One road. Both directions. All season.
Florida to New England, and New England to Florida, since 2011. Seven trucks, drivers on our own payroll, open decks. Everything on this page happens on that one road. If what you need does not belong on it, we will tell you on the first call instead of taking your booking.
This is the standard product and the one most cars ride on. Your car rides on an open, multi car hauler, the same kind of truck that delivers new cars to dealerships. It goes up the ramp under its own power, gets strapped and ratcheted down at the wheels, and travels alongside other cars headed the same direction. Sharing the deck is what keeps the price where it is, and open transport means weather and road dust are part of the deal. Everything else is our job.
Every fall the cars go south and every spring they come back north, and we run both directions the whole season. That matters, because we are not out looking for someone else's truck that happens to be pointed your way. If you already know your return dates, book both legs at once and we will plan the second one around them. Weather and traffic move schedules, so we give you a window, not a promise, and if that window moves we are the ones who call you.
The truck comes to where the car is sitting, your driveway, your building, your condo lot, and it goes to the address you give us on the other end. A loaded car hauler is long, tall, and heavy, and some streets simply cannot take one. If the road is too narrow, the turn is too tight, or there are low branches or a low wire, the driver calls you and the two of you agree on a wide, safe spot nearby, usually a shopping center lot a few minutes away. You are not left to sort that out by yourself on pickup morning.
Top load means your car rides on the upper deck, with nothing parked above it. People ask for it on low cars, on fresh paint, and on cars they are careful with. It is an optional add on and it costs extra, because there are only so many upper deck spots on a truck. Ask when you call and we will tell you straight whether we have one on your load or not.
We move dealer inventory, auction buys, and trade ins on the same Florida to New England lane, on the same trucks and with the same drivers. Pickup at the auction gate or the dealer lot, delivery to your receiving lot. The Bill of Lading is inspected and signed at both ends, exactly the way it is for a retail customer. You work the terms out directly with Marcus, on the same lane our own trucks already run.
Fleets get out of balance on this lane every year. Units pile up in Florida in the spring and in New England in the fall, and somebody has to move them back. We move fleet units on the same lane and the same trucks, on timing you and Marcus talk through in advance. Tell us the count, the two ends, and your timing, and we will tell you what fits on a truck and what it costs.
A student heading south for a co op, or flying home for the summer, does not need to make that drive alone. We pick up at the dorm, the off campus apartment, or a parent's driveway, whichever address actually works. The person releasing the car and the person receiving it both sign the Bill of Lading, and they do not have to be the same person, as long as we know in advance who to expect. Payment is due on delivery, and it is fine if the parent is the one paying.
Orders move service members between New England and Florida, and the privately owned vehicle has to get there too. We carry POVs between Florida and New England on our own trucks, door to door. Give us your report date and we will tell you honestly whether our window fits around it before you book anything. There is no deposit, so nothing of yours is sitting at risk while dates shift.
Cars, pickups, and SUVs only. Since our inspection platform went paperless, more than 15,000 vehicles have been documented in it, an average of about 98 a week. Anything loaded before that was inspected on paper, so it is not in the system.
What we do not do
This list is short on purpose. A family company with seven trucks and one lane cannot do everything, and the quickest way to find out whether an auto transport company is being straight with you is to ask what it turns down. Here is what we turn down, so you can stop reading and call somebody else if one of these is what you need.
Being clear about the limits is the cheapest proof that everything else on this page is true. If you need one of these, tell us on the first call and we will say so instead of taking the booking.
You call or text and tell us where the car is, where it is going, the year, make, and model, and roughly when you want it moved. We price it off the miles. The published rate on this lane is $1.10 a mile for a standard car, and pickups and large SUVs cost more. The sample runs shown on this site are examples, not quotes. Your number comes from us, out loud, before you commit to anything.
Nothing is due to book. No deposit, no card on file, no money upfront of any kind. We put you on a truck and give you a pickup window, because weather and traffic on I-95 do not take orders and no honest carrier guarantees a date. We give you a window, not a promise. If that window moves, we call you. You should not have to chase us for it.
The driver meets you at the car and the two of you walk around it together. Every scratch, chip, dent, and curbed wheel that is already there goes onto the Bill of Lading, and you both sign it before anything moves. You keep your copy. Then the car goes up the ramp, gets strapped and ratcheted down at the wheels, and the truck heads north or south.
The driver calls you ahead of the drop so you are standing there when the car comes off the deck. You walk it again, against the same Bill of Lading you signed at pickup, and both of you sign it a second time. That signed pair of inspections is your record, and it is why we do it in front of you instead of behind you. Payment is due then, at delivery, and not one minute before.
Carrier or broker
Most of the companies that come up when you search for auto transport are brokers. That is not an insult, it is a business model, and it is legal and common. But it changes who has your car, who sets your final price, and who picks up the phone in week two. Before you book with anyone, ask which one they are. Here is where we sit.
| Lopes Express | A broker | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the truck | We do. Seven of them, and they run this lane. | A broker owns no trucks. It sells your job to whichever carrier accepts it. |
| Who is driving your car | A Lopes employee, on our payroll, hauling our load. | A driver the broker has never met, at a company you did not choose. |
| What is due upfront | Nothing. $0 deposit. You pay the driver at delivery. | A deposit is commonly charged at booking, before any truck has been assigned. |
| What happens to the price | The number we quote is the number on the Bill of Lading and the number you pay. | A low posted price can be raised later if no carrier will take the load at it. |
| How your car gets on a truck | We own the trucks that run Florida to New England, and it goes on one of them. | It is posted to a load board and waits for a stranger to accept the price. |
| Who answers after pickup | Our office, Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET. We can reach the driver directly, because he works for us. | A dispatcher who has to call the carrier, wait, and then call you back. |
| Where the trucks run | Florida to New England and back, on I-95. One lane, both directions. | Wherever a load board carrier can be found to drive it. |
A broker is a licensed middleman. Brokers are legal, regulated, and some of them are good at their job. The difference is who owns the truck, because that is who controls the price and the schedule.
Where we run
We do not run outside this corridor, and we will tell you so on the first call.
Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, Naples, Fort Myers, Orlando, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine.
That is all we need to give you a price. Call or text (941) 205-0012, Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET, or email info@lopesexpressshipping.com. We speak English and Portuguese. No deposit, no card, nothing due until your car is sitting in the driveway on the other end.
LOPES NEVER STOPS
