I just purchased a 1972 Olds Toronado today, I just need to get it to Alaska.
I have owned a 1967, 442, a 1966 Cutlass S and a 1972 98. I'm happy to be driving an Olds again!

 

How does one get a car from the lower 48 to Alaska? By boat? By truck through Canada? Drive it?

 

Usually I drive to and from Alaska but I can't get time off this time so I need to ship it by truck. It will be a first for shipping but I know someone else that has shipped vehicles so I'll ask.

 

Where in the lower 48 is it, exactly? And where in Alaska is it going?

I have to guess that, almost regardless of where it's coming from, it's got to cost a pretty penny to get it to anywhere in Alaska. I threw Chicago and Anchorage into google maps just now. About 4,000 miles.

What is it likely to be, out of curiosity? $3,000 for shipping? $4,000? I know that to ship a car most of the way across the country here, say 2000 miles, can cost anywhere from $1000 to $2000, depending. I paid about $1100 two years ago to ship a car from Ohio to New Mexico, a distance of about 1700 miles. That was on an open carrier.

 

When I moved to Anchorage, I took the boat, out of Bellingham to Skagway/Haines, They take vehicles that run, then drove the ALCAN in Feb. Might be an option

 

Welcome, I'm sure you living in Alaska you have checked into shipping by barge, But then again you may not be anywhere near the ocean and this would be a moot point, it's a big state.....Tedd

 

I don't know what it will cost yet, maybe $2000 plus. It will be coming from Michigan to Healy, Ak. which is 250 miles north of Anchorage. Like I say, I'd just as soon drive back but don't think I can get the time off. I think the mileage is about 3800 miles.

 

Interesting.

I'm guessing one issue is finding a shipper who will do it at all because I'm sure they'd want to have the opportunity to make some money on the return trip. 4,000 miles is a long way to drive with an empty truck.

I really have no idea how many cars are routinely shipped from Alaska to the lower 48, so maybe this is not an issue, or maybe whoever hauls it can take something else besides a car as a load. Or maybe the shipper will just build into the cost the fact that he might not have a backhaul, and thus the price would be higher than it would otherwise be as he'll have his time plus expenses in driving the empty truck all the way back.

Or the shipper might say that he'll bring your car, but he can't do it until he's lined up a return load, however long that might take.


I do watch a lot of "Ice Road Truckers," and I know how to say words like "backhaul."

 

Yikes shipping a car 3800 miles, the average steel hauler in Canada charges $1.38/mile , I hope you get a decent price for shipping, you may get lucky and get a guy going on a hunting trip and is wiling to pull a trailer for some $$$

 

Welcome to CO xmueller, please keep us in the loop and good luck.

 

Just out of curiosity, how does a guy in Alaska find a guy in Michigan who wants to go hunting in Alaska AND wants to do it now AND both has the capability of taking along something as large as a car (1972 Toronados are large, heavy vehicles that it would take a large pickup truck at least plus a large trailer to haul) that distance AND wants to do it at all, regardless of the money he might make?

Is there a website where people who are going hunting in Alaska post that they're doing so and are looking for a load to haul? It seems an unlikely combination. Would the OP even trust someone who doesn't transport vehicles professionally to move his newly-acquired car 4,000 miles??

I suppose the OP could post on craigslist and similar places that he's looking to have a car transported and see if anyone responds, but that's definitely a long shot. It's also not much different from simply contacting professional auto transport companies.

 

U-SHIP is one option.... might even make it on an episode of Shipping Wars!