Car shipping from Islip, NY has one thing going for it that most of Long Island does not: the Town of Islip owns an airport. Long Island MacArthur Airport sits in Ronkonkoma, just off Veterans Memorial Highway, and a real share of the vehicles we move out of this town belong to people who are flying somewhere and would rather not drive there. Our office at 350 Moffitt Blvd #306, across from the Islip LIRR station, books open and enclosed auto transport for the whole Town of Islip, from Bay Shore and Brightwaters on the Great South Bay up to Hauppauge and Lake Ronkonkoma.
Islip auto transport is a stranger mix of jobs than anywhere else on the island. Corporate relocations and fleet moves out of the Hauppauge Industrial Park. Nurses rotating through South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. Families in Brentwood and Central Islip sending a car to relatives in Florida or the Carolinas. Estate owners in Great River and Oakdale who will only use an enclosed trailer. Dealers and wholesale buyers on the Sunrise Highway strip. We handle the carrier, the paperwork and the pickup so you can make your flight.
Fly out of MacArthur, let the car ride on a truck
The fly-and-ship move is the spine of what we do in Islip. Someone in Sayville takes a job in Charlotte, someone in Holbrook retires to Sarasota, a student in Bohemia heads to school in Arizona. They book a flight out of ISP or drive the hour to JFK, and the car gets picked up from the driveway a few days before they leave. No 1,200-mile drive, no hotel nights on I-95, no mileage on a lease about to be turned in.
The scheduling trick is to think in windows, not dates. Carriers on the Long Island to Florida lane load within a one to three day pickup window, and the West Coast lane can be a little wider. If your flight is Saturday, we aim for pickup Tuesday through Thursday so you still have the car for last errands. Expect the car two to four days after you on a Florida run and about a week after on a California run. Flying back into MacArthur for the summer works the same way in reverse.
Where a car hauler can actually load in the Town of Islip
A 75-foot open carrier needs room to swing, a flat spot to drop ramps, and a way back to a highway without backing up. Our dispatchers lean on a short list of meeting points when a driveway will not work:
- Ronkonkoma LIRR station lots. Big, mostly flat and right off Exit 60 on the LIE, with room on the outer rows after the morning rush.
- MacArthur Airport cell phone and long-term lots. Hand over the keys near the airport and walk to the terminal.
- Veterans Memorial Highway. NY-454 runs from Hauppauge past the airport to Ronkonkoma with large commercial lots on both sides.
- Sunrise Highway service roads. From Bay Shore east through Oakdale and Sayville, the shopping center lots are easy in and out for a loaded trailer.
Carriers get off the LIE at Exit 56 for Route 111 and Hauppauge, Exit 57 for Veterans Highway and the airport, Exit 59 for Ocean Avenue, or Exit 60 for Ronkonkoma Avenue and the station. South of Montauk Highway, which covers most of Islip hamlet, East Islip and Bay Shore, pickup is usually a meet-up on a wider road, because the streets near the water are narrow and the trees hang low.
Hauppauge Industrial Park relocations and fleet moves
The Hauppauge Industrial Park is one of the largest industrial parks in the country, and much of it is inside the Town of Islip. That means a steady flow of corporate moves: engineers transferred to a plant in Texas, sales reps assigned a territory in Georgia, executives relocating to a headquarters out of state.
We handle these the way a relocation coordinator wants: one point of contact, a written quote per vehicle, pickup from the employee's home rather than the office lot, and a single invoice if the company is paying. Fleet work is similar. A company moving six service vans from Motor Parkway to a branch in Charlotte will usually get a dedicated truck instead of three separate carriers, which keeps the arrival date tight. Anything taller than a standard cargo van, or a pickup with a ladder rack, needs to be flagged up front because it changes which trailer we can use. Islandia offices along Veterans Highway send the same work; call the Islip office at (631) 600-7932 and we will price several cars at once.
Hospital, courthouse and campus moves in Bay Shore and Central Islip
Three institutions send us a predictable stream of one-car moves. South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore brings in residents, travel nurses and specialists on contracts with fixed dates, and a nurse on a 13-week assignment who drove up from Florida often wants the car shipped home when the contract ends. The federal courthouse complex in Central Islip and Touro Law Center next door bring in clerks, students and attorneys who are here for a term and then gone.
These moves have a few things in common. The customer is usually in an apartment or hospital housing with no private driveway, so pickup is a meet-up at a lot on Montauk Highway or Carleton Avenue. The dates are firm because a lease or contract ends. And the car is usually a daily-driver sedan that belongs on an open carrier, where the price is lowest and the pickup windows shortest.
