Iowa to California car hauling rates
141 car hauling loads from Iowa to California reached the Loadez load board in the last 30 days. Their median rate: $0.70 a loaded mile, about $1,200 per car.
Updated 4 November 2026, 00:20 UTC·Loads on the Loadez load board, 5 October – 4 November 2026
Median per mile
$0.70
Middle half: $0.59 to $0.95 a loaded mile
Per car
$1,200
Price of the load ÷ cars on it, median
Loads
141
in 30 days · 58 in the last 7
Median load
$1,200
1 cars · 1,787 miles (each its own median)
What loads from Iowa to California paid this month
Half of the 141 priced loads from Iowa to California paid between $0.59 and $0.95 a loaded mile, and the median was $0.70. The rate per mile is for the whole load, 1 cars on a typical one, not per car.
A typical run on this lane is 1,787 miles. Across the country, loads of over 1,500 miles paid a median $0.67 a mile in the same 30 days, so loads from Iowa to California paid about the same as the market for that distance.
Every load out of Iowa, to anywhere, paid a median $1.13 a mile.
Week by week
Over the last 7 days loads from Iowa to California paid a median $0.63 a mile, against $0.76 in the 7 days before: the rate fell 17%.
Bar height: loads that reached the board that week. Above each bar: the week's median rate per loaded mile ("—" under five priced loads).
Coming back from California
The way back is thinner: 80 loads went from California to Iowa (California to Iowa rates), about 6 for every 10 going out. Most trucks will find their next load on another lane out of California.
The busiest lanes out of California this month:
| From California to | Loads | Per mile | Per car | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,616 | $0.70 | $1,000 | 1,535 |
| Florida | 1,832 | $0.53 | $1,400 | 2,704 |
| Arizona | 1,475 | $1.10 | $475 | 394 |
| Nevada | 979 | $1.35 | $400 | 282 |
| Washington | 628 | $0.81 | $800 | 1,134 |
Where the loads start and end
Pickup cities
- Burt, IA · 12 loads
- Dallas Center, IA · 10 loads
- Des Moines, IA · 10 loads
- Waterloo, IA · 9 loads
- Davenport, IA · 8 loads
Delivery cities
- Garden Grove, CA · 12 loads
- Castro Valley, CA · 10 loads
- Los Angeles, CA · 9 loads
- American Canyon, CA · 7 loads
- San Diego, CA · 7 loads
5% of these loads asked for an enclosed trailer; 1% had at least one car that does not run.
From the posted rate to what the truck keeps
A rate per loaded mile leaves out the empty miles to the pickup, fuel at today's price, the driver's pay and the cost of the payment terms. The Loadez load board works all of that out on every load, for your own truck, before you call the broker. Check one load with the calculator, or read how to price a load.
Common questions
How much does it pay to haul cars from Iowa to California?
In the 30 days to 4 November 2026, car hauling loads from Iowa to California on the Loadez load board paid a median $0.70 per loaded mile, $0.59 to $0.95 for the middle half, or about $1,200 per car. The median load paid $1,200.
How many car hauling loads go from Iowa to California?
141 reached the Loadez load board in the last 30 days, 58 of them in the last 7 days.
Are there car hauling loads back from California to Iowa?
80 loads went from California to Iowa in the same 30 days, against 141 from Iowa to California.
See every Iowa → California load as it reaches the board.
Without an account the board shows each load's pickup and delivery, dates, cars and miles. The rate, the payment terms and the broker's phone open after a free sign-up, and from Growth every load shows its net for your own truck. Free for one truck, forever.