is usually quick. Money for nothing.

5. Assignment

Typically a day or two. You should receive the DOT number, the insurance certificate and the driver’s phone number. A load sitting unassigned for a week on a corridor this well served is a strong signal it was posted below market.

6. Collection in the Valley

About an hour inside a four-hour window. The driver records the car’s condition; your job is to confirm that record is right and keep your own dated photographs. Somewhere shaded, if you can arrange it.

7. East on I-40, then delivery

Four to six days across New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, fitted around the other cars on the trailer. Ring the driver for updates. In Memphis, walk the car against the Bill of Lading and your Phoenix photographs in daylight before signing — the signature closes it — then settle the balance.

The parts common to every route: how car shipping works.

Vehicle Preparation Checklist

This is the section that earns its keep on this route, because handing a car over in a Phoenix summer asks for a few things nowhere else does.

The Heat Items

Strip the windscreen completely. Suction mounts, dash cams, toll tags, sunshades, parking permits — adhesive and suction both give up in Valley heat, and a mount that lets go inside a sealed car finds the dashboard or the footwell. Take them off the day before.

Clear the dash and the parcel shelf. A closed car sitting on tarmac reaches temperatures well above the air outside. Anything left on a flat surface in direct sun through glass is being cooked for hours.

Ask for an early slot. Not comfort — documentation. The pickup inspection is the record everything later depends on, and it is done properly at seven in the morning in a way it is not at three in the afternoon in July. Drivers know this and generally prefer it too.

Check the tyres before it goes. Pressure set on hot tarmac reads differently once the car cools, and Memphis in winter is a long way from Phoenix in summer. Worth a look at both ends rather than assuming.

Making the Handover Provable

Start with a wash, and do not skip it because it is only dust. Desert dust is extremely fine, it settles evenly, and an even coating is the most effective concealer there is for a shallow scratch. A mark that goes unrecorded at pickup is a mark you own.

Your camera work should be systematic rather than casual: work round the car panel by panel, take the roof, get low for the sills, do the wheels individually, then the cabin — all with the date stamped on. Hold your version against what the driver has written and argue about the difference now, in a Phoenix driveway, rather than five days later in Tennessee.

The Rest

• ✓ About a quarter of a tank — fuel is weight, and weight is the trailer’s real ceiling
• ✓ Strip the cabin and boot; nothing in there carries any cover
• ✓ Bring the car’s profile in: fold the mirrors, drop the aerial, unbolt anything on the roof
• ✓ Sort the alarm out — disarmed, or with instructions written down for whoever is driving
• ✓ Get a shot of the mileage before it goes up the ramp
• ✓ Paperwork and every key stay in your pocket, not in the car

Fuller version: preparing a vehicle for transport.

7 Mistakes That Cost You Money

1. Taking an afternoon collection slot in July

Valley afternoons in summer are punishing, and an inspection done at speed in that heat produces a thinner Bill of Lading than one done at seven in the morning. That document is what any later disagreement rests on.

Instead: ask for an early window at booking. Free, and drivers usually prefer it.

2. Leaving the windscreen loaded

Suction mounts, dash cams, toll tags and shades all release in desert heat, inside a closed car, over several days.

Instead: strip the glass the day before. Two minutes.

3. Not washing it because it is only dust

Desert dust is fine and it coats everything evenly, which is exactly what conceals a light scratch. A dirty car makes the pickup inspection close to decorative.

Instead: wash it first. It is the cheapest protection on this page.

4. Buying enclosed to beat the heat

An enclosed trailer without active climate control is a metal box in the same sun. You would be paying $350-$400 to change the airflow rather than the temperature.

Instead: empty the cabin, clear the glass, take an early slot. All free, and all more effective.

5. Booking inside five days

$100-$150 on an $800 job is close to a fifth of the price, and it applies even on a corridor where you would have got a truck anyway.

Instead: two to three weeks. It costs nothing.

6. Shipping in July because you are moving in July

Ten to twenty per cent over standard, on top of the hardest month to hand a car over in Phoenix.

Instead: send the car in April or September and let it wait, or follow later.

7. Reading 4-6 days as an arrival date

Those are driving days. A carrier has to accept the load first, which is another one to five. Five to eleven days is the honest span.

Instead: plan against that and arrange something else to drive.

Insurance and Liability Explained

Cover is written per shipment rather than per mile, so this route carries what any other does. What is worth understanding here is how the Phoenix collection conditions interact with it.

Your Protection Is Built in the First Twenty Minutes

Most transport damage happens on the ramps rather than over the miles, and any claim is settled on the Bill of Lading. Which means the quality of that document is the quality of your protection.