Open or enclosed: a Brentwood commuter car and a Great River estate are different jobs
The Town of Islip has more range in what it ships than almost any town on Long Island. Brentwood and Central Islip are two of the largest communities in Suffolk County, and the cars leaving them are mostly working vehicles: a Corolla heading to a daughter in Raleigh, a minivan following a family to Orlando, a work truck going to a new job in Houston. Open transport is the right answer for nearly all of it.
South of Montauk Highway it is a different conversation. Great River, Oakdale along the Connetquot, Brightwaters and the waterfront streets of Bay Shore and Islip hamlet have garages with cars that do not get rained on. For those, enclosed transport in a hard-sided trailer with a liftgate is the normal choice and usually runs 40 to 60 percent more than open. Low-clearance cars, soft tops and anything headed to a collector auction belong in enclosed regardless of address. The dealer row on Sunrise Highway in Bay Shore sends both kinds: open for trade-ins headed to out-of-state auctions, enclosed for the occasional high-end unit sold to a distant buyer.
Summer on the Great South Bay changes the pickup math
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the south side of the Town of Islip gets crowded in a way that matters to a truck driver. The Bay Shore ferry terminal on Maple Avenue runs constant boats to Ocean Beach, Fair Harbor and Saltaire, and the streets around it fill with day-trippers' cars. Sayville's ferries to Cherry Grove and the Pines do the same thing. Heckscher State Park at the end of the Southern State pulls beach traffic through East Islip every warm weekend.
None of this stops a shipment, but it changes where and when we meet. In summer we steer south-shore pickups to weekday mornings and lots north of Montauk Highway, and we tell customers near the ferry terminals to expect a meet-up rather than a driveway load. The upside is that summer is when the Florida lane is slow and prices are lowest for anyone heading south against the seasonal flow. A summer renter in Bayport or West Sayville who flew in and wants the car brought up for August is one of the cheapest moves on our board.
Where we pick up around Islip
Door-to-door service covers these communities from the Islip office, along with the rest of Suffolk County. If you do not see your town, the quote tool prices any ZIP code.
Popular routes from Islip
Typical prices for a running mid-size sedan on an open carrier, booked about a week ahead. Enclosed trailers, oversized vehicles and peak-season dates run higher; the quote tool gives you the exact number.
| Route | Transit | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Islip to Miami, FL | 3–4 days | from$699 |
| Islip to Orlando, FL | 3–4 days | from$679 |
| Islip to Charlotte, NC | 2–3 days | from$599 |
| Islip to Atlanta, GA | 2–3 days | from$699 |
| Islip to Chicago, IL | 2–3 days | from$749 |
| Islip to Dallas, TX | 4–5 days | from$1,049 |
| Islip to Phoenix, AZ | 6–8 days | from$1,299 |
| Islip to Los Angeles, CA | 7–9 days | from$1,429 |
Questions from Islip customers
Can I hand the car to the driver at MacArthur Airport the day I fly out?
Yes, and it is one of the most common requests we get in Ronkonkoma. We set the meet-up at the cell phone lot or a long-term lot entrance, you inspect the car and sign the bill of lading with the driver, then walk or shuttle to the terminal. Build in at least an hour before security, because carriers run on windows, not exact times.
I live on a narrow street in Islip hamlet south of Montauk Highway. Will the truck come to my house?
Usually not all the way. The streets between Montauk Highway and the bay are tight, with low branches and no room for a 75-foot rig to turn around. The driver will call when he is close and meet you at a wider spot, typically a lot on Montauk Highway or near the Islip LIRR station. It adds five minutes for you and keeps the truck from blocking your neighbors.
Our company in the Hauppauge Industrial Park is relocating four employees. Can you handle all of their cars together?
Yes. We quote each vehicle separately so the relocation file is clean, pick up from each employee's home on their own schedule, and bill the company on a single invoice if that is how the policy works. If several cars are going to the same metro area, we can often place them on one truck so they arrive together.
How far ahead should I book if I am leaving from Bay Shore in July?
Seven to ten days is comfortable in summer. The Florida lane is slow in July so pricing is favorable, but south-shore pickups near the Bay Shore ferry terminal and Heckscher need a weekday morning slot to avoid beach traffic, and those fill up. If you are flying out of ISP on a specific day, give us the flight date and we will set the pickup window two to four days before it.
Is enclosed transport worth it for a car kept in Great River or Oakdale?
If the car lives in a garage and you would not leave it outside in a storm, yes. Enclosed carriers keep it out of the weather, use a liftgate for low cars, and carry only a handful of vehicles. It costs roughly 40 to 60 percent more than open and pickup windows can be a day or two wider. For a daily driver, open transport is the sensible choice.