I mentioned yesterday that I shipped my car from Los Angeles to New York and described what factors you should consider when shipping a car. In that piece, I mentioned that our partner, Nexus Auto Transport, arranged it so we could place a timelapse camera inside the truck in order to film it going across the country. We’ve stitched all of that together into a video, covering about 3,000 miles in just 25 minutes.
The process of producing this was quite fun and sent us down a rabbit hole of different ways to shoot a timelapse. We initially considered using a GoPro camera with a backup/reserve battery pack, and there are ways to do it using some special firmware, but people seem to have mixed results.
You can also mount a DSLR and try to do the same thing but, again, there are some serious drawbacks due to the weight and complexity. Ultimately, Galpin’s main video creator Chris de la Garza suggested we use the Brinno timelapse cameras they utilize to record the building of various construction sites.
Here’s what it ended up looking like:
This was a good call as they’re extremely simple and, even better, are purpose-built to be timelapse cameras. There are various models and accessories, including a backup power supply that’s literally just 16 AA batteries in a waterproof case.
We had two of these cameras so we put one in the cabin of the Volvo truck cab, looking forward over the hood, and one in the rear pointing to my CR-V. The view you’re going to see here is out of the front. The one rigged to the back worked perfectly until we got to Arizona, but the cable for the backup battery was disconnected from all the bouncing around so it only recorded as far as the internal battery could power it (with the backup the camera should survive about three months). You can see where it was mounted. 
And you can see some of the footage in this video:
There was a lot of internal debate over how often we should set the camera to record (anywhere from once a day to once every 5 seconds). I debated this point with Chris as I worried about space but, after doing the math, he convinced me that we could get away with once every five seconds.
I think he was correct as there was still plenty of space left on the micro SD card in the camera and it looks much smoother at every five seconds.
The front-facing camera looks great, even if the fidelity is more dashcam quality than GoPro quality, and the music Erica picked was perfect. The total trip took a little under six days and we’ve edited out the points where Beck, our driver, was sleeping or getting ready for bed as the reflection of his cabin light off the window made it possible to see him.
Overall, it’s a chill way to envision the route from LA to New York via I-10 and Dallas. Do you notice any roads you’ve driven on or any places near where you live?
[Ed Note: Is this a Partner Post? I’m not sure, but I have thrown on the tag just to be safe. Big thanks to Nexus Auto Transport for letting us do this and making it possible. – MH]
I admire the dedication of long-distance truckers and appreciate all of the ways we rely on them for our day-to-day lives, but driving thousands of miles on the interstate network is not something humans were designed to do. IMHO this sort of freight journey should be taking place on rails, not roads.
Autonomy would bring some benefits (do all new big rigs have active cruise control, lane keeping assistance, etc. these days?) but honestly it’s a miracle we don’t see more accidents resulting from inattentive truck drivers (I have seen some and the consequences can be horrific).
The closest I have come to seeing disaster first-hand (so far) was a couple of years ago, driving across Arizona on the I-40. A semi drifted into my lane at 70mph as I was passing him. Swerving onto the central median, I somehow managed to slow my car down and keep it pointing the right way, and after a long blast on my horn to get his attention he managed to stop his rig just as he slipped off the edge of the pavement and into median in front of me (maybe 100 yards short of a small bridge over a fairly deep creek bed). He apologized, saying he just zoned out for a minute… I think I was too shocked to be angry so we just shook hands, thanked our respective deities, and went on our separate ways. I won’t forget that experience in a hurry though.
Beck? No. That face, those clothes, that’s Doug Demuro. “This…is a Volvo truck!”
In college a fraternity brother did this on a shorter drive with a vhs camera operating off the cigarette lighter. Once at school they played it at 2x to merge the tapes over and over until it was all on one tape.
The French band Lacquer beat you to it by 22 years! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ1F29btH4c
What was it about this CRV that made you want to buy it in CA and ship it to NY? Was there not a similarly-spec’d one closer?
Because Beau owns a Honda dealer. And because synergy.
I made this drive from LA to NYC in April of 2022 with a friend and my dog.
As someone who has lived in the desert most of my life, it’s oddly soothing to watch the country get greener as you drive east.
That was cool. I love me a good timelapse video. Did this instead of working and it was time well spent. I’m about to play it again.
Well, that was exhausting to watch.
Really cool, just needed a text overlay saying what state it’s in 🙂
I would have liked an interactive map of the US in the bottom left of the screen (where the hood of the truck was shown) showing the progression across the country.
Same here
Wow it was interesting to see the truck actually pass other trucks on I-10 between California and Phoenix, AZ instead of just driving beside each other for miles and miles and miles like I typically get stuck behind them doing!
I was thinking the same thing. Plus he stuck to the right lane most of the time. Nothing like how they drive here :sad face:
The landscape change is really neat. I never had a car accident (yet, knock on wood) and I installed a dash cam but removed it right away, I feel the universe will say you need to use it pretty soon.
This so cool. Only had a few moments to check it out, so I’ll be back for the whole enchilada later.
this is cool as hell
it’s hard to see much detail during the night parts but watching the mountains slowly rise in front of you and the road getting gradually curvier is really neat