Long Distance Moving

[LagoVistaFarm]

We will be moving our household about 2000 miles. We have household, business and farm goods, and equipment. At least a couple 40' trailer loads. Does anyone have a good idea about how to do it? We were thinking of having a trailer dropped off and having a crew load it and then have the trailer shipped to meet us. Any and all good ideas would be appreciated.

[turtlehead]

I would use one of the online services that offers quotes from multiple movers. I used eMove.com and it helped. On that site you can pick if you need help with boxing, driving, loading/unloading, etc. You do the parts you want, you hire the parts you want. Their search engine returns possible companies and you can read customer comments online.

[Paul72]

We moved in March from western Wis. to Central AL, I looked into the trailer drop off option but we were a little too short on time so we used Penske and loaded and drove ourselves, overall the price comparison was about equal truck + gas same as the trailer, The company I looked into was ABF freight.

[spam4einstein]

You may do well to but some shipping containers and then have them shipped by a carier. Its worth looking into.

[PineRidge]

Just thought I would jump in with my first post here When we moved last year we bought a 53' trailer and got an independent driver to deliver it for us. Doing it that way was actually cheaper for us, and we now have a storage building.

We did have to pay the driver to go back empty, there were no loads going back that he could pick up. We also had our p/u truck loaded, and the Suburban was pulling a 16' trailer that was full.

We tried renting a tractor from Penske, but they only rent to businesses.

hth

[Freeholder]

My sister and BIL are currently living in a tiny apartment in Wyoming, with most of their belongings stored in a semi trailer. They would like to move back to Oregon, but checked on the cost to have their trailer towed out here, and it was about $5,000. Does that sound like about right, or is it too high?

Kathleen

[LagoVistaFarm]

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

My sister and BIL are currently living in a tiny apartment in Wyoming, with most of their belongings stored in a semi trailer. They would like to move back to Oregon, but checked on the cost to have their trailer towed out here, and it was about $5,000. Does that sound like about right, or is it too high?

Kathleen

That seems a little high. Cheyenne, WY to Portland is only about 1200 miles. We have a quote of suppling a 53' trailer and hauling it 1900 miles for $6100.

[james dilley]

Try looking At trailer transports. They will/can deliver trailers for about two bucks A mile. And Penske/Ryder both will rent trucks to Experinced drivers As A lease truck with $5000.00 upfront and you will need A commercial account with them.

[Obser]

Purchasing shipping containers and hiring a long-haul trucker to move them could possibly be a good option. We helped people move from California to Louisiana using a container. Several things in favor:

You are evidently not too far from port areas where containers are most economical because that is where they accumulate and/or are taken out of service. Three years ago a 40' in good condition cost about $2000. (check on-line for availability and prices)

A flatbed 18-wheeler can haul the container. Independent owner/operators of such trucks may be the least expensive option. They often work through truck load brokers (check on-line) and charge by the mile. Rates were $1.50 to $2 a mile range but may be higher since fuel prices increased.

Unloading the container from the flatbed at the new location may require hiring a crane (our cost was $250 range). Loading at place of purchase is usually included in price. Note: it may be possible to make arrangements to fill a container at place of purchase and later have it loaded onto a truck (worked for us).

Containers make good storage at the new location and need not be unloaded immediately. Two containers parallel 15 or 20 feet apart with roof added provide storage plus workshop area very economically (considered buying a second container and doing that but did not).

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by james dilley

Try looking At trailer transports. They will/can deliver trailers for about two bucks A mile. And Penske/Ryder both will rent trucks to Experinced drivers As A lease truck with $5000.00 upfront and you will need A commercial account with them.

James, can you recommend a website for the trailer transports? I Googled that phrase, but nothing that came up looked quite like what we need.

Kathleen

[james dilley]

Try looking for Drive-A-way's they pull New and used trailers to folks. Also try Power Source Transportation ,There in Griffin In. and the just pull trailersto and from Sellers to Buyers.They might have A truck out that way and they can get A freight rate coming back rather than Bob-tail and Eat the fuel..I would do it but it would be to costly to go that far babtail and then back to the house.Hope you can find some body.Try calling Your local Thermo-king dealer. and ask who delivers there new trailers..

