Rivalane offers a military discount and a student discount. Both are conditional on verification, and both are confirmed once we have seen the document.
Military discount
Service members, including those shipping a vehicle for a PCS move, qualify by showing a valid military ID. Tell your coordinator when you book and send a photo of the ID. We do not publish a fixed percentage, because the amount depends on the route and is confirmed on your order confirmation rather than promised in an ad.
Student discount
Students shipping a car to or from school qualify by sending a current transcript. The same rule applies: the discount is confirmed after verification and shown on your order confirmation.
Why we verify
A discount that is promised in an ad and quietly absorbed into an inflated quote is not a discount. We check eligibility first and show the reduction in writing so you can see exactly what it is worth on your route.
Military members can also read our guide to what the PCS orders cover and what lands on you, linked below.
How to claim the military discount
Mention it when you request a quote, by phone or in the notes on the calculator. Your coordinator will ask for a photo of a valid military ID, which can be sent by email or text. Once it is verified, the discount is applied to your order confirmation in writing, and that is the number you pay. Eligibility is confirmed on the document provided, so ask your coordinator about veterans and dependents before you book.
The verification is not a formality. It is what lets us show the reduction openly on the confirmation instead of hiding it inside a quote nobody can check. Our military relocation page covers how PCS shipments run.
What the government does and does not cover
For most moves within the continental United States, the military expects you to drive your vehicle and reimburses mileage rather than shipping it. For overseas moves, the government ships one privately owned vehicle through its own contractor, which you can read about on the official PCSmyPOV site. Shipping a second vehicle, or shipping a first one for a domestic move, is normally at your own expense, which is where a private shipment with a verified discount comes in.
Check your orders and the Military OneSource moving resources before you book, so you know which costs you can claim back and which you cannot. Rivalane does not process entitlement or reimbursement paperwork.
What the Terms say: discounts and all other agreed amounts are governed by the Order Confirmation (Section 3a), and Rivalane's fee is due when a carrier accepts the order (Section 7a of our Terms and Conditions). A discount that is not on your confirmation is not yet a discount.
How to claim the student discount
Students shipping a car to or from college send a current transcript or enrollment verification from the school's registrar. A student ID alone is not enough, because it does not show current enrollment. Once verified, the discount appears on the order confirmation in the same way. The discount applies whether a parent or the student places the order, as long as the enrolled student is the one shipping the car.
Timing matters for both
Military PCS season runs from late spring through summer, and college move-in and move-out cluster in August and May. Both put demand on the same corridors at the same time, so the discount helps most when you book early enough to give the carrier a wide pickup window. A discount on a tight-date order in peak season can be smaller than the saving from flexible dates alone.
Other ways we help on these moves
Carriers rarely enter a military installation or a campus, so we arrange a meeting point outside the gate or near the dorms in advance. If a parent, roommate or sponsor will hand over or receive the car, name that person as your agent when you book.
What the discount does not change
The carrier's balance at delivery is still paid in cash, certified funds, a cashier's check or a money order under Section 7c of the Terms, and the discount is applied to the order total shown on your confirmation rather than negotiated at the truck. Dates remain estimates under Section 2e. The one bag allowance, the quarter tank rule and the inspection at both ends apply to a discounted order exactly as they do to any other.
If you are shipping to or from a base or a campus, read the base and student sections of our military relocation page and the door to door page, because the meeting point outside a gate or near a dorm is usually the detail that decides how smoothly the handover goes. The FMCSA's SAFER system lets you check the assigned carrier in the same way as any other customer.
Related questions
- Can you ship a car to or from a military base?
- What affects the cost of a Rivalane car shipping quote?
- When do I pay for car shipping with Rivalane?
Go deeper: PCS Vehicle Shipping: What the Military Covers and What You Pay.
