Car shipping in North Hempstead is a different job from the rest of Nassau, and we dispatch it that way. The town covers Nassau's North Shore from the Queens line at Great Neck out to Old Westbury, and a large share of what moves from here is enclosed: a Range Rover headed to a Palm Beach condo for the winter, a Porsche going to a buyer in Scottsdale, a restored Mercedes SL leaving a garage in Plandome for a collection in California. Our office at 119 Jackson St #306, Hempstead, NY 11550 sits just south of the town line, and the dispatchers there know which Sands Point lanes a hauler can actually turn around in.
Big Apple Car Shipping is an FMCSA-licensed broker. We quote North Hempstead auto transport online in about a minute, assign a vetted open or enclosed carrier, and handle the one problem that comes up on nearly every North Shore pickup: getting a long truck close enough to your car without breaking an HOA rule or a tree limb. Call (516) 979-3280 and tell us the village. We will tell you where the truck meets you.
Where the truck can and cannot go on the North Shore
A standard open carrier is roughly 75 feet long with the tractor, and most of what makes North Hempstead attractive to live in makes it hard to serve door to door. Sands Point, Kings Point, Plandome, Flower Hill and the estate sections of Old Westbury have private roads, low-hanging oaks, hairpin driveways and gate codes. Several associations prohibit commercial vehicles over a certain length outright.
So we plan the meeting point before dispatch rather than letting the driver guess on the day. The staging spots that work most often:
- Americana Manhasset area and Northern Blvd (NY-25A): wide, flat and easy for a driver coming off the LIE. The default for most Manhasset, Flower Hill and Plandome pickups.
- LIRR Port Washington branch lots: Manhasset, Great Neck and Port Washington station lots have room to load on weekends and off-peak hours.
- Roslyn and Roslyn Heights: Northern Blvd near the Roslyn Clock Tower is tight, so drivers prefer the commercial stretch east toward Greenvale or the Roslyn Road corridor.
- Mineola, Williston Park, Carle Place, Westbury: the flatter grid south of the parkway usually allows true door-to-door, and Old Country Road and Jericho Turnpike give drivers room to stage.
If your street is one of the ones a truck cannot enter, a shorter enclosed rig or a flatbed shuttle from your driveway to the staging lot solves it. We will tell you which applies when you book.
Enclosed and liftgate transport for Gold Coast vehicles
More cars ship enclosed out of North Hempstead than almost anywhere else on Long Island, and for good reason. Exotics, low-clearance sports cars, classics with original paint and anything over about $100,000 in value belong in a hard-sided trailer. Enclosed carriers keep road salt and stone chips off the car and typically carry higher cargo insurance than a ten-car open hauler.
Ground clearance is the other issue. A Ferrari, a McLaren, a lowered 911 or a classic Jaguar E-Type will scrape on the steep ramps of a conventional trailer. Ask for a liftgate when you quote; the car rolls onto a flat platform that lifts it level into the trailer. Liftgate enclosed usually runs 40 to 60 percent above open-carrier pricing from Nassau and adds a few days of lead time because fewer trucks have one.
Open transport still makes sense for a daily-driver Lexus or a BMW X5 going to a student in North Carolina. The honest rule we give callers from Great Neck and Manhasset: if you would wince watching it go through a car wash, ship it enclosed.
Carrier access: LIE exits, Northern Blvd, and why not the Northern State
North Hempstead has two east-west parkways and one interstate, and only one of them works for a car hauler. The Northern State Parkway bans commercial vehicles entirely, and its stone overpasses near Roslyn and Manhasset Hills are low enough to peel the roof off a loaded trailer. Drivers coming for a North Hempstead pickup take the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and exit between 33 (Lakeville Road, Great Neck), 36 (Searingtown Road, Manhasset and Port Washington), 37 (Willis Avenue, Roslyn and Mineola) and 39 (Glen Cove Road, Old Westbury and Carle Place). From there they work north on Searingtown, Port Washington Blvd (NY-101), Willis Avenue or Glen Cove Road toward Northern Blvd.
Northern Blvd itself is a truck route and the spine of most of our pickups here, but it narrows and climbs through Roslyn village and gets congested through Manhasset in the afternoon. Morning pickups go smoother. For the New Hyde Park and Garden City Park side of town, drivers come in via Jericho Turnpike (NY-25) or Hillside Avenue from exit 32 or 33.
Who ships cars from North Hempstead, and where they go
The patterns on this side of the county are specific, and they shape when and how we book.
- Seasonal Florida residents: Port Washington, Sands Point and Great Neck homeowners who split the year between here and Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Naples. Southbound demand peaks from late October to mid-December and northbound from late March to early May. Book two to three weeks ahead in those windows if you want a specific pickup date and an enclosed truck.
- Hospital relocations: Northwell Health's North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset brings residents and fellows in every June and sends them out every July. Most are one-car, open-carrier moves to or from Boston, Philadelphia or Chicago.
