Why Bigger States Ship More Cars

Photo by Vitor Vilas Boas on Unsplash

Auto transport, the practice of shipping cars to other areas, has long been a lucrative business. Largely driven by the needs of new and used car buyers, there are carrier trucks constantly traveling to deliver cars where consumers need them to be. While people and businesses all over the country use these services, there are two states that host the lion’s share of the transport business: California and Texas.

Texas auto transport companies and California auto transport companies are the stronghold states when it comes to shipping cars and other vehicles. There are definitive reasons for it, too. Outside of Alaska, these two states are the largest in the U.S. However, the reasons go deeper than just their massive geographic areas.

More People, More Choices

California and Texas are home to some of the largest cities in the United States. After New York City, Los Angeles is the biggest with Houston coming in as the fourth largest city. Those big cities also boast huge populations of people and where there are people, there are cars. That in itself opens up a vast market for new and used cars waiting to be shipped to and from these two states.

Car-Friendly Weather Conditions

Another reason that California and Texas have better auto transport options is due to the weather. Both states tend to be sunny with warmer temperatures than other states. For example, major Texas cities like Austin typically have an average of 300 days per year. Cities like Los Angeles get an average of 284 days per year. Snowfall for both cities rings in at zero percent.

In other parts of the country, heavy rain and snow can negatively impact cars. Road salt is incredibly corrosive to metal, often resulting in rust over extended periods of time. Water damage from lots of rain can also affect vehicles in detrimental ways. While it does rain in Texas and California, there’s enough sun to dry it out and keep cars in better conditions for buying – and selling.

Less Supply, Increased Demand

Supply chain shortages impacted many things for consumers and cars were no exception. People in the market for new and used cars had trouble finding vehicles or had to wait exorbitant amounts of time for manufacturers to produce what they wanted.

Following the thread of Texas and California having larger supplies of cars, people went looking for areas where they could find vehicles. Auto transport in these two states was already the largest industry-wide. The supply shortage just made car shipping even more lucrative than it already is.

In June 2021, Cars.com released a report about supply shortages and how far people were willing to travel to find vehicles. According to the report, 65 percent of consumers were willing to search different states for cars and trucks. Many auto transport companies suffered from the shortage because cars were not being produced. These companies couldn’t haul what didn’t exist.

However, with car production ramping up, it expands the vehicle selection for car buyers and sellers. That also means that auto transport companies in California and Texas are back on the move and in high demand.