Queens is the borough people leave through. Two airports, the Van Wyck, the LIE and the BQE all funnel out of it, and a lot of car shipping in Queens starts with a plane ticket: a family in Bayside flying to Tampa, an Astoria renter headed to Austin, a nurse finishing a contract at Elmhurst Hospital and going home to Houston. Our Queens auto transport desk sits at 3763 83rd St #1450 in Jackson Heights, a short walk from the Roosevelt Ave / 82nd St 7 train, and we book open and enclosed carriers to every state from here.
The other half of the work runs the opposite way. Queens is the most diverse county in the country, and new arrivals in Flushing, Corona, Richmond Hill and Jamaica buy a car within months of landing, then ship it to a job in Charlotte or a relative in Orlando. We also handle the United States leg for people sending a vehicle overseas through Newark or Elizabeth. Call (347) 970-7087 or take the instant quote online, and tell us which neighborhood the car is in. That detail changes the plan more than anything else.
Fly-and-ship from JFK and LaGuardia
The most common Queens request: I fly out Friday, can the car go the same day? Usually yes, with a day or two of slack. The cleanest version is a pickup at your building the day before the flight.
JFK is the easier airport for a hauler. The long-term and cell phone lots off the Van Wyck and the cargo roads along Rockaway Blvd have the turning room a 75-foot rig needs. LaGuardia is tighter. The rebuilt terminal loops do not welcome car carriers, so for LGA we set the meet on Astoria Blvd, at the Citi Field lots a few minutes east, or in a College Point industrial lot, and you cab from there.
Two rules make this work. Book the car before the nonrefundable flight, because carrier pickup windows are a range of days, not an hour. And leave spare keys and a signed authorization with a neighbor or doorman in case the truck slips to the day after your flight.
Which Queens roads a car carrier will and will not use
Queens has more parkway mileage than any other borough, and none of it is open to a commercial car hauler. The Grand Central, Jackie Robinson, Belt and Cross Island are all off limits. What carriers actually use is the LIE (I-495), the Van Wyck (I-678, legal but slow at almost every hour), the BQE, the Whitestone Expressway toward the Bronx, and the surface arterials: Northern Blvd, Queens Blvd, Woodhaven and Cross Bay Blvd, Astoria Blvd, Atlantic Ave, Hillside Ave and Rockaway Blvd.
Flushing, College Point, Bayside and Whitestone are easy because they sit between the Whitestone Expressway and the LIE. Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens are reached off Queens Blvd and the Van Wyck. Jamaica, Hollis and Queens Village are served from Hillside Ave. The hard cases are the pockets behind parkways: Howard Beach, Ozone Park and the Rockaways sit below the Belt, so a truck comes down Woodhaven and Cross Bay Blvd instead, and Douglaston and Little Neck hide behind the Cross Island.
Where haulers meet Queens customers when the block will not work
Wide two-way blocks in Fresh Meadows, Bayside, Whitestone, Middle Village and much of Jamaica and Richmond Hill take a hauler at the curb.
The rest of the borough is different. Astoria and Long Island City towers have underground garages a transporter cannot enter, so the car comes up to street level and the handoff happens on a wide block such as 21st St or Vernon Blvd. Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona and Woodside are dense one-way grids with low trees and constant bus traffic under the 7 line. Downtown Flushing is too congested for a 75-foot rig to stop. For those we set a meeting point, and most drivers prefer it:
- Citi Field and the Flushing Meadows lots, on non-game days
- JFK long-term and cell phone lots, and the cargo roads off Rockaway Blvd
- Queens Center Mall and Rego Center parking off Queens Blvd
- The Aqueduct / Resorts World lot in South Ozone Park
- Home Depot lots in College Point and Ozone Park
- Bay Terrace shopping center for Bayside and Whitestone
- The Green Acres edge at Valley Stream for Rosedale, Laurelton and Springfield Gardens
Meeting a truck costs you a short drive and saves a cancelled pickup.
New Queens residents shipping a car they just bought
A pattern unique to Queens: someone arrives from Ecuador, Bangladesh, China, Guyana or the Dominican Republic, settles in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Flushing or Richmond Hill, buys a used car from a dealer on Northern Blvd or Hillside Ave, and then a cousin's job in Atlanta or a family house in Kissimmee changes the plan. They ship the car rather than drive 1,000 miles on a license they got six months ago.
Taxi, TLC and for-hire drivers are a large share of Queens vehicle owners, and when one sells a vehicle to a buyer in Florida or ships a personal car south at retirement, paperwork is the only complication. Bring your title or lien letter, registration and insurance card. If the car is still on dealer temporary plates, register it first; carriers will not load a car without plates. Call the Jackson Heights office at (347) 970-7087 and we will walk you through the bill of lading and the inspection photos.