- Students and midshipmen: families of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy midshipmen in Kings Point, plus NYIT in Old Westbury and LIU Post in Brookville on the town's eastern edge. Campus addresses are hard for a hauler, so these almost always load at a staging lot.
- Second homes and purchases: auction and dealer purchases arriving from out of state, and estate vehicles leaving Roslyn Harbor and Flower Hill for buyers across the country.
- Overseas moves: international relocations from Great Neck and Manhasset where the car has to reach a port terminal in Newark or Elizabeth, NJ by a cutoff date.
Getting a car from Manhasset to the port in Newark or Elizabeth
If you are moving abroad, the ocean forwarder will give you a terminal, a booking number and a receiving window at Port Newark or the Elizabeth Marine Terminal. We handle the domestic leg: a carrier picks the car up in North Hempstead, crosses to New Jersey, and delivers it to the terminal inside that window with the documents the gate requires. The car must be clean, have under a quarter tank of fuel, and travel with the original title or the lien holder's release letter. Empty it of personal belongings; terminals turn those cars away.
The drive from Great Neck to Elizabeth is only about 35 miles, but it crosses the Throgs Neck, the Cross Bronx and the George Washington Bridge, or Staten Island and the Goethals. Allow a full day. We schedule port runs for early-morning pickups so the driver is at the gate before the afternoon line builds.
Pickup timing, weather and what the North Shore does to a schedule
Expect a pickup window of one to three days from the first available date, with the driver calling the day before to confirm a time. Enclosed and liftgate trucks run tighter routes, so give them a little more flexibility. Snow is the main wildcard: a nor'easter that closes the LIE east of the Queens line pushes everything a day or two, and the hilly village streets in Roslyn Heights and Port Washington are the last to be plowed. Friday afternoon traffic on Northern Blvd is the summer version, so we stage Friday pickups before noon.
Wash the car so inspection photos are useful, leave about a quarter tank of fuel, and remove toll tags, garage remotes and parking passes. If someone else, a house manager or a neighbor, is releasing the car, give us their name and number. The carrier will not load a vehicle without a signed bill of lading from an adult on site.
Where we pick up around North Hempstead
Door-to-door service covers these communities from the North Hempstead office, along with the rest of Nassau County. If you do not see your town, the quote tool prices any ZIP code.
Popular routes from North Hempstead
Typical prices for a running mid-size sedan on an open carrier, booked about a week ahead. Enclosed trailers, oversized vehicles and peak-season dates run higher; the quote tool gives you the exact number.
| Route | Transit | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| North Hempstead to Palm Beach, FL | 3–5 days | from$725 |
| North Hempstead to Naples, FL | 4–6 days | from$749 |
| North Hempstead to Boca Raton, FL | 3–5 days | from$699 |
| North Hempstead to Los Angeles, CA | 7–10 days | from$1,475 |
| North Hempstead to Charlotte, NC | 2–4 days | from$625 |
| North Hempstead to Atlanta, GA | 3–5 days | from$699 |
| North Hempstead to Chicago, IL | 3–5 days | from$775 |
| North Hempstead to Scottsdale, AZ | 6–9 days | from$1,325 |
Questions from North Hempstead customers
I live in Sands Point and our association does not allow large trucks. How does pickup work?
We set a meeting point before dispatch, usually a retail lot on Northern Blvd near Manhasset or the Port Washington LIRR lot, and you or a house manager drives the car there to meet the hauler. If you cannot move the car, we arrange a short flatbed shuttle from your driveway to the truck. Either way, no 75-foot rig tries to enter a private road.
What does it cost to ship a car from Port Washington to Palm Beach for the winter?
A running sedan or SUV on an open carrier typically runs $650 to $750 from the North Shore to Palm Beach County, with transit of three to five days. Enclosed transport for a Mercedes, Porsche or similar is usually $1,100 to $1,400 depending on size and whether a liftgate is needed. Book two to three weeks ahead for November pickups.
Can you get a car to the port in Newark or Elizabeth for an international move from Great Neck?
Yes. Give us the terminal name, booking number and receiving window from your ocean forwarder. We schedule an early pickup in Great Neck, the carrier crosses into New Jersey and delivers the car with the title or lien release to the gate the same day. The car must be empty of personal items and have under a quarter tank of fuel.
My son is a midshipman at Kings Point. Can a truck pick up or deliver on the Merchant Marine Academy grounds?
No, and we do not try. Access to the Academy is controlled and the roads through Kings Point village are narrow. We meet at the Great Neck LIRR station lot or a lot on Northern Blvd in Great Neck or Manhasset, a ten-minute drive from the gate. Pickups in late May and deliveries in July and August fill fast, so book early.
Will the driver use the Northern State Parkway to reach Roslyn or Manhasset?
No. The Northern State bans commercial vehicles and its overpasses are too low for a loaded hauler. Drivers use the Long Island Expressway, exiting at 36, 37 or 39, and come north on Searingtown Road, Willis Avenue or Glen Cove Road to Northern Blvd. That is why we often stage pickups along Northern Blvd rather than deep in the villages.