Open transport for a running sedan from Alabama to Texas costs $600 to $950, and delivery typically comes 2 to 4 days after loading. Our 64 town pairs span 469 to 1,083 road miles. Plan on one to two weeks of notice, and get the car registered in Texas inside 30 days of moving.
How Does Car Shipping From Alabama to Texas Work?
Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Dothan and Florence in Alabama are the eight pickup towns we routed, each paired with eight Texas cities. Across those 64 pairs, Alabama to Texas car shipping runs about 469 to 1,083 road miles, from Mobile to Houston at the short end to Dothan to Lubbock at the long end. Every one of them crosses Mississippi, and the Texas address decides most of the rest. All 24 loads for Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi, plus Austin loads from Montgomery, Mobile, Auburn and Dothan, finish on I-10 past Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Beaumont. Cars for Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and Lubbock from six of the eight towns take I-20 through Jackson, Mississippi, Monroe and Shreveport, and so do Birmingham and Tuscaloosa cars for Austin. Huntsville and Florence in north Alabama send their Dallas area, Austin, San Antonio and Lubbock loads west to Memphis instead, then over I-40 past Little Rock and I-30 through Texarkana.
How Much Does Car Shipping From Alabama to Texas Cost?
Your quote depends on your vehicle, the exact pickup and delivery addresses, the season and the trailer type, so run the calculator for a figure on your dates.
Begin with the Texas address. From Birmingham, Dallas is about 638 road miles and Houston 667, while Lubbock sits near 984, so the far side of Texas adds roughly 350 miles to the same pickup.
The Alabama start matters less but still counts. To Houston, Mobile is about 469 miles, Tuscaloosa 615 and Montgomery 634, while Huntsville runs about 765, the longest of the eight.
Vehicle size and trailer type follow. A pickup, a minivan or a large SUV takes more deck than a sedan, and a closed trailer carries fewer cars, so every space on it costs more.
Timing counts least. Search interest in this trip ran highest from spring into early summer over the past year, so a flexible pickup date in those months widens the choice of trucks.
Expect a running sedan shipped open from Alabama to Texas to typically run $600 to $950, with Mobile cars bound for Houston near the low end and the long runs out to Lubbock near the top. Our car shipping calculator prices your own two addresses.
Moving a full-size pickup, minivan or SUV instead of a sedan typically costs about $100 to $200 more. Covered space costs more again, typically 40 to 60 percent above open, whatever pair of cities you choose.
- The Texas end. Dallas is the nearest stop from Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Florence, and Houston from Montgomery, Mobile, Auburn and Dothan.
- The far west. Lubbock is the farthest delivery from every one of the eight towns, at about 932 to 1,083 miles.
- Spring and early summer. Interest in this trip peaked in those months, when a flexible pickup day helps the most.
Treat one quote far below the rest with care. A price well under the going rate can sit unclaimed while carriers take better paying loads.
What Factors Actually
Influence Pricing on This Route?
Five things move the price on any lane: the vehicle's size, whether it runs, how easy each end is to reach, the season and the trailer type. Booking early protects your timeline, keeps pricing steady and reduces the risk of last-minute carrier changes.
Type
Size decides how much deck space your vehicle takes and how many other cars fit alongside it. A standard sedan is the cheapest thing to move because it slots almost anywhere on the trailer. SUVs, pickups and vans take more room and usually cost more on the same lane.
Is It Cheaper to Ship or Drive a Car From Alabama to Texas?
Shipping Instead of Driving
The longer pairs favor the truck. By our routing, Birmingham to Houston is about 12 hours behind the wheel and Dothan to Lubbock about 20, so most drivers would stop for a night.
Shipping also helps when you plan to fly to Texas or have two cars to move, because the car reaches your door while you travel some other way.
Driving the Route Yourself
On the short pairs, driving is a fair choice. Mobile to Houston is about 469 miles and roughly 8.5 hours by our routing, one long day.
The catch is getting back. Someone still has to return to Alabama, and a one-way flight, fuel and a hotel night can come close to a shipping quote.
How Long Does Car Shipping From Alabama to Texas Take?
Once loaded, an Alabama car is typically in Texas 2 to 4 days later. Mobile to Houston, our shortest pair at about 469 miles, usually lands early in that range, while Dothan to Lubbock, about 1,083 miles and 20 hours of driving, can take all of it.
From booking to an assigned carrier typically spans one to three working days with Rivalane, and a pickup date with a little room in it tends to shorten that wait.
With a usual daily run of 400 to 500 miles, the longest pair here still needs only two to three days of driving. Stops for other cars on the trailer and city traffic around Houston and Dallas can still move the delivery by a day.
When Should You Book Auto Transport From Alabama to Texas?
