Sakaem Logistics Auto Transport Review 2024

Bottom Line: Sakaem Logistics doesn’t make our list of the best car shipping companies, but we love the fact that it has a free cancellation policy. Sakaem Logistics also has the trust of Fortune 500 companies—and even transports vehicles across the Canadian border.

But Sakaem may not be worth the gamble for most other people. While you can save about $30 on the average shipment, you also have to wrestle with customer service hiccups like a small staff and customer reviews that don’t quite measure up to other companies we’ve looked at.

See where Sakaem Logistics ranks on our Best Car Shipping Companies list.

Sakaem Logistics costs approximately $1,260 to ship a car. We recently compared nearly 700 quotes and found that Sakaem Logistics charges about $30 less than the industry average. Prices range from around $1,010 to ship a car on an open transport carrier to approximately $1,510 to send your vehicle on an enclosed carrier.

Sakaem Logistics is generally cheaper than other car shipping companies by about $30, but it has especially low rates if you want to ship a motorcycle or aren’t travelling very far. Sakaem Logistics’ motorcycle shipping rates are about $300 below the industry average, and you can save about $140 (for any type of vehicle) if you’re going 500 miles or less.

Auto transport prices change day by day (and even minute by minute). Sakaem Logistics says that several things affect your car shipping price:

• Distance. It typically costs more the farther you ship your vehicle. For example, the average cost to ship a car 250 miles with Sakaem is approximately $530—while the fee to transport a vehicle across the country is about $1,370.
• Vehicle size and weight. The smaller (and lighter) your car, the less shipping costs. You can transport a lightweight motorcycle like a Honda Super Cub C125 with Sakaem Logistics for as little as $580, while the average price for a heavy truck is more than $1,300.
• Car relocation method. You can choose between open and enclosed transport. An open trailer is “open” to the air (there aren’t any walls), while an enclosed trailer keeps your vehicle inside of a semi-truck. Most people use open transport because it’s cheaper, but enclosed transport works well for new and expensive vehicles.
• Auto transport timeline. Faster shipments cost more. On the other hand, you can get the lowest price if you have a flexible delivery timeline. For example, you can often save hundreds of dollars by calling two weeks in advance—so it’s worth planning ahead if you need to ship a car to your child away at college or deliver a car you purchased online.
• Car condition. Expect to pay extra if your car won’t start. If it’s a hassle for you to get your vehicle from Point A to Point B, it’ll be a pain for the drivers to load it onto the truck—and they’ll charge you for it.

Want to use a car shipping company trusted by large corporations?

Sakaem Logistics uses only carriers that have insurance coverage. A contingent cargo policy is also included in the price of your quote. Consult the terms and conditions of your insurance for more information.

Sakaem Logistics has all of the basic car shipping services (like open and enclosed shipping), but it also has a few additional bells and whistles:

• Individual customers. Sakaem specializes in shipping corporate fleets, but it also provides auto transportation for individual customers. The company specifically markets its open and enclosed transport services to military members, snowbirds, online car buyers, and those who need to move. It handles all kinds of vehicles from small motorcycles to large SUVs, and goes everywhere in the country except Alaska. It can even transport your car across the Canadian border or deliver it to ports for overseas shipments.
• Rental car relocation. Sakaem Logistics also provides auto transport services for companies that need to relocate their rental car fleets. It even advertises special seasonal transport if you need to quickly ship your vehicles because of a hurricane, flood, or natural disaster.
• Auctions. When rental cars get enough wear and tear, companies can often make more money selling them at auctions than keeping them on the road. That’s where Sakaem Logistics comes in. It has four years of experience transporting retired rental vehicles to auctions across the United States and Canada.

Sakaem Logistics specializes in shipping cars for Fortune 500 companies like Hertz and Avis Budget. Why does that matter? Because the auto transport company employs the same truck drivers used by successful corporations to ship your vehicle. If some of the top-performing companies trust Sakaem, that’s saying something.

You don’t have to pay a fee if you cancel your Sakaem Logistics shipment with at least 48 hours notice. It also doesn’t charge an upfront payment (you pay only when the driver picks up your vehicle). That’s a big deal because many companies suck you in with a low price, jack up the rate, and then charge you a couple of hundred bucks if you back out of the deal.

It’s not fun under any circumstance, but imagine planning to relocate for work only to find you lost the job—but still have to fork over big bucks to cancel your car shipping reservation.

We love how Sakaem Logistics honestly recognizes this pain point and goes out of its way to give you flexibility.

Sakaem Logistics’ customer service has its pros and cons. We saw a few red flags, but were also impressed with the professionalism and friendliness of the rep we spoke with:

• Pros. We kept Sakaem Logistics on the phone for a while. Our questions ranged from softballs such as how the car shipping process works to curveballs like how much flexibility was built into the cancellation policy. The company’s rep handled everything we threw at her like a pro. She didn’t even fudge the truth (lots of companies do) when we asked tough questions about pricing. Every car shipping company would benefit from someone like her.
• Cons. Sakaem appears to have only one customer service team member, and it can take awhile to reach her. And the company’s voicemail doesn’t even mention Sakaem Logistics. The transport broker also scores lower than most of its competitors on customer reviews. We’d break them down for you, but could find only 10 reviews (established companies often have upwards of 10,000). That’s likely because Sakaem Logistics focuses so much on corporations (they don’t leave public reviews), but it still raises an eyebrow. 

Sakaem Logistics counts where it matters most: cost. It’s generally a smidge cheaper than most companies, and it also doesn't charge for cancellations with at least 48 hours notice. Not many people talk about Sakaem in customer reviews (possibly because it specializes in shipping fleets for Fortune 500 companies), but the few we found fell short of what we see with the best car shipping companies. We recommend it primarily if you need a flexible cancellation policy.

Looking to avoid cancellation fees?

Looking for something else? Check out our reviews of these car shipping companies that have affordable prices and score well with customers:

• Easy Auto Ship
• Ship a Car Direct
• Montway Auto Transport
• AmeriFreight

Move.org calculates industry averages and identifies pricing trends by following a fourfold research approach: