I've thought about this before as well. Given how gruesome their deaths were it's hard to think of silver linings, but I have one...Better that they were shot in the basement of that house mere seconds after being read aloud their death sentence. Up until that point they were unaware, or at most only mildly suspicious, of their impending fate. I take some solace in the fact that they were at least afforded that peace of mind. Yurovsky could easily have loaded them into that truck and taken them to the field alive, as you say. Then promptly have them dragged out of the vehicle, likely kicking, screaming and begging for their lives. Their deaths could have been both physically painful and emotionally terrifying.
That said a more conventional style execution must have crossed Yurovsky's mind. Load them into the truck alive, tell them to get out at the meadow, tie blind folds around their eyes and shoot them, all simultaneously, in the back of the head. This would have would have made more sense to me.
One question I have dealing with Yurovsky's decision...Did he assume a barrage of bullets in the Ipatiev basement to actually have been a more humane way to execute them? Those waiting for the truck of corpses at Pig's Meadow were said to be greatly disappointed at not having the opportunity to off the Tsar, Empress, and their family and retainers. The image a of a bloodthirsty lot of goons much in the vein of Petr Ermakov comes to mind. Given this is is reasonable to believe that had they been afforded the opportunity the men could have been beaten, tortured, and women raped before being killed? And did Yurovsky, not wanting to chance this outcome, thereby elect to liquidate the prisoners prior to leaving the home?
