Neighbor-island freight in August 2026
In August 2026, Matson's freight on a car I booked from the mainland to Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili was $2,400, the same as July 2026.
Coming back to the mainland it was $1,990, the same as July 2026.
That's $820 more than the $1,580 my customers pay Matson to ship to Honolulu today.
Leaving a neighbor island costs $1,018 more than leaving Honolulu, where it's $972.
| Route | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mainland → Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili | $2,400 | $2,400 | no change |
| Kahului, Hilo or Nawiliwili → mainland | $1,990 | $1,990 | no change |
Electric cars
None of the 54 cars I booked in August 2026 were electric or plug-in hybrids.
How old the cars are
Over the last 12 months the typical car I shipped was 8 years old. A year earlier it was 7.
The five-year picture, and how these prices got here, is in my full study: https://www.carshippinghawaii.com/newsroom/neighbor-island-car-shipping-costs-2021-2026
How these numbers were produced
- Source: the Matson booking confirmations for cars I booked in August 2026 (Hawaii time), read from the bill of lading attached to each. Confirmations re-sent after payment replace the earlier copy, so each shipment counts once.
- Prices are the freight charge on single-car bills to or from Kahului, Hilo and Nawiliwili, as a median rounded to the nearest $10. Bills that showed charges as "Unavailable" count only once a priced copy arrives.
- Honolulu figures are the current ocean freight my customers pay Matson, as published on carshippinghawaii.com.
- Electric and plug-in hybrid cars are identified by make and model. Car age is booking year minus model year.
- These are the cars I booked, not every car shipped to or from Hawaii.
Sources
Using this study
This study and its images are licensed CC BY 4.0: use any figure, chart or image with credit to Car Shipping Hawaii and a link to this page. Underlying counts, the exclusion list and lane-level tables are available to reporters on request.
Camilo Jaime, Founder, Car Shipping Hawaii · info@carshippinghawaii.com · (808) 378-7540