Article Summary
How is auto transport changing?
- Long-haul demand is skyrocketing despite falling rates: Long-distance shipments grew by 42% as dealerships and auctions source vehicles much farther from home, even though per-mile rates moderately declined and diesel prices surged.
- Technology adoption is dividing the market: Manual workflows are being replaced by automated tools; carriers leveraging active digital load requests and real-time booking are moving significantly more freight and securing faster payment cycles than traditional operators.
- Volume is concentrating heavily into high-density corridors: Regional transport demand is tightening around specific geographic choke points—such as the Northeast (up 27%) and the West (up 19%)—forcing carriers to be more strategic about lane density and capacity placement.
Moving a vehicle from point A to point B may seem straightforward, but the data tells a different story.
In the latest "Super Moves: State of Auto Transport Industry Report," Super Dispatch, an automotive transportation management platform, shares lessons learned from facilitating the movement of more than 10 million vehicles in 2025. The takeaway: Long-haul shipments are growing, operational speed is becoming a competitive advantage, and demand is rising fastest in key freight corridors.
Here’s what the data reveals and why it matters:
Long-haul movement experienced significant growth
While nearly 80% of vehicles traveled less than 1,000 miles in 2025, long-haul shipments marked the year’s fastest-growing haul-type segment. They only accounted for 21% of total shipments, but long-distance hauls increased by about 42% last year.
The data suggests that while territorial networks are growing, there is a simultaneous rise in regional-to-national demand as dealerships and auctions source vehicles farther from home.
Despite this elevated demand, long-haul rates fell from 90 cents to 85 cents per mile between 2024 and 2025.
The report also found that fuel volatility remained a major operational challenge in 2025. Following the Iran conflict, diesel prices surged 46%, placing additional pressure on carriers at a time when long-haul volume was growing and per-mile rates were declining.
For carriers now earning more per load but moderately less per mile, fuel efficiency, route optimization and deadhead minimization have become even more critical to profit margins than in previous years. Shippers moving vehicles across state lines need to take note as well. This shift to longer-distance hauls means a tighter market for trucks servicing cross-country lanes.
Speed and reliability remain competitive advantages
The 2025 report shows continued momentum toward faster, more connected and more reliable operations fueled by technology. The data showed that carriers who adopted technology tools also delivered more loads throughout the year.
In 2025, digital load requests reshaped how business gets done on Super Dispatch. The share of orders booked through load requests climbed steadily throughout the year, from 16% in January to 21% by December, with total load request bookings up 73% year over year. Carriers using active load alerts delivered 44 times more vehicles than those on the platform who did not. Across the platform, nearly 6 in 10 loads were settled within a week, resulting in a simpler, faster payment cycle without delays.
Together, these trends suggest that operations, and therefore expectations, are evolving.
Bookings once reliant on phone calls, manual coordination and fragmented workflows are gradually being augmented, and even replaced, by technology-powered processes that enable real-time booking, faster payments and automated operational functions.
The data suggests that technology does more than alleviate administrative burdens; it impacts every aspect of an auto transport operation. As the report shows, carriers embracing technology are outperforming those who are not, with differences that extend beyond efficiency gains. Carriers with more moves (11 or more) received higher ratings than those with fewer shipments (under 10).
High-gensity corridors are seeing heightened demand
Vehicle transport demand remained widespread in 2025, but several regions and corridors emerged as clear growth leaders.
The fastest growth in the country was in the Northeast, where delivery volume surged by 27%.
It was fueled by demand across states and routes, including New Jersey, rising by 48%; New York, by 21%; and Pennsylvania, by 22%. Routes from New York to Connecticut underwent the fastest growth, with New York City to Hartford growing 120% and New York City to New Haven increasing 104%.
The West region saw a 19% uptick, with California (19%), Arizona (22%) and Utah (34%) powering its strong demand. The South grew by 17% but accounted for the most deliveries, handling more than 4 in 10 vehicle deliveries on the Super Dispatch platform. In the Midwest, 20% growth in both Ohio and Minnesota propelled the region’s noteworthy 14% growth last year.
Among these regions, the Los Angeles-to-Riverside route and its reverse, as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth area, were among the busiest lanes. Additionally, several transport lanes originating from Chicago and Phoenix grew significantly, including:
- Chicago to New York (100%-plus) and Chicago to Minneapolis (71%)
- Phoenix to Los Angeles (60%) and Phoenix to Las Vegas (69%)
With demand increasingly concentrating across high-traffic corridors, the industry is seeing tighter capacity, more competition and stronger pricing pressure. For carriers focused on regional coverage, understanding lane density, strategically positioning capacity and staying nimble to meet demand flows will be key to success in high-demand markets and beyond.
What comes next for carriers
As transport networks expand geographically, and demand concentrates into key corridors, speed, customer service and responsiveness remain high priorities for shippers.
The carriers best positioned to meet their partners’ and the market’s demands while seizing growth opportunities in the years ahead are not necessarily the largest operators. Increasingly, they are the ones operating the most reliably. They are the carriers adapting to market shifts, leveraging technology to realize operational efficiencies and using data to guide decisions.
