Recently, we delivered a 2019 Jeep Compass from Eugene, OR to Arlington, VA. It went for 2,830 miles, loaded on an open trailer and cost us $2,105.00 ($0.74 per mile).
This car was functional upon loading and driven on the deck itself. It is a corner-to-corner delivery, Northwest USA to Washington DC area, and a rather long journey. We felt it necessary to explain what happens to a vehicle during such an extended journey.
The route
This journey of 2,830 miles travels from Eugene all the way to Arlington from the Willamette Valley to the Potomac Valley through the upper part of the country.
The driver begins his journey from Eugene by traveling north via I-5 from Salem to Portland, where he will change his route to travel on I-84 east. This route passes through the Columbia River Gorge and exits the river valley from Pendleton, moving into Idaho at Ontario. It takes the driver through Boise and Twin Falls all the way to Ogden in Utah.
The journey then changes again at Echo Junction, where the driver picks up I-80 and travels through it all the way across Wyoming via Rock Springs and Cheyenne, then all the way through Nebraska and Iowa via North Platte and Omaha.
While the eastern portion sticks to I-80 through Indiana and Ohio, it continues using the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpike towards Harrisburg. The route then takes a southward course along I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley before turning east along I-66 in Northern Virginia. As Arlington is located across the river from Washington, the truck will take either I-395 or Route 7 based on its address.
How long a 2,830-mile move actually takes
The second question after price concerns how fast the delivery can be made, and the truthful answer contains several aspects that most consumers fail to consider.
The truck does not move as a car does. Federal Hours of Service regulations prohibit commercial truck drivers from spending more than 11 hours driving in any 14 hour period and following those 14 hours have a minimum of 10 hours of rest. This is non-negotiable and if anyone tries to convince you otherwise – he or she is either misleading or trying to cheat.
A practical distance per day of travel is from 400 to 550 miles and it covers driving limit, stops for fueling and weighing of cargo and loading/unloading other vehicles on the road. So on 2,830 miles it will take six days of driving.
There are not just your cars on the trailer. Nine-car carrier performs multiple pickups/deliveries. Your vehicle could be loaded first and unloaded last or vice versa. Those stops are the economic aspect of transportation.
The pickup window and the transit clock are independent. Getting and allocating a carrier takes time before any wheels are turned. For this particular well-sorted lane it takes a few days. On a rural pickup it might take even more. We give you quotes for both separately and not try to combine them into some overly optimistic figure.
Weather and topography can make it take a few more days rather than just hours. This lane passes through the Blue Mountains, the Wasatch, and the Continental Divide of Wyoming. During the winter it is a real variable.
On a lane this long, our advice to customers is to expect it to take somewhere between a week and ten days. Those who quote you three days coast to coast do not know what they’re talking about.
What $0.74 per mile reflects
74 cents per mile is our most favorable per-mile rate in recent times, and it is the result of the distance traveled.
Pick up and loading cost a carrier equally per haul regardless of the road. Securement and coordination and delivery cost carriers equally per job regardless of the road. Dividing those fixed costs across 2,830 miles leaves very little per mile. Dividing the same costs across 350 miles leaves over three times as much per mile.
Open transport accounts for the other half of the equation. Open transporters haul more vehicles per haul and do so far more frequently than enclosed transporters.
The corridor is helpful as well. I-80 is the main transcontinental highway, and it runs through the middle of the country. The corridor from the Pacific Northwest to the mid-Atlantic is consistently traveled by all carriers.
Open transport
The Compass traveled on the open trailer. This is a modern-day compact SUV with factory paint, meaning that it didn’t require what an enclosed trailer provides to classics or exotics.
In such a journey, the difference between open and enclosed trailers would be significant. For a daily driver crossover, which will have a new place to park, open trailer is a logical choice.
Ground clearance didn’t matter in this case. The Compass is lifted enough to make ramp angle irrelevant for loading and unloading, and that made the process fast and easy on both sides.
Transport summary
- Origin: Eugene, OR 97401
- Destination: Arlington, VA 22206
- Distance: 2,830 miles
- Service cost: $2,105.00
- Cost per mile: $0.74
- Vehicle: 2019 Jeep Compass
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Open
- Route: Eugene, OR → I-5 north to Portland → I-84 east through the Columbia River Gorge, Boise and Twin Falls → Ogden, UT → I-80 east through Cheyenne, Omaha and Des Moines → Chicago, IL → Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes → Harrisburg, PA → I-81 south → I-66 east → Arlington, VA
