A recent transport job that we completed was transporting the 1978 Chevy K10 truck from Wills Point, TX to Stayton, OR, and the distance was 2,067 miles at a rate of $1,750.00, which equals $0.85 per mile on an open trailer.
The K10 truck in question was operable when we picked it up. That is a rather loaded term, especially for a forty-seven-year-old four-wheel drive truck.
The route
The 2,067 mile route begins in Wills Point and ends in Stayton and includes travel over the plains, the Rockies, and the high desert into the Willamette Valley.
Wills Point is located east of Dallas in Van Zandt County. Travelers drive west on I-20 into the metro area, and then drive north on I-35 through Oklahoma City and Wichita to Salina, Kansas.
From Salina, I-70 travels west across the plains to Denver, where I-25 handles the trip north to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The journey takes I-80 west into the Wasatch range and Salt Lake City.
The last stretch of the trip begins on I-84 and drives northwest through Boise, Idaho, and into Oregon at Ontario. From there the route continues into Pendleton, follows the Columbia Gorge, and ends in Salem, Oregon at Stayton.
Can the driver actually drive it
And yet this is the question that never gets asked and creates all sorts of headaches when picking up vehicles.
Not all carriers’ drivers know how to handle a manual. This is an increasingly rare ability and a truck with a manual transmission limits the number of drivers who are able to load it. Mention it when booking the vehicle and this will be sorted out beforehand. Find out about it at the loading and you have yourself a failure.
The year 1978 truck may have several other issues. Power steering missing, power brakes missing, a column shift lever, a non-synchronized granny low first gear, manual choke, and a key & ignition that need some persuasion to work. All of them are individually solvable. Together, they create a vehicle that doesn’t respond well to instincts of the modern era.
Write down the instructions for the driver about the truck. About its cold starts, whether the choke is required or throttle needs to be pumped before it, what gear it should be started in, and anything else that the driver won’t be comfortable with after trying it. Ten lines of information avoid a call from the driver standing at your driveway.
The four-wheel drive requires its own term. It’s always left in two-wheel drive with unlocked hubs unless there is a reason to do otherwise. The driver who comes across transfer case in an unusual position will simply stop rather than take chances.
Operable status is determined by the relationship between the vehicle and the driver. We consider a truck to be operable if it can be started, driven, steered, and stopped. But all of those conditions are only applicable if the assigned driver can operate the truck’s controls, that is why the additional information is so important in the case of a vehicle this age.
All of that doesn’t cost anything. All it costs is one extra paragraph at the time of booking. The problem is when a driver comes for a vehicle without knowing that he needs to know how to use manual transmission.
What $0.85 per mile reflects
There are two factors that explain this statistic.
Firstly, it is distance. The fixed costs associated with pickup, loading, securing, and delivery are higher at 2,067 miles as compared to at shorter distances, which mean the same costs will be charged per mile more than twice as much.
Secondly, open transport plays an important role here. Open trailer carries many vehicles at once and makes many trips compared to enclosed transport.
Vehicle size is not very important factor. Square body K10 is a big truck and it sits high on a four-wheel drive chassis, what limits the places where it can be moved on the two-level platform.
Corridor is functional rather than optimal. Interstate highways 35 and 80 are principal, however Interstate 84 is a quieter road when entering Oregon. Also Texas to Pacific Northwest lane is not one of the busiest in America.
Open transport
The open choice made by the client is a valid decision because of the working-condition square body. It is a common configuration for trucks from that time.
Trade remains the normal one. The enclosed option provides protection from any road obstacles and weather throughout the transportation process and has additional costs. Open is the appropriate choice for an outdoor-built truck, and we offer options without selecting them.
The truck from 1978 does not have any engineered tie-down points. Therefore, in order to secure the cargo, soft straps are utilized, because of the reasons provided in our previous report. Chain points are inapplicable for a truck of such age due to frame and mount corrosion.
The truck was started twice — once at loading and once at unloading.
Transport summary
- Origin: Wills Point, TX 75169
- Destination: Stayton, OR 97383
- Distance: 2,067 miles
- Service cost: $1,750.00
- Cost per mile: $0.85
- Vehicle: 1978 Chevrolet K10
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Open
- Route: Wills Point, TX → I-20 west to Dallas → I-35 north through Oklahoma City and Wichita → Salina, KS → I-70 west to Denver, CO → I-25 north to Cheyenne, WY → I-80 west to Salt Lake City, UT → I-84 northwest through Boise, ID → Pendleton, OR → Columbia Gorge → Portland → I-5 south to Salem → Stayton, OR
