How Much Does It Cost To Transport A Tiny House?

NAVIGATION

The tiny house process doesn’t end with buying or building a tiny house – that’s just the beginning. Knowing how much it will cost to transport your tiny house where you need it is important to start building the life you desire.

Tiny Home Transport Cost

On average, towing services charge $1 to $2 per mile to move a tiny home. Towing a tiny home across state lines will likely that you’ll have to pay more than $1,000 to haul your vehicle across the state.

Moving across city and county lines is a lot cheaper, though. These moves within the state typically cost anywhere from $160 to $900. This amount depends on several different factors that can easily impact the transport cost of a tiny house.

What Factors Affect Tiny House Towing Cost?

There are a couple different things that factoring into quotes from moving companies. Some of these factors include things like cost per milage, the time and date of the move, the type of terrain, or the weight of the tiny house being towed.

Average Cost Per Mile To Tow A Tiny House

Towing Service	Cost
General Mileage Rate	$1 to $2 per mile
Traditional Tow Truck Service	$80 to $130 total
Flatbed Towing Service	$2.50 to $3.50 per mile

The time and date of the move will also affect the final towing cost. My best advice is to do your best to schedule the move at least a month in advance for the best rates. It’s also smart to try to plan for a day when good weather is in the forecast.

Additionally, the terrain can also impact the price of the venture and impact the overall quote received from the towing company. It’s imperative to plan the route in advance so the movers know exactly where they’re going, how to get there, and what type of terrain they’ll be up against.

The weight of a tiny house will inevitably impact the towing service cost. The average tiny home weighs 8,500lbs. However, I’ve seen simple 10-foot tiny houses that weigh as little as 3,200 pounds, while some 34-footer tiny homes weigh up to 14,000 pounds.

This is impacted by several factors, including the dry weight of the tiny home, the gross vehicle weight rating, the gross combined weight rating, the gross axle weight rating, the gross trailer weight, the payload weight rating, and the tongue weight.

After calculating the weight of the tiny house, you can use this information to factor the towing cost more accurately. Facilities may charge up to the following statewide maximum fees, unless a lower fee is set by a municipality or county.

Towing Cost By Weight

Vehicle Weight	Tow Fee
10,000 lbs or less (where most tiny homes fall)	$255
10,001 – 24,999 lbs (where some tiny homes fall)	$357
25,000 lbs or more (traditional homes fall here)	$459 per unit or a maximum of $918

How Can Tiny Homes Be Moved?

In a nutshell, a heavy-duty pickup truck is required to move a tiny home. What your decision is truly going to come down to is whether or not you’ll be pulling your tiny with your own truck and trailer that you own or rent, or if you’ll be hiring movers.

Tips When Hiring A Towing Company

When it comes to hiring a towing company to transport a tiny home, I have a few suggestions regarding the process. First, ask for multiple quotes across moving companies. As is wise with any big financial endeavor, you want to set yourself up to ensure you’re getting the best value when towing a tiny home.

Talk to several different moving companies (like the ones listed below!) before moving day actually gets here to get a transport cost estimate. Then, book the company that offers the best value at least a month in advance to make sure you’re prepared.

I’d also suggest working with towing companies that explicitly have experience towing tiny homes. While it may be true that other towing companies would quickly volunteer their services, that doesn’t mean they’d be the best fit.

Tiny houses are their own can of worms. They may need special attention from the towing company to keep the tiny home safe on the road.

Tips For Transporting A Tiny House On Your Own

When transporting a tiny house on your own, its super vital to have a vehicle that can handle the weight.

To put it simply, truck towing capacity is how much weight a vehicle can pull—and that can be a challenge to calculate.

Like I mentioned before, there is a lot more to the weight of a tiny house than the dry weight alone. It’s super important to put in the time to account for all the weight, including the trailer, the payload in your truck bed, and sometimes even passenger weight if you’re running close to your truck’s limit.

Aside from calculating the weight of your tiny home, I’d also recommend checking all the systems on your vehicle. Check the attachment of the trailer to ensure the truck being used isn’t going to detach or breakdown mid-haul. Speaking from experience, it’s crucial to have all your ducks in a row before the move begins.

What Kind Of Truck Can Pull A Tiny House?

I always make sure I know the specs of my truck when pulling my tiny home and trailer to ensure its quality will work for a tiny house. Towing a tiny house requires a lot of power, and the truck’s configuration matters.

Put simply, tiny homes are heavy and your truck needs to have all the bells and whistles to handle the weight of the home. Additionally, you might replace or add items in the future that add weight onto the home, so it’s better to plan for more weight than you have at the start. Here are some of the trucks I’d recommend for towing a tiny house.

Tiny House Moving Companies Worth Hiring

There are many moving companies out there that can easily be hired to pull a tiny house from city to city, or across state lines. Check out of these towing companies when looking to pull a tiny home!

One Call Logistics — Florida

Located in DeLand, Florida, One Call Logistics is a towing company that has specific experience towing tiny homes as well as other vehicles like cars, trucks, RVs, boats, and trailers. I actually has a chance to talk to one of One Call’s tiny house movers, Taylor Teft, back in 2021 to get more insight into their company and the towing process. One Call Logistics is a great option for transporting a tiny house.

Heavy Haulers — Kentucky

Heavy Haulers is one of the most popular transportation companies’ for shipping a tiny home across the U.S and around the globe. Heavy Haulers serves all 50 US States, Mexico, and Canada. If you are in search of a moving company that you can trust to move a tiny home, Heavy Haulers is an awesome option.

UShip — Across The Continental US

Another great option for towing a tiny house is to consider using UShip. This is a professional company that matches movers with customers in need of moving services. UShip also has explicit experience with shipping tiny houses, which is a plus. If you browse their website, you can view their most recent shipments to get a sense of how they can serve you.

Coast to Coast Transportation — Florida

Coast to Coast Transportation is a really great moving company to use if you need to move your tiny house long distances. This company has proven experience towing tiny homes to all 50 states in the US. Additionally, this moving company workers directly with tiny house build and design companies, as well as provides you the trailer for the transportation process.

Your Turn!

• How much will you budget to move your tiny home?
• Will you move your tiny home yourself or hire movers?

By Ryan Mitchell on December 1, 2022   /   Tiny House   /   8 Comments

Tags: Tiny Home