Kingman auto transport at the I-40 crossroads

Kingman is where two of the Southwest's main truck routes meet. Interstate 40 runs east to Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Oklahoma City and west to Barstow and Los Angeles. US 93 runs north to Las Vegas and south to Wickenburg and Phoenix. A large share of the car carriers moving between California, Nevada, Arizona and the middle of the country come through Kingman, and many of them stop here for fuel and rest.

For a town of its size, that makes Kingman unusually easy to ship from. A carrier doesn't have to make a special trip. It only has to find an open spot on a truck that's already coming, which is why pickups here are often scheduled faster than in larger places that sit off the highway.

Our office is on North 4th Street downtown, a few blocks from Andy Devine Avenue. Homes in the central part of town and around Stockton Hill Road are simple pickups. For addresses on the unpaved roads of Golden Valley, Valle Vista or up Hualapai Mountain Road, the driver may ask to meet you at one of the truck stops along the interstate, where there's room to load safely.

Kingman sees a kind of shipment most cities don't. Someone is driving from Chicago to Los Angeles, or from Phoenix to Las Vegas, and the transmission fails on a grade outside town. The car ends up at a repair shop or a tow yard, the estimate is more than the trip was worth, and the owner still has to get home.

If that's you, shipping the car is often the best way out. Fly or rent a car to finish the trip, and have the vehicle hauled to your own mechanic, where the repair can be done on your schedule and under your warranty or service plan. We pick up disabled vehicles from shops and storage yards throughout the Kingman area.

A few things speed it up. Ask the yard for its release hours and what it needs from you to let the car go, which is usually payment of the tow and storage bill and a signed authorization naming the carrier. Tell us exactly what's wrong: whether the car rolls, steers and brakes decides what equipment the driver brings. Leave the key with the shop. And act quickly, because storage is charged by the day and a week of indecision can cost as much as the transport.

If your auto insurance or roadside plan covers towing, ask whether it will contribute toward long-distance transport. Some do, up to a limit.

Kingman sits in the middle of the longest unbroken stretch of old Route 66, and each spring the Route 66 Fun Run brings hundreds of classics, hot rods and customs through town on the drive from Seligman to the Colorado River. Many entrants ship their cars to Arizona and fly in, especially from the Midwest and the East. If you're one of them, book enclosed transport well ahead and have the car delivered a few days before the start, to your hotel or to a local contact. Tell us if the car is carbureted, has a hidden battery cutoff or needs a particular starting routine. A driver who knows the routine won't flood it on the ramp.

The truck stops at the Kingman exits have the open pavement a car carrier needs, and drivers who are only passing through often prefer to load there. If you're asked to meet at one, park in the area for cars and wait for the driver's call. Stay out of the truck lanes and away from the fuel islands. Loading takes twenty to thirty minutes. Bring the key and arrange a ride home, since you'll be leaving without the car.

Kingman sits at about 3,300 feet and gets only occasional snow, but the highways leaving it climb quickly. East of town, Interstate 40 rises to 7,000 feet near Flagstaff, and winter storms close it several times a season. A shipment headed east between December and March may wait out a closure for a day. Westbound and southbound routes are rarely affected. In summer the concern is the long, hot grades on US 93 and on the interstate toward Needles, which is one more reason carriers prefer to load early in the day.

Lower housing costs have brought many new residents to Kingman from Southern California and Las Vegas. If you're one of them and have more vehicles than drivers, the short distance works in your favor. Trips of 100 to 300 miles are usually loaded and delivered within a day or two, and with so many trucks passing through, your dates don't need to be especially flexible.