We recently finished the shipment of a 2015 Honda Shadow Phantom 750 from Sandstone, MN to Redondo Beach, CA. This transportation covered 2,033 miles via enclosed truck for $1,425.00, or $0.70 per mile.
Transporting a motorcycle out of east-central Minnesota towards South Bay is definitely a seasonal activity. Seasonality is a much bigger factor in this industry than many clients realize.
The route
The 2,033-mile drive from Sandstone to Redondo Beach traverses the prairies, the Rockies, and the Mojave.
Sandstone is situated on I-35 ninety miles north of the Twin Cities, so the beginning is relatively straightforward. Travelers begin by driving southward on I-35 from Minneapolis and St. Paul through southern Minnesota and into Iowa, arriving at Des Moines.
It is at Des Moines that the truckload takes I-80 west and stays on it all the way across the center. The truck passes the Missouri River at Omaha, through all of Nebraska beyond North Platte, and over into Wyoming at Cheyenne. I-80 goes westward from there through Rock Springs and over the Wasatch Range into Salt Lake City.
The journey then turns south on I-15 from Salt Lake City through St. George and Las Vegas, Nevada. The drive descends through the Mojave Desert into San Bernardino and into the basin of Los Angeles. Redondo Beach is located on the Pacific Coast in the South Bay area, so it ends the drive on I-405 and Pacific Coast Highway.
Season changes the price
There are several seasonal industries within the field of transportation of goods, and auto transport industry can be considered one of them. Motorcycle transport can be seen as the most seasonal area of the business.
The northern states become vacant during the autumn period. During the months from October to December, there is a lot of traffic going south and west out of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northeast, etc. Carriers working with this lane have plenty of southbound loads and often carry empty spaces, as there is a high demand for it. The prices go up along with the demand.
The situation becomes reversed during springtime. From March till May, there is traffic going to the north. So, a motorcycle being transported from California to Minnesota in April competes with the same load.
It should be also noted that motorcycles themselves are also seasonal items, which means that the high demand for motorcycle transportation is seen in the shoulder periods.
Winter presents route risks too, in addition to cost concerns. The winter months see this route traverse the Wasatch Range with its I-80 crossing through Wyoming, a road that closes to premium traffic in heavy winds and snowstorms more frequently than any other section of interstate highway in the nation. January bookings are riskier than June bookings for this reason.
Early booking is the only practical leverage we have. There’s no controlling when the seasons are, but what we can control is getting your vehicle scheduled with a carrier before the season gets busy.
What $0.70 per mile reflects
There are two factors behind this number, and neither of them is distance.
The deck space is the first one. The space a motorcycle takes up is only a fraction of the space a car would take up, and that is what influences the price, not the entire slot of deck space. That is why comparing a rate of one mile for a motorcycle and a sedan does not give you anything.
Distance is the second one. With 2,033 miles traveled, the costs associated with pickup, loading, securing, and delivery are distributed over many miles, resulting in a lower price per mile. For shorter motorcycle moves the same costs will be paid out over fewer miles.
Sandstone works against the two factors above slightly. Sandstone is a small town located north of the Twin Cities, but although Sandstone is on I-35, the carrier has to make a detour from the route it usually runs around Minneapolis.
Enclosed transport
Each motorcycle that we ship is always packaged in, and the bike deserves it much more than a typical car.
There is nothing that covers anything. All the engine, the exhaust system, the controls, the instrument panel, and the painted fuel tank are fully exposed. The matte finish paint and the darkened details of the Shadow Phantom also tend to be more vulnerable to any kind of dirt on the roads than the modern clear coating of automotive vehicles.
In our case, Securement used a front wheel chock in order to keep the front wheel straight and in place. The soft straps were used to tie the handlebar and the lower triple clamp, and the ratchet straps held down the suspension for 2,033 miles. There was nothing tied to the frame or the pipes or the painted body parts.
Transport summary
- Origin: Sandstone, MN 55072
- Destination: Redondo Beach, CA 90277
- Distance: 2,033 miles
- Service cost: $1,425.00
- Cost per mile: $0.70
- Vehicle: 2015 Honda Shadow Phantom 750
- Trailer type: Enclosed
- Route: Sandstone, MN → I-35 south through Minneapolis and St. Paul → Des Moines, IA → I-80 west through Omaha, North Platte and Cheyenne → Salt Lake City, UT → I-15 south through St. George and Las Vegas → San Bernardino, CA → I-405 → Redondo Beach, CA
