Car Shipping Companies inIowa
13 auto transporters based in Iowa hold an active FMCSA registration with motor vehicles declared as cargo and a fleet on file, the 37th-largest count of any state. The largest are below with the USDOT number you need to read each one's safety and insurance record, and 2 Iowa cities have pages of their own.
Source: FMCSA Motor Carrier Census, snapshot September 24, 2026. Ordered by reported fleet. No paid placement.
- Listed carriers
- 13
- based in Iowa
- Interstate authority
- 62%
- 8 may haul across state lines
- Safety rated
- 0
- Satisfactory rating on record
- Median fleet
- 1 truck
- US median 1
The 10 largest auto transporters in Iowa
Largest by power units on each carrier's own MCS-150 filing, drivers as the tiebreak. A big fleet means more trucks on more lanes; it says nothing about how a car is treated on the deck, which is what the record behind each USDOT number is for.
- 1
Rose Auto Transport Llc
3816 106Th Street Apt 22, Urbandale, IA 50322
- USDOT
- 3169118
- MC number
- MC1051704
- Fleet
- 11 trucks · 5 drivers
- Registered since
- 2018
- 2
Silver Auto Transport And Hauling Llc
301 Bud Rd, Lisbon, IA 52253
- USDOT
- 4463695
- MC number
- MC1760676
- Fleet
- 2 trucks · 3 drivers
- Registered since
- 2025
- 3
Ddm Auto Transport Llc
4573 135Th St, Montezuma, IA 50171
- USDOT
- 3856054
- MC number
- MC1407095
- Fleet
- 2 trucks · 2 drivers
- Registered since
- 2022
- 4
D & J Auto Transport
Legal name: 1 John Watson
2920 Ne 53Rd Ct, Des Moineis, IA 50317
- USDOT
- 1270483
- MC number
- MC496406
- Fleet
- 2 trucks · 2 drivers
- Registered since
- 2004
- 5
N & R Auto Transport Llc
1623 Glade Dr Sw, Altoona, IA 50327
- USDOT
- 4500082
- MC number
- MC1780134
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 2 drivers
- Registered since
- 2025
- 6
Budd Auto Transport Llc
1334 S 92Nd St, West Des Moines, IA 50266
- USDOT
- 2854949
- MC number
- MC955760
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 1 drivers
- Registered since
- 2016
- 7
Mb Auto Transport
Legal name: Brian Mahlstedt
15691 480Th St, Laurens, IA 50554
- USDOT
- 3358890
- MC number
- MC1075258
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 1 drivers
- Registered since
- 2019
- 8
Anderson Auto Transport Service
Legal name: Troy Anderson
2408 Tamarack Drive Road, Decorah, IA 52101
- USDOT
- 832834
- MC number
- —
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 1 drivers
- Registered since
- 1999
- 9
Db Auto Transport Llc
699 Walnut St Ste 400, Des Moines, IA 50309
- USDOT
- 4233544
- MC number
- —
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 1 drivers
- Registered since
- 2024
- 10
Trustway Auto Transport Llc
409 N 4Th St Ste 117, Burlington, IA 52601
- USDOT
- 4482225
- MC number
- MC1770491
- Fleet
- 1 truck · 1 drivers
- Registered since
- 2025
More auto transporters in Iowa
Ranked 11 to 13 by fleet.
Auto transporters by city in Iowa
Each city page lists the carriers registered in that city and every listed carrier within 30 miles, with the distance, so you can see who is actually local to a pickup.
Shipping a car out of Iowa: the main lanes
Carriers price by lane, and a lane is priced by how easily a truck fills on it. These are the distances from Des Moines to the largest metros; measured routes are driving miles, the rest are estimated from straight-line distance and marked approximate.
| From Des Moines to | Distance | Truck drive time | Household move on this route |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | ≈ 1,190 mi | 3 days | Priced route → |
| Los Angeles, CA | ≈ 1,673 mi | 4 days | Priced route → |
| Chicago, IL | ≈ 361 mi | 7 hr | Priced route → |
| Dallas, TX | ≈ 738 mi | 2 days | Priced route → |
| Houston, TX | ≈ 960 mi | 2 days | Priced route → |
| Washington, DC | ≈ 1,041 mi | 3 days | Priced route → |
| Miami, FL | ≈ 1,556 mi | 4 days | Priced route → |
| Philadelphia, PA | ≈ 1,132 mi | 3 days | Priced route → |
Drive time assumes a loaded car hauler averaging about 55 mph with legal rest; a shared truck also stops for the other cars on the deck, so door-to-door takes longer than the drive.