Queens to the port: the US leg of an overseas vehicle move
Queens sends more cars overseas than any other borough we serve, mostly to the Caribbean, West Africa and South Asia through the Port of New York and New Jersey. We handle the domestic piece: pickup at your Queens address or a meeting point, and delivery to the freight forwarder's lot at Port Newark or Port Elizabeth, or to a forwarder's warehouse in Linden or Kearny. Ocean booking, customs and destination charges are between you and the forwarder, and you should have that booking number before we dispatch.
Timing matters more than price. Forwarders charge storage if a car arrives early and roll you to the next vessel if it misses the cutoff, so we aim delivery for the two or three days before the receiving deadline. The port wants a clean title or a lien release, and the drop lot will turn away a car with more than a quarter tank or personal items inside.
Who ships a car out of Queens, and where it goes
Students and visiting staff at St. John's in Jamaica Estates, Queens College in Flushing, LaGuardia Community College in LIC and York College in Jamaica ship home in May and arrive in August. Nurses and residents at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, Elmhurst, Jamaica Hospital and Long Island Jewish on the New Hyde Park line rotate on contracts that end on a date, and the car needs to be gone by then.
Bayside, Whitestone and Douglaston families sell a house and move to Florida, the Carolinas or Georgia, often shipping two cars a few weeks apart. Astoria and LIC renters leave for Los Angeles, Austin and Denver and would rather fly than drive a Civic across I-80. Howard Beach and the Rockaways have a weather habit: residents who remember Sandy ask us to move a car to a relative in Pennsylvania or a Florida address when a late-summer forecast turns serious. The peninsula is reached only by the Cross Bay and Marine Parkway bridges, and the Cross Bay is a truck's only sensible option, so a Far Rockaway or Breezy Point pickup usually becomes a meet near Aqueduct or off Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach.
Open carriers handle most of this. Enclosed makes sense for the Forest Hills Gardens or Malba car that lives in a garage and for anything that should arrive clean at a winter home.
Where we pick up around Queens
Door-to-door service covers these communities from the Queens office, along with the rest of Queens County. If you do not see your town, the quote tool prices any ZIP code.
Popular routes from Queens
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queens to Miami, FL | 3–5 days | from$675 |
| Queens to Orlando, FL | 3–5 days | from$650 |
| Queens to Charlotte, NC | 2–3 days | from$575 |
| Queens to Atlanta, GA | 3–4 days | from$650 |
| Queens to Houston, TX | 5–7 days | from$1,025 |
| Queens to Chicago, IL | 3–4 days | from$700 |
| Queens to Los Angeles, CA | 7–10 days | from$1,375 |
| Queens to Phoenix, AZ | 7–9 days | from$1,250 |
Questions from Queens customers
I fly out of JFK on Saturday. Can the driver take my car at the airport that morning?
Often, yes. We set a meet at the JFK long-term lot, the cell phone lot or a cargo-road address off Rockaway Blvd, and you take the AirTrain or a cab to the terminal. The safer plan is a pickup at home the day before, because carrier windows are a range of days. Book the car before the nonrefundable ticket.
I live in a Long Island City high-rise with an underground garage. How does the pickup work?
The truck cannot enter the garage, so you or building staff bring the car up to street level. Drivers usually stage on a wide block like Vernon Blvd or 21st St rather than a tower's narrow drop-off lane. Tell us the building and we will coordinate a time with the driver and your concierge.
I just bought a car on Northern Blvd and want to ship it to my brother in Orlando. What do I need?
Current registration and plates, the title or a lien letter if there is a loan, and an insurance card. A car on dealer temporary plates needs to be registered first. Your brother signs for delivery with photo ID. Queens to Orlando runs three to five days on an open carrier, typically around $650 for a running sedan.
Can you take my car from Richmond Hill to the port for shipping to Guyana?
We handle the United States leg: pickup in Richmond Hill, delivery to your freight forwarder's lot at Port Newark or Port Elizabeth, or to their warehouse in Linden or Kearny. You arrange the ocean booking, customs and destination charges with the forwarder. Have the booking number, a clean title and an empty car before we dispatch.
I live in Far Rockaway and want the car moved before a storm. How fast can that happen?
In a quiet week, two to four days from booking to pickup for most destinations. When a forecast turns serious, every carrier on the coast is booked, so call early. Rockaway pickups usually meet at the Aqueduct lot or on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach, since haulers avoid the peninsula's streets. Pennsylvania and Florida are the usual destinations.