The commissioner shall make suitable provision and regulations for the safe and speedy transportation of offenders from counties of their confinement to the appropriate facility of the correctional system by the sheriffs of such respective counties if such sheriffs are willing to perform such services as cheaply as the correctional system can have it done otherwise. Such transportation shall be on state account. In no instance shall the offenders be carried direct from the county jails to a correctional facility, but shall be carried to the appropriate receiving station as designated by the commissioner where the character of labor which each offender may reasonably perform shall be determined. Upon the arrival of each offender at such receiving station, the commissioner shall cause a statement to be made by the offender, giving a brief history of his life, and showing where he has resided, the names and post office addresses of his immediate relatives, and such other facts as will tend to show his past habits and character. The commissioner shall, by correspondence or otherwise, verify or disprove such statements, if practicable, and shall preserve the record and information so obtained for future reference. The commissioner shall have authority to designate such vehicles as are necessary to transport offenders.