On this route that document gets created in whatever conditions the Valley is offering. A thorough walk-around in March produces a proper record; a hurried one at forty-five degrees in July does not. Nothing about the policy changes — what changes is how much evidence you have. That is the practical reason for the early-slot advice on this page, and it is worth more than any coverage decision.

The Number to Ask For

Every licensed carrier holds cargo insurance and the certificate names a limit per vehicle. That figure marks where a regulator decided to stop, not an assessment of your car, and it varies between operators. Ask for it and do the comparison yourself. How a claim proceeds covers the mechanics.

Check Who Has the Car

A carrier name should come with a DOT number. Put it into safer.fmcsa.dot.gov and you will see whether their authority is live, whether an insurance filing sits on the record, and when they were last inspected. Ninety seconds, and on a corridor with plenty of carriers you actually have a choice worth exercising.

Four Things It Does Not Cover

• Anything inside the car — moving household goods needs a licence a vehicle carrier does not hold
• Marks that were already there and never reached the paperwork
• Faults that were developing anyway, including heat damage to a dashboard you left loaded
• Time. Policies pay for damage, so a slow assignment is a frustration rather than a claim

If the Move Is Permanent

Arizona cover and plates give way to Tennessee ones. The carrier is responsible in transit and you are responsible either side, so set the changeover such that the arrival cannot fall between the two policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to ship a car from Phoenix to Memphis?

$800-$900 on open transport and $1,150-$1,300 enclosed, across roughly 1,300 miles. About $0.62-$0.69 a mile, comfortably inside the normal band.

Is shipping out of Phoenix in summer a problem?

Not for the car’s safety, but it changes how the handover goes. Surface temperatures on tarmac run well above the air temperature, adhesive mounts release, and an inspection done at speed in that heat produces a thinner record than one done early in the day. Ask for a morning collection slot — it is free and it is the most useful thing on this page.

Should I pay for enclosed transport because of the heat?

No. An enclosed trailer without active climate control is a metal box in the same sun — it changes the airflow, not the temperature. Emptying the cabin, clearing the windscreen and taking an early slot all cost nothing and do more.

How long does it take?

4-6 days on the road from Phoenix, 5-7 from the outer Valley, plus one to five days for a carrier to accept the load. Five to eleven days from booking to delivery.

Why is assignment quick on this route?

Both ends are well served. Phoenix generates substantial outbound freight and Memphis is one of the largest logistics hubs in the country, so eastbound trucks are running this corridor constantly. Loads are usually accepted in a day or two rather than five.

When is the cheapest time to ship?

March and April, five to ten per cent below standard, with September and October close behind. June to August runs ten to twenty per cent above — and is also the hardest time to hand a car over at the Phoenix end.

Does it matter which Valley city I ship from?

About $75 across the grid, with Phoenix proper cheapest because that is where eastbound loads get assembled. Scottsdale, Mesa and Glendale add a little and can pick up a transit day.

Memphis or the suburbs?

About $25. Memphis, Germantown and Collierville are all straightforward — the city sits where I-40 and I-55 cross beside the Mississippi with an unusual concentration of freight infrastructure, so deliveries there are routine.

Is the road ever a problem?

Rarely. I-40 east is a major freight artery that stays open. There is altitude through New Mexico that can see winter weather, but nothing that closes for long. The transit estimate here is among the more dependable ones we publish.

Should I drive it instead?

Twenty hours at the wheel, realistically split over two days. Fuel and wear alone come out below the shipping price, so on a pure cash basis driving wins. It stops winning the moment there is a second car and only one of you, or the vehicle will not start, or nobody is making the trip at all, or you simply do not want another 1,300 miles on the odometer.

Anything to check on arrival?

The tyre pressures. Air set on hot Phoenix tarmac reads differently in Tennessee, particularly in winter. Two minutes before you drive away.

Can I leave belongings in the car?

Not permitted. The operating licence a car hauler holds extends to vehicles and stops there, so a loaded boot is cargo nobody is insuring — and its weight comes out of an allowance the driver answers for at a weighbridge.

Worth Reading Next

• the mechanics of a car shipment
• car shipping explained end to end
• typical rates for auto transport
• open versus enclosed carriers

Related reading

Other departures from the Valley: Phoenix to Chicago heads north instead, and Arizona to California is the short westbound hop. For the reverse of this corridor at state level, Ohio to Arizona and Illinois to Arizona cover the inbound flow.

Other routes where a summer collection needs planning: Austin to Richmond deals with the same problem in Texas heat.

On the mechanics: transit times, why quotes differ, preparing the vehicle and open versus enclosed.