What sets the price of a car shipped from Iowa
We publish no price model for auto transport, so this page prints no dollar figures. What it can tell you is the structure of the quote, so you can read one.
The lane, not the mileage
A car going from Des Moines to a metro the carriers already run daily slots into a full truck. A pickup in a rural county is a detour the driver is paid for, and a delivery to a small town means running the last leg light.
Open or enclosed
Most cars ship on open two-level trucks. Enclosed trailers carry fewer cars, so each pays a bigger share of the truck; it is the right call for classics, exotics and low-clearance cars, not for a daily driver.
Size, weight and whether it runs
A full-size pickup takes the space of more than one sedan. A car that does not start must be winched, and fewer carriers take the job, which is what raises the price.
Season and direction
Trailer space is a market. When more cars want to leave Iowa than arrive, outbound space tightens and inbound trucks run light; the carrier prices the direction it can fill.
Door-to-door or a meeting point
A 75-foot rig cannot enter most residential streets. Meeting at a wide lot costs the carrier less driving time than a true door pickup, and many quote it that way.
Flexibility
A pickup window of several days lets the broker post the job at a rate a carrier will actually accept. A fixed date is paid for.
The full explanation is in how car shipping is priced; the open-vs-enclosed decision has its own guide.
How to check a Iowa auto transporter
Most quotes come from brokers, and the truck that arrives belongs to a carrier you have not spoken to. These five checks connect the two.
- 1
Match the USDOT number to the company
Ask which company's trucks will carry the car, then open that USDOT number on the FMCSA record. The legal name, the Iowa address and the authority status should match what you were told. A broker quoting you has a different record from the carrier that shows up.
- 2
Check the authority is active and the MC number matches
Active operating authority is the licence to haul for hire across state lines. An inactive MC number, or one the company cannot produce, means the load would move without it.
- 3
Ask for the cargo insurance certificate
The certificate names the carrier, the insurer, the per-vehicle limit and the deductible. Your car is covered while it is on the truck only under that policy; nothing inside the car is.
- 4
Read the fleet line against the promise
A carrier reporting three trucks cannot run a dedicated truck to you next Tuesday and also be in three other states. Fleet size is self-reported, so treat it as a claim to test with a question, not as a guarantee.
- 5
Treat the inspection report as the contract
Existing damage is recorded at pickup on the bill of lading. Photograph the car beside the driver, check the report before you sign, and compare the car with it at delivery before signing again.
Related pages for Iowa
Car shipping in Iowa: questions people ask
How many car shipping companies are there in Iowa?
13 carriers based in Iowa are listed here: active on the FMCSA register, motor vehicles declared as cargo, an auto-transport name, and at least one truck or driver reported. Another 1 Iowa registrations pass the same filter but report no fleet, so they are counted and not listed. Brokers are registered separately and are not in the count.
Who is the largest auto transporter in Iowa?
By reported fleet, Rose Auto Transport Llc in Urbandale, IA, with 11 trucks on its filing (USDOT 3169118). Fleet is self-reported and means capacity, not quality; read the record behind the number before you book.
How much does it cost to ship a car from Iowa?
We publish no car-shipping price model, so this page prints no figures. The quote is set by the lane (Des Moines to New York City, NY is about 1,190 miles), open or enclosed transport, the size and condition of the car, the season and direction of travel, and how flexible your dates are. The pricing guide linked on this page explains each factor.
Are Iowa car shippers insured?
Every carrier here holds active federal authority, which requires liability insurance on file. Cargo coverage for the car itself is the carrier's own policy; ask for the certificate with the per-vehicle limit and deductible, and note that personal items left in the car are never covered.
Is this list a recommendation?
No. It is the federal register filtered to auto transporters based in Iowa and ordered by reported fleet. Nobody pays to appear, nothing is re-ranked, and we have used none of these companies. Use the USDOT number to read each carrier's own record.
About this page. Carriers are from the FMCSA Motor Carrier Census (snapshot September 24, 2026), filtered to active registrations with motor vehicles declared as cargo, an auto-transport name and a fleet on file, and ordered by reported power units. 5,830 registrations pass the filter nationally and 5,173 are listed. Nothing is re-ranked, nobody pays for placement, and we have not used any of these companies. Every row links to the live federal record.