It started in 2011 with a phone, a pen and a route Marcus Lopes already knew by heart: Florida to New England.
There was no grand plan to build a transportation company. There was a simple idea instead: do the job right, treat every vehicle as if it were our own, and earn the kind of trust that brings people back. More than a decade later, that is still the plan. This is who we are, how we work, and why it matters for the car you hand us.
A family-run company, built one season at a time
Every fall, families headed south for the winter and their cars traveled with them. Every spring they made the trip north again. Season after season the same customers came back, and they brought their neighbors, their friends and their family. That is how Lopes Express Shipping grew: one relationship at a time, on one road.
Today we are a family-run motor carrier working the I-95 corridor between Florida and New England, northbound and southbound, all season. We move about 100 vehicles a week, and we move one thing: motor vehicles. Cars, pickups and SUVs, on open car carriers.
Carrier, not broker, and why that word matters
When you search for car shipping, many of the companies you find are brokers. A broker sells you the job, then posts your car on a load board and waits for a truck it does not own to accept the price. The company you talked to and the company that shows up in your driveway can be two different businesses.
Lopes Express Shipping Inc. is a licensed and insured motor carrier, USDOT 3013626, MC-30467. We own the trucks that run Florida to New England, and the drivers in them are on our payroll. That gives us control over the run. We know who is driving your car, we can reach the driver, and the office that quoted your trip is the office that follows it through to delivery.
It is also what makes our Round Trip Reservation work. When we put your spring pickup on the schedule, it goes on our own schedule.
From clipboard to confidence
For years, inspections were done the traditional way: a clipboard, a vehicle diagram, a pen and a carbon copy. It worked, right up until a customer needed the record months later and the paper was lost, damaged or simply too hard to find.
Those days are over. Every vehicle we carry now gets a digital Bill of Lading, with the inspection documented at pickup and at delivery and signed by both the driver and the customer. No guesswork, and no "we will have to check." Just a clear record of how your car was cared for, from the moment it was loaded to the moment you held your keys again.
Since we moved to our digital platform, more than 15,000 vehicles have been documented in our system. The paper years are not part of that number, and we are honest about it. We would rather tell you what we can prove than promise what we cannot.
How we work with every customer
- No deposit. Nothing is charged when you book. Payment is due when the car is delivered and you have looked it over.
- The price is the price. The number we give you is the number written on the Bill of Lading. If something about the vehicle or the address turns out different from what we discussed, you hear it before the car is loaded.
- A driver who calls. Our driver calls you before pickup and again before delivery.
- A window, not a promise. Nobody on this road can honestly guarantee a date. We give you a realistic window and call you first if it moves.
- Door to door. Wherever a full-size car hauler can legally and safely get in. Where it cannot, we agree on a nearby spot with you ahead of time.
- A team that answers. The office that books your car answers the phone, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET.
Who rides on our trucks
We carry cars for snowbirds moving between a home up north and a home in Florida, families relocating, college students, military families and people who bought a car out of state. Students and military families have their own discounts. We also work with dealerships, rental companies, resellers and fleets through our business program.
Our main lane runs between Florida and Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine, in both directions: New England to Florida in the fall and Florida to New England in the spring. We also handle other routes in the continental U.S. when our trucks and schedule allow.
What has not changed
The paperwork is digital now, and the phone rings a lot more than it did in 2011. The principle is the one Marcus started with: do the job right, take care of the vehicle, and be there when the customer calls.
To put a car on our truck, call (941) 205-0012 or request a quote. You can read more of our story on the About page and see what customers say on our reviews page.
Lopes never stops.