22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY august 15-21, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com On the phone from his office in Canton, Michigan, Bob Sellers is speaking about Car Week. His mind is not on the shows, nor is he concerned about parties or auctions. Instead, Sellers speaks of the many parts that began to move long before it begins and will continue for days and weeks after. “I could think of more fun things,” he says with a chuckle. Sellers is the vice president and chief operating officer for Reliable Carriers, the national trucking company recognized by its orange and black vehicles that specializes in transporting cars. His version of Car Week involves moving thousands of vehicles—cars and other vehicles bound for auction, auto shows and private events, as well as the 100 or so trucks from Reliable’s fleet. Arranging for the transportation of valuable cargo is like a puzzle, one that is in constant motion and can only be finished after solving several other puzzles. Sellers and others in his role must account for such factors as location, availability and weight. And each piece must be fitted on time. While that might seem a matter of routine, keep in mind that the haulers are subject to the whims of weather and traffic conditions, as well as human nature. “There’s a lot that goes into it,” explains Mike Baker, who heads up Mecum Auto Transport, a branch of Mecum Auctions. “Sometimes you think you have a great plan, then a customer will call. They forgot about a wedding and need to reschedule.” Sellers compares it to air traffic control. All the trucks have GPS, so he can follow the progress of each on screen and spot potential trouble before it becomes a problem. “But,” he adds, “on the 11th [of August], there’s a big blob in Monterey.” Essentially, logistics is a matter of picking up and dropping off. Consignors and buyers pay for their leg of the trip, with the cost ranging from $200 to around $4,000 per car, depending upon the distance involved. Trucks fan out across the country, load up to six vehicles each and then descend on the Peninsula. Dispatchers communicate with the drivers (Sellers divides Reliable’s dispatchers into teams dedicated to the auctions, shows or Concours d’Elegance). “I don’t give it much thought until someone brings it up,” Sellers says. “Then I realize it’s a lot of responsibility.” Indeed, for a normal load, transport companies carry $5 million in insurance. Many of the vehicles bound to and from Car Week, however, far exceed that amount in value. The companies can get riders for coverage up to $60 million. Of course, car owners generally have financial protection, but it’s up to Sellers and other transport managers to double check. “Part of our job is to make sure the cars are covered,” he says. One tricky puzzle within the logistical puzzle is that of weight, size and the particular vintage of a machine. Packards, Duesenbergs and other luxury exotics from the 1930s are glorious but also hefty, and trucking companies must consider load limits—as well as road conditions; the springs on cars from the 1920s and earlier are soft. Hit a pothole and even a secured car will bounce and waver inside the trailer. “The heavier the car is, the higher the bounce,” Baker observes. Transport managers call this part of the process “building the load.” It’s an equation that involves the location of the vehicle and where best to place it inside the two-deck hauler. According to Baker, the bottom deck in the center position is the least likely to jolt a stowed car. So piecing a load together starts with an inventory of which particular vehicles are located where. Then managers put together the order in which they are to be picked up—keeping in mind they must be unloaded, often at different times and places once the truck reaches Monterey County. A headache in the making? “Yes, it is,” Baker says, especially as it all happens again a few days later, when the transporters head away from the area. As Baker speaks, he is sitting in the hallway of a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania event center. Mecum’s auction at the site wrapped up two days earlier, but there are still 400 cars on the property to load on the way to their next destination. When a customer calls to consign a vehicle for auction, the agent asks if they have plans for transportation lined up. But shipping is not something a buyer considers in the heat of an auction. “It’s ‘I bought a car. Now what?’” Baker says. “They never think, ‘How do I get it home?’” Freight firms, however, are on the clock. With auctions and other events over, the facilities are anxious to return to normal. Sellers has been directing cars to Pebble Beach for 29 years. In that time, he has been to Concours d’Elegance just once. “On Sunday I’m in a room with dispatchers,” he says. “All we’re doing is Moving Pieces Solving the logistical puzzles of Car Week events may cause headaches, but it all works out. By Dave Faries Car Week moving trucks and cars and taking care of problems.” Teams from Reliable and Mecum arrive well before the events and leave days after. Baker notes that Mecum hosts actions throughout the year, in 2023, he spent 161 nights in hotel rooms. “I keep track because I’m married and my wife gives me a hard time,” he says with a laugh. Piecing together the logistical puzzles may not be the most fun one could have. And the days onsite may be long. But Sellers says he looks forward to visiting Monterey County and Pebble Beach. “Each year I stand at Peter Hay hill and sit for a few minutes and remind myself of how lucky I am to do what I do,” he says. the road that won’t break the bank. McCall says programs such as Rancho Cielo’s classic car restoration classes, which teach young people how to maintain vehicles pre-1982, are critical to the future of the hobby. He recommends beginning collectors buy cars that they love, not the ones they think will go up in value. The joy of owning a car comes from actually driving it. “If you’re buying something because you think it’s going to go up in value, it’s the wrong way,” he says. “That’s secondary. If it happens to go up in value, you’ve won the lottery. But the use of it is a value.” Malcolm says he is excited about the future. Social media has made it more accessible for younger people to get into classic cars. “It has been a huge benefit to the diversity of the hobby,” he says. “The future’s bright for this next generation of enthusiasts.” McCall says that for anyone who thinks the passion for driving is dying in the younger generations, visit Exotics on Broadway in Seaside during Car Week and watch the kids excitedly check out the cars. Or go to a race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and witness the smiles on children’s faces as a “1,200-horsepower car goes flying by. They’ll never forget that.” “A lot of people like to say it’s going away, that kids are on their phones and don’t care,” he says. “I disagree with that. For those of us who have been around for a while, it’s on us to pass it down.” A truck from the Reliable Carriers fleet parked on Camino El Estero in Monterey. “We try to be good stewards,” says the company’s VP, Bob Sellers. He tells local police, “If an orange truck screws up, you call me.” Gen continued from pg. 20 Dave Faries
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