California car shipping

Caltrans truck routes and San Francisco’s weight limits

Caltrans lets a vehicle transporter with a stinger-steered semitrailer run 70 or 75 feet long, depending on conditions, and STAA rigs may leave the National Network and terminal access routes only to reach fuel, food, lodging or repairs within a road mile of an exit. Yellow advisory routes on the truck map are posted for a kingpin-to-rear-axle length of 30 feet on most segments. San Francisco adds a city layer: the SFMTA map closes many streets to vehicles over 3 tons unless they have business on that block, and the city limits parking of commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds in residential zones, so plan a handoff on a commercial street.

DMV registration and Smog Check for a car from another state

California gives new residents 20 days to register a car, counted from the day residency starts or the day the vehicle arrives. The DMV wants the last out-of-state title and registration, an application signed by every owner and a Verification of Vehicle (REG 31) from a DMV employee, a law enforcement officer or a licensed California vehicle verifier. Dealers and auction buyers should note that a California resident generally may not bring in or register a car under two years old with fewer than 7,500 miles at purchase unless it meets California emission standards or qualifies for an exemption on form REG 256F.

The Bureau of Automotive Repair requires a Smog Check at a car’s first California registration, including one last registered in another state, and the DMV applies it to gasoline models from 1976 on, diesels from 1998 on under 14,001 pounds GVWR, and natural gas or propane vehicles.

Donner Pass chains, Grapevine snow and Santa Ana fire weather

Caltrans names I-5 north of Redding, I-80 over Donner Pass and US-50 over Echo Summit as the passes where chains are most often required. At chain screens, heavy trucks must show their chains, and one without them is sent back downhill because the summits have no room to park it. In Southern California, a forecast of heavy snow down to 4,500 feet sets off Operation Snowflake on the Grapevine, whose Tejon Pass summit stands at 4,144 feet. A closure stops northbound traffic at Lake Hughes Road in Castaic and southbound traffic at Grapevine Road in Kern County.

The National Weather Service says Santa Ana winds push through Southern California’s mountain passes from September through May and spread flames fast. In 2022 the Route Fire damaged retaining walls beside I-5 in Castaic, and Caltrans kept two northbound lanes closed during repairs. Trailer demand peaks in June and July and eases in January and February, but a winter shipment over the Sierra or Tejon Pass needs a spare day.

Vehicle terminals at Wilmington and National City

The Port of Los Angeles lists an automobile terminal at Berths 195 to 199 in Wilmington, where roll-on, roll-off ships load cars and other rolling cargo and the yard holds up to 8,000 vehicles. On San Diego Bay, a roll-on, roll-off ship that berths at the National City Marine Terminal links the Port of San Diego with the Port of Honolulu.