We have just finished the transport of the 2013 Lexus LS 460L AWD from Commerce City, CO to Elgin, IL. The route totaled 957 miles on an open trailer for $950.00, or $0.99 per mile.
The car was driveable at the pick-up point and was driven onto the trailer under its own power. There is not much cleaner than this for a load booking. It is a driveable car, standard trailer, and metro-to-metro on the most popular route in the country.
The route
The 957 miles journey from Commerce City to Elgin passes over the high plains and the corn belt region in a straight easterly line.
Commerce City is located to the northeast of Denver and thus the route starts from Denver and follows I-76 northeast towards Big Springs, Nebraska, passing through Fort Morgan and Sterling along the way. Here, I-76 joins I-80.
The next leg of the journey involves following I-80 all the way to Illinois. I-80 takes us to Omaha via North Platte, Kearney, Lincoln and the Missouri River into Iowa and then we travel to Des Moines, Iowa City and the Quad Cities.
Finally, at the border with Illinois, we turn into I-88 that leads us into Elgin through DeKalb via the Reagan Memorial Tollway. Elgin is located in Kane County in the eastern part of the corridor and hence the delivery would take place from either I-90 or Randall Road.
A straightforward booking
There is not always a complication to mention for each particular case. It may sound like a truism, but the fact is that the vast majority of case studies we analyze here have something special to focus on.
The car started without any problem, which means that its loading did not take hours but a few minutes, as the winch was not needed. The vehicle has the average sedan size, which means that the angle of the ramp was not an issue. Denver and Chicago are the important freight centers, which meant that there were no problems finding the appropriate carrier for these routes. The customer decided on the open transport as a type of transport service, which is the most common choice for such vehicles.
LS 460L stands for the long wheelbase model, which means that it is about five inches longer than the standard model. The carrier knows this difference when preparing the deck for the vehicle, as there is the limited size of the trailer able to carry up to nine cars at a time.
What a dollar a mile looks like
The numbers are the same as usual; the pickup and loading cost a trucking company roughly the same regardless of the job, as do securement, coordination, and delivery – the fixed expenses. Fuel consumption, time, and tolls increase according to the length of the route. With the length being 957 miles, the fixed portion will have enough distance to share to become insignificant but not enough to be non-existent.
Compare it to a route of 350 miles costing well above $2 per mile, or a coast-to-coast open trailer move for 65 cents per mile. The same costs but a different quantity of the road to divide it by.
Also, the corridor plays a role in this; Denver to Chicago is a regular lane running in both directions and I-80 is one of the major corridors for transcontinental freight transportations within the northern part of the country. Here, capacity was not the issue.
Open transport
The Lexus was loaded onto an open trailer. Yes, the vehicle is in good condition and can be considered luxurious, but it is just a regular car and does not require services offered by enclosed trailers to classics and exotics.
The cost difference is significant too. Open trailers haul more vehicles per trip and operate many more times than enclosed trailers, and this difference is clearly seen in all quotes we get. If you choose enclosed trailers for this very route, the difference will be noticeable.
Ground clearance was never a problem too. The LS rides at normal sedan height, and this allowed quick loading and unloading at any end of the journey.
Transport summary
- Origin: Commerce City, CO 80022
- Destination: Elgin, IL 60124
- Distance: 957 miles
- Service cost: $950.00
- Cost per mile: $0.99
- Vehicle: 2013 Lexus LS 460L AWD
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Open
- Route: Commerce City, CO → I-76 northeast through Fort Morgan and Sterling → I-80 east at Big Springs, NE through North Platte, Lincoln and Omaha → Des Moines and Iowa City, IA → I-88 east through DeKalb → Elgin, IL