[Freeholder]

I'll check those out, thanks. There's also a guy at church who's a truck driver -- I could see if he ever goes Cheyenne way. The trips he's made that I've heard about have been to California.

Kathleen

[Jena]

However you decide to do the move....you can always pay a moving company to load whatever it is. I had them load my rental trucks and it was the best $300 I ever spent. Nothing shifted, nothing broke.

Jena

[turtlehead]

We hired loaders, too. We rented a big U-Haul truck, a car dolly, and their biggest tow-behind trailer. Our knees wouldn't let us do all that loading so we hired loaders and did the driving ourselves. It wasn't too expensive and those professionals can put a LOT of stuff into a surprisingly small space.

My husband said if they'd just taken a little more time they could have put the entire contents of the old house into the glove box of the U-Haul truck

[ChiliPalmer]

In the last ten years I've moved from Washington to Michigan to Missouri back to Washington, to Florida then Texas back to Washington and Florida again. First, pare your stuff down. You'll kick yourself once you finally get there and get down to the last few boxes to unpack, and have to ask yourself why on earth you brought THAT old thing. Plus you'll be paying quite a lot to haul your stuff cross-country, so don't pay for something you weren't too particular about in the first place. My general rule of thumb is: if it isn't important, if it is used daily or weekly, if it has no sentimental value and if it would cost more to haul it to the new house than it would to replace it... yard sale it.

U-Hauls are fine for local moves but I wouldn't trust them for long hauls unless I had a mechanic go over ever inch beforehand, especially were I going over mountains, through inclement weather or with children along. Penske has a better fleet and is cheaper anyhow.

It's difficult to eyeball your possessions and really know how much hauling space you need, even when you've done this a few times, and the companies' estimates tend to err on the side of caution. I'd recommend renting one size for a day or two and actually packing everything into it. It's a small expense and a bit of trouble but you'll save hundreds by knowing exactly which size you require (or by finding out only when you're moving that you really need to upgrade sizes and now what will you do with the stuff that won't fit?). When moving day arrives, as others have suggested, hire professional loaders. It's worth the money what with their expert methods of packing to ensure safe travel and the way they can fit so much into a space so neatly - plus you don't have to worry about it yourself, you can spend your time cleaning the rooms as they finish them.

Trailers for hauling are great if you have only one driver or want to get there quickest by switching between two drivers, but they don't hold all that much. Pods are better, they hold more and free you up to drive solo or bust straight through switching between you and DH behind the wheel, but pods can take weeks to be delivered. Be prepared to do without your things for three weeks or more if you use a pod. Cargo trucks are best, IME, with lots of room and instant arrival at your destination when you do, but you'll have to have two drivers and taking them over mountains is nerve-wracking. They're also the cheapest option when you have a lot of stuff to haul, but not really by all that much.

[perennial]

We went through United Movers and thought they were great. We moved across states about 800 miles. For 12,000 pounds it cost about 6,000 which included 800 because it wouldn't fit down our driveway in MA and they had to put it in a little truck and fill the big one after. I did the packing. The day they arrived in about 3-4 hours they had all our stuff and it was done. I liked this because once the truck left, i knew i was done (atleast on that end). Nothing was broke or damaged which i'm sure would have been if we had packed the truck. Also, the road routes from MA to VA are no prize if you have never driven a truck. They arrived a day later than us and in three-4 hours put everything in our rental. We went from an 8 rm house with full basement and shed to a 4 room rental and a 10x10 shed. They managed to really pack the shed to the ceiling so we wouldn't have to pay for storage while renting.

I was really happy with their service and how stress free it was.



**** Also, we were able to claim the moving expenses on our taxes because we moved more than 60 miles from our previous residence.

[Kenneth in NC]

Do you already have a place to move to? If you do then one of the moving companies would (bonded of course) probably be best.

If your going to be looking for a place then there poses the question where does your stuff sit till your ready to move into a place?


Kenneth