Moving advice

[bigalpha]

We currently live in TN and at some point we would like to move out west someplace, AZ, UT or the like. We would be moving with a minimal amount of stuff.

About $1500 for a 17' uHaul truck and tow dolly.
About $1500 for a decent trailer to pull behind my truck.
What about those PODS or a 'you pack and we ship' type things?

Anyone made a huge move recently? Last time I moved, we were PCS'ing so it was easy on our end.

 

[Cottontail]

Co worker of mine just moved from Denver to Chicago for work. They did it all in PODS. He loved it because they could get them to the old house as they needed during the packing process, then they could get delivered one by one to the new house for unloading. His only complaint is that in a cross country move they only guaranteed the arrival within, I think, a 48 hour window.

We used PODS when we moved from Franklin to Brentwood. Granted it was only 10 miles, but I sure loved being able to take my time loading and unloading. We had 2 PODS for that move and we moved a 4 bedroom 2500 sq ft house.

 

[bigalpha]

How much did it cost for your PODS?

 

[Cottontail]

Don't recall. That was 5 years go.

 

[Darky]

If you don't mind hauling a trailer the whole way, I'd recommend that route. Then when you get where you're going, you either have a trailer to use whenever, or you can sell the trailer and make most of your money back.

 

[AIbandit]

We currently live in TN and at some point we would like to move out west someplace, AZ, UT or the like. We would be moving with a minimal amount of stuff.

About $1500 for a 17' uHaul truck and tow dolly.
About $1500 for a decent trailer to pull behind my truck.
What about those PODS or a 'you pack and we ship' type things?

Anyone made a huge move recently? Last time I moved, we were PCS'ing so it was easy on our end.

I went from CA to Washington via uhaul + dolly and it cost me 930$ in costs + fuel.

I'm packing to move back down to CA and this time I used www.uship.com placed my move on there haggled a bit and got the move down to 1000$ with a full service mover. They load they ship they unload.

 

[Rod Knee]

Not what you asked but related....if you are towing, avoid the 6% grade on I70 going west out of Golden, CO.

 

[Glenn B]

We used PODS when we moved from NJ to Albuquerque.... was a great experience and allowed us to not be rushed.

 

[n1ywb]

I moved from San Diego to Vermont 3 years ago, I used ABF U-Pack, it's their less-than-truckload moving service. You pay by linear foot for space in a trailer. It's cheapest if you load and unload at their freight terminal. They can also drop off the trailer at your house for 24 hours or something, if there's parking space for it, I think they charge a little more for that.

I hired movers in San Diego to help me load our condo in their truck and haul our shit to the ABF terminal and load it into that truck. Then in Vermont I rented a Ryder straight truck and got buddies to help me carry shit from one truck to the other and then into our new house. Transloading the trucks was pretty easy, we just pulled the ramp out of one truck and set it on the deck of the other truck.

U-Pack was like $800 to move our 2 bedroom condo. They also offer a PODS-like service. I probably would have used PODS or similar except none of those services are offered in Vermont.

http://www.upack.com/

When I moved the OTHER way from New York to San Diego I packed as much as I could into and on top of my Honda Civic, shipped a few boxes UPS, left a few boxes at my parents, and got rid of everything else.

Amtrak offers some cheap but very limited freight services. If you happen to be moving along an amtrak route it's great, otherwise it's useless.

That said pulling your own trailer is probably the cheapest.

 

[n1ywb]

http://www.upack.com/moving-services/moving-trailer.asp

 

[n1ywb]

Also Home Depot sells boxes and other moving supplies CHEAP.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

Another vote for PODS. When my mom re-married and we sold our house, we had 3 months to kill between when our house sold and when the new house was going to be finished being built. We rented a POD and threw everything in it, then let them store it at their storage facility for 3 months.

But, as mentioned, if you bought your own trailer, you'd have it for whatever you wanted once you were done. Or if you didn't need it, you could sell it and get some money back (maybe even make money!)

 

[H8PVMT]

I've moved from MA to CO (and back) MA to FL (and back) MA to CA (and back) and since lived in most New england states for a bit and the best advice I ever got was to buy a small trailer, mine is a 4x6 with high sides and until I had kids i could basically fit my life in it, in '05 a 4x6 trailer from uhaul was $380 one way to From Sacramento to Boston but I had a wrangler so couldn't get it

Sister moved from Kansas to NH and used PODS and she's cheap as they come and she loved it

a lot of friends use the "rent part of a tractor trailer" system to move but you usually would have to time it right to find someone going your way that needs the rest.

I would suggest buying a small trailer, they come in handy for more than just moving, plus I towed mine full of way too much stuff (including 5 stock tires on rims) in a 4banger TJ with 32x12.5's over the sierra's and rockies (thru 70) without issue

 

[kastein]

If you are sure of the transmission in the MJ, tow.

If you are at all worried about it, PODS. A good friend of mine used a quarter-container POD for her move to California and it worked out quite nicely.

 

[87manche]

buy ex-uhaul truck.

use to move.

turn box truck into toy hauler afterwards.


?????????


profit.

 

[bigalpha]

Looks like a lot of votes for PODS or a PODS equivalent. I'll look into getting a quote since me and my woman definitely would like to do that instead.