Book one to two weeks before pickup on most moves along this lane, long enough for dispatch to find a carrier already heading west instead of the first truck free. Search interest in this trip was strongest from spring into early summer over the past year, so book a few days earlier in those months. For trips on the same roads, see the Mississippi to Texas route, which shares I-20 through Jackson and Shreveport and I-10 past Baton Rouge, and the Tennessee to Texas route, whose Memphis loads take the same I-40 and I-30 as Huntsville and Florence.
A day of slack in either date helps if weather or traffic on I-10 or I-20 slows the truck.
Open or Enclosed Car Shipping From Alabama to Texas?
Open car transport is the usual choice for an Alabama car headed to Texas. The car rides a two-level trailer with no roof and meets the same sun, rain and road dust as everything else on I-10 or I-20.
In an enclosed car transport trailer, the car travels closed in from the Alabama pickup to the Texas door. Those trailers hold fewer cars, so a space on one costs more.
Enclosed suits a classic or collector car, an exotic, fresh paint or a car that sits very low. An everyday sedan going from Birmingham to Houston usually rides open with no trouble.
Enclosed Car Transport
Enclosed demand rises for high-value, specialty and seasonal vehicles, and enclosed trailers protect against road debris and weather, which matters most on longer hauls. Enclosed rigs are a small fraction of the trailers working any given lane, and that scarcity is what drives both the higher price and the longer booking lead time.
Open Car Transport
Most vehicles move on open trailers, and for most routes that is the more cost-effective way to ship a car.
Open transport works well for standard vehicles and keeps costs predictable. It also offers the widest carrier availability.
Which Deadlines Start When You Move From Alabama to Texas?
A move from Alabama to Texas starts three clocks around moving day, plus one Alabama step with no deadline but a set order. Here they are, shortest window first.
Within 30 days: register the car in Texas
- Emissions, where your county requires it. In 18 Texas counties on the TxDMV list, among them Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis, an emissions test at a DPS-certified station has to be passed before registration. The list leaves out Nueces and Lubbock counties, so Corpus Christi and Lubbock deliveries skip the test.
- No safety inspection. Under the Department of Public Safety program overview, non-commercial cars have needed no safety inspection since January 1, 2025.
- A policy that meets Texas minimums. Your liability policy needs Texas limits of at least $30,000 for one injured person, $60,000 across everyone hurt in an accident and $25,000 for damaged property.
- The county tax office. Take the insurance card and proof of ownership, such as your Alabama title or registration, to your county tax assessor-collector, where first-time registrants complete Form 130-U. Some offices work by appointment. Expect the new resident tax too, which TxDMV puts at $90 or the difference between the Alabama and Texas sales tax; our guides to registering an out-of-state car in Texas and Texas vehicle sales tax cover the visit.
Within 60 days: claim any Alabama tax credit
- Ad valorem credit voucher. The Alabama Department of Revenue lists a vehicle permanently removed from the state among the events that open a 60 day window to claim a prorated credit for the unused part of the ad valorem tax already paid, in the county where you paid it.
Within 90 days: switch your driver license
- Texas driver license. New residents have 90 days to get a Texas license from the Department of Public Safety, TxDMV says.
No deadline, but an order: the Alabama plate
- Plate before policy. Alabama does not require the plate back, but the Department of Revenue suggests surrendering it at a license plate issuing office before you cancel the Alabama policy, to avoid insurance verification trouble if you ever register there again. Should an Alabama insurance verification notice still arrive once you have moved, reply through MyDMV and attach the Texas registration receipt or title.
Source: TxDMV, New to Texas.
What Happens at Pickup in Alabama and Delivery in Texas?
Choose both handoff spots with dispatch before the truck is booked, one in Alabama and one in Texas. A full car carrier is long, so the driver wants a wide street or a big lot where the truck can park, drop its ramps and get back out.
In Alabama, long rural driveways, steep streets on the hills around Birmingham and narrow streets in older neighborhoods can keep a truck from the door, and a nearby shopping center lot often serves instead. In Texas, apartment complexes and gated subdivisions around Houston, Dallas and San Antonio may limit big trucks, so the handoff may move to the entrance or a lot nearby. For more on each end, see our Alabama car shipping page and our Texas car shipping page.
At both ends, inspect the car with the driver and have any scratch, chip or dent noted on the bill of lading, then sign. Photograph all four sides beforehand, and clear out anything personal.
Key Things to Know Before Shipping a Car From Alabama to Texas
Rivalane books every Alabama to Texas order out of Melville, New York, typically puts a licensed carrier on it within one to three working days, and keeps the car visible on real-time tracking from pickup to delivery. On this lane the Texas address sets the road and moves the miles more than the Alabama start, so give the exact delivery city when you ask for a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
