Yuma auto transport on the I-8 corridor

Yuma sits where Arizona, California and Mexico meet, on Interstate 8 about 170 miles east of San Diego. The interstate is the city's link to everywhere else. Westbound, it reaches El Centro in an hour and the coast in under three. Eastbound, it runs to Gila Bend, where State Route 85 turns north toward Phoenix, and on to Casa Grande and Interstate 10. US 95 heads north to Quartzsite and south to San Luis.

Interstate 8 carries less truck traffic than the routes through Phoenix, so most car carriers serving Yuma are working a San Diego or Phoenix load and add Yuma stops along the way. Shipments toward Southern California and central Arizona move quickly. Longer routes may connect through one of those two cities, which can add a day or two before the vehicle is on its way across the country. Our office is on South 3rd Avenue in central Yuma. Most neighborhoods in the city, from the older streets near downtown to the newer subdivisions on the east side, have room for a carrier to stop at the curb.

Yuma is a military town twice over, with the Marine Corps air station on the south side of the city and the Army's Yuma Proving Ground up US 95 to the north. Service members and civilian employees make up a steady share of our shipments.

We often ship vehicles between Yuma and other Marine Corps communities, such as Oceanside and San Diego in California and the bases in North and South Carolina. For a deployment, some Marines send a car home to family for safekeeping so it isn't left sitting in a barracks lot for months. A parent or spouse can receive it at the other end; they just need to be an adult and be there to sign.

Carriers generally load outside the gate. An off-base home, an apartment complex or a large public lot along Avenue 3E or 32nd Street works well. If the vehicle has to be picked up on base, tell us at the start so we can find out what the current access requirements are for a commercial truck. For temporary duty at the Proving Ground, bear in mind how far north it is, and choose a meeting place in town.

Every winter Yuma grows most of the country's lettuce and leafy greens, and every fall the produce industry moves here from California's Salinas Valley to harvest it. Growers, packers, shippers and the people who work for them make the same trip in November and reverse it in April. Many of those households have a second or third vehicle that nobody has time to drive 600 miles. We run Salinas, Watsonville and Huron routes on that schedule each year. If your company moves a group of employees at once, ask about putting several vehicles on one truck. A full load between the same two towns is the most efficient job a carrier can get.

Yuma's population nearly doubles in winter. Most of the visitors stay in the RV resorts of the Foothills, east of the city, and many arrive in a motorhome with a car towed behind.

Flat-towing isn't for everyone. Not every vehicle can be towed with all four wheels down, tow bars and braking systems are expensive, and a long motorhome with a car behind it is tiring to drive through mountain passes and city traffic. Shipping the car is an alternative. You drive the coach at your own pace, and the car is delivered to your resort about the time you arrive. Ask the resort office where a carrier can stop. Most Foothills parks have a wide entrance road or an overflow lot that works.

From October to April, the Imperial Sand Dunes just across the California line draw very large crowds on holiday weekends, with Thanksgiving and New Year's the biggest. Interstate 8 west of Yuma fills with pickups pulling trailers, and fuel stops and parking lots along the way are packed. A carrier can still get through, but loading in town on those weekends is slow. If your dates are open, a midweek pickup avoids the crowd entirely.

Yuma is the sunniest city in the United States, and from June to September it's also one of the hottest. Winter visitors are gone, traffic is light, and carriers are easy to book, but loading happens at dawn. If you're leaving a vehicle behind for the summer and having it shipped later, arrange for someone local to check on it, keep the battery charged and meet the driver. A car that has sat closed up in the Yuma sun for three months needs air in the tires and a jump more often than not.