We have just completed the transportation of a 2013 Volvo XC90 from Vancouver, WA to Laguna Beach, CA. This transportation was for a distance of 1,026 miles on an open trailer at the cost of $1,069.00 per $1.04 per mile.
This particular XC90 was working when it was picked up and made its way up the ramp on its own. This is an easy transportation down the West Coast and is a perfect case in point to show you one variable that customers can actually control.
The route
The trip from Vancouver to Laguna Beach, which spans for 1,026 miles, is one of the most straightforward trips possible.
Vancouver lies on the northern side of the Columbia River, on the opposite end of Portland. Drivers take I-5 south, traveling through the Willamette Valley of Oregon, crossing Salem and Eugene to reach Siskiyou Pass to enter California.
The route follows I-5 through Redding and Sacramento, then follows through Central Valley of California past Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield. The road goes over Grapevine via Tejon Pass and into the LA basin.
From there, the road moves to I-405 south via Orange County and then to CA-73 to reach Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach lies along the Pacific Coast Highway, so the driver will drive through local roads.
The one variable you control
We have discussed the direction you are shipping in and what season it is during. Both of these factors are out of the customer’s hands. Flexibility with the pickup is not.
The larger the time frame, the better pricing we get. When you are able to provide a three to five-day time period instead of one set date, we are able to wait on a truck that is already on your route and has an available spot. These trucks offer better rates than those forced to rework their route around your vehicle.
The smaller the time frame, the higher the cost, and this is only reasonable. By asking a carrier to pick up your shipment from a designated location on a certain date, the carrier must work his/her route around your vehicle.
Expedite exists, and it is a legitimate service. Should your date really be locked in, we will schedule it. We will even advise you on how much premium should be quoted instead of a flexible rate which is hoped to fit in.
Tell us truthfully which one you are. The expensive one is the customer who books for a flexible rate since it sounds good and ends up needing the vehicle on a particular date anyway. Let us know your real challenge at the quoting stage and we will price it according to your needs.
Also, book early instead of late. Flexibility and time both serve the same purpose. A booking done two weeks away from today offers many choices than that done for tomorrow, regardless of the lane.
What $1.04 per mile reflects
Two variables interact here:
The first variable is distance, which falls within the middle range at 1,026 miles. For the carrier, it does not matter what distance needs to be covered: there are certain fixed costs of pickup, loading, securement, coordination, and delivery regardless of mileage. At this particular distance, these fixed costs have sufficient ground to reduce the per-mile rate, while on a cross-country trip, it will drop completely.
The second variable is vehicle size, and it has increased the rate slightly. The Volvo XC90 is a midsize SUV with three rows, bigger than a sedan but smaller than a full-size SUV. This truck occupies a standard space without making any trouble for the deck.
The corridor is the best possible one. The I-5 interstate highway is a north-south route used extensively in both directions, with Portland and Los Angeles metro areas on its ends. Availability of carriers was not a problem at all.
Open transport
The XC90 was delivered on an open trailer, since a twelve year old family SUV in mint condition requires no enclosed trailer transport.
Enclosed trailers are used for those vehicles where a rock chip means money. An immaculate daily driver Volvo moving from one house to another is not such a vehicle, and we informed the buyer of that rather than trying to up-sell.
Ground clearance was never an issue. The XC90 rides sufficiently high that ramp angle did not become a problem.
Transport summary
- Origin: Vancouver, WA 98685
- Destination: Laguna Beach, CA 92651
- Distance: 1,026 miles
- Service cost: $1,069.00
- Cost per mile: $1.04
- Vehicle: 2013 Volvo XC90
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Open
- Route: Vancouver, WA → I-5 south through Portland, Salem and Eugene → over the Siskiyou Pass into California → Redding and Sacramento → Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield → over Tejon Pass into Los Angeles → I-405 south → CA-73 → Laguna Beach, CA
