Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News
The Northern Lights docks at the Port of Anchorage in early October. The ship was carrying about 300 trailers and 150 vehicles.
Transporting vehicles to Alaska
Shipping vehicles to Alaska
Family car or truck can be delivered to Anchorage
Published: January 13, 2003
Last Modified: June 28, 2004 at 09:10 AM
Cars, trucks, RVs and boats can be loaded onto a container ship in Washington state and delivered to Anchorage for driving on Alaska's highways. The loading, voyage and unloading takes a week or more.
This option is good for people who don't want to add several thousand miles to the odometer or spend a week or more driving to Alaska. On the downside, it can be costly.
Container ships also bring up fleets of vehicles destined for dealers' lots, as well as hundreds of new rental cars each spring.
Some visitors drive to Alaska, put their vehicles on a ship and fly back to the Lower 48.
How it works
Vehicle owners in the Lower 48 arrange to get their vehicles to Tacoma, Wash., the major port for shipping to Alaska. Owners can drive their own vehicles or arrange with a vehicle transporter company to handle the work. The transporter company moves the vehicles by truck to Tacoma. Often a family's mover can arrange the service.
In Tacoma, the vehicles are put onto a ship operated by CSX or Totem Ocean Trailer Express, or TOTE. On the ship, the vehicles will come one of two ways: either in the open or below deck, or in a three-sided container.
Once the ship arrives in Anchorage, longshoremen unload the vehicles, which will be trucked to a local yard, where owners pick them up.
Inspection: Before the trip, each vehicle will be inspected for previous damage, so wash your car before you hand it off. You and the transport company will make a similar inspection upon pickup. Insurance is usually for the blue-book value of the vehicle.
Use up your fuel: A vehicle can carry no more than a quarter-tank of fuel, per Coast Guard regulations.
Remove belongings: Remove your personal belongings -- CDs, phones and so forth. It's OK to leave in spare tires and the jack.
Check your antifreeze: In the cold months -- October through April -- you'll need antifreeze protection to 40 below. Don't expect the weather to get that cold in Anchorage even in January, but it's better to be safe.
Costs of shipping
Expect to pay about $1,000 to ship a sedan from Tacoma. An SUV will cost $300 or so more. An RV's cost is higher and may be set by the vehicle's length.
The cost of transporting a vehicle to Tacoma will add substantially to the cost of the shipping leg.
You may be required to pay all or part of the shipping fee up front.
Find a transporter
Use Alaska.com's Business Directory to find auto transporters: Anchorage | Fairbanks
The ferry option
Drivers in Washington state who want to visit the Inside Passage and then head for the Alaska Highway have another option. They can put their vehicles aboard Alaska state ferries in Bellingham, Wash., and be taken to cities in the Inside Passage such as Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Haines and Skagway.
Haines and Skagway have road connections to the Alaska Highway. The ferry system provides a scenic alternative to driving the length of the Alaska Highway and its feeder roads in British Columbia and Alberta.
Elsewhere in Alaska, ferries provide transportation around Prince William Sound and between the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula. (The ferry system doesn't go to Anchorage.)
Ferry schedules: Check schedules and prices for a trip on the Alaska Marine Highway System.
