Tell Me How To Move

Make movers deal with the heavy stuff (fridge/wahser/dryer/bedroom/living room furniture. Especially if there are stairs involved. Pack your own stuff, then let them load. Keep the most fragile stuff/high value items (jewelry, etc) with you.
 
Matthew said:
Double-check your homeowners insurance for the time your things are on the truck to the time they are unloaded. A broken chair is one thing, but if the truck goes off the road and overturns you might find their freight insurance will pay something like pennies on the pound.
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Hmm. I'll check that out. We have homeowners policies on both ends. If it's covered, wonder which one it will be. The deductible on the California one, the destination, is $7000.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Make movers deal with the heavy stuff (fridge/wahser/dryer/bedroom/living room furniture. Especially if there are stairs involved. Pack your own stuff, then let them load. Keep the most fragile stuff/high value items (jewelry, etc) with you.
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Yeah. Regardless which way decide do the move, we will do the packing. Probably hire out the loading though, just typing about it is making my back hurt. No appliances are being moved.
 
Albany Tom said:
I think you need to flag down one of the Dr's on here, and get an evaluation. Only half kidding.

Agree with using a local professional mover and getting multiple quotes. The other thing is determine if you have anything sentimental, irreplaceable, or highly fragile. Consider moving those things yourself. If you do move things like that, I'd probably rent a 3/4-1 ton van from one of the car places, rather than uhaul. Maybe just my bad luck, but the rental truck places aren't always great with maintenance. I'd also have the movers pack everything. Packing is just about worse than moving, and they know how to do it.

If you have any compressed wood furniture, ikea/walmart/home depot/whatever, I'd suggest landfilling it rather than moving it. Moving is also a great time to de-clutter. I say that as someone who is always in need of de-cluttering.

I wouldn't do the 'slow pack store in containers' thing, as it's a great way to get your things mildewed/rotted if there is any possibility of moisture. Move like the old MASH TV show did a bug-out.
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Don't need no Dr's. I have self evaluated. I am crazy.:loco:
 
PODs are far from "cheap". A year and a half ago, my MIL used a POD to move a lot of stuff from St.L to Phoenix.

The POD cost itself was insignificant (couple of hundred.) The movement of the POD was where the money was. (couple of thousand, plus.) I think the final bill was in the low-$3,000 area.

We weighed that it was roughly the same-price as a U-Haul, without the inconvenience of driving the damn thing.

Oh, and based on some information we got on the actual POD itself, we used "Pack Rats" - not the more aptly named PODs people for the job. Also found Pack Rat's pricing to be more straightforward while PODs had some "gotchas" in their pricing.

Pack it well, pack it tightly so as stuff won't move. We didn't have even ONE item get broken in the shipment.
 
Rgbeard said:
PODs are far from "cheap". A year and a half ago, my MIL used a POD to move a lot of stuff from St.L to Phoenix.

The POD cost itself was insignificant (couple of hundred.) The movement of the POD was where the money was. (couple of thousand, plus.) I think the final bill was in the low-$3,000 area.

We weighed that it was roughly the same-price as a U-Haul, without the inconvenience of driving the damn thing.

Oh, and based on some information we got on the actual POD itself, we used "Pack Rats" - not the more aptly named PODs people for the job. Also found Pack Rat's pricing to be more straightforward while PODs had some "gotchas" in their pricing.

Pack it well, pack it tightly so as stuff won't move. We didn't have even ONE item get broken in the shipment.
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Uhaul also has a pod system, I would HIGHLY advise people avoid it. They move the pods by asking average joes that are renting moving trucks whether they'd pull it along and drop it off somewhere for a reduced price. A lot of bad stories out there where this goes horribly wrong.
 
Every mover I have hired has broken or stolen my stuff.

When I moved back from Alabama to Texas, a rental van was stupid expensive and inconvenient. My solution was to buy a full size Chevy van on an online auction, fix it up and use it to move all my important stuff in two trips. I later sold that van and I really miss having it for hauling stuff around locally...
 
jesse said:
Uhaul also has a pod system, I would HIGHLY advise people avoid it. They move the pods by asking average joes that are renting moving trucks whether they'd pull it along and drop it off somewhere for a reduced price. A lot of bad stories out there where this goes horribly wrong.
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Both my daughters have used the UBox, both have had good experience. Because of each of their school and work relocation logistics, they each hired movers through UHaul to load the boxes. They get transferred to a local facility, and eventually get loaded into a trailer. When that trailer is full, it gets sent wherever and boxes get offloaded along the way (that’s how it was explained to me, or maybe that’s just how I thought I heard it). If you want, those boxes can get transferred to climate controlled storage warehouse for short or long term storage. I wouldn’t use it for anything valuable, there just seems to be too many ways things can go wrong. But for the right situation, it can be a decent option.
 
Unless it’s a stupid difference, I’d just hire it done, packing, loading, moving, unloading, unpacking. Done it both ways, hire it done,
 
Matthew said:
Both my daughters have used the UBox, both have had good experience. Because of each of their school and work relocation logistics, they each hired movers through UHaul to load the boxes. They get transferred to a local facility, and eventually get loaded into a trailer. When that trailer is full, it gets sent wherever and boxes get offloaded along the way (that’s how it was explained to me, or maybe that’s just how I thought I heard it). If you want, those boxes can get transferred to climate controlled storage warehouse for short or long term storage. I wouldn’t use it for anything valuable, there just seems to be too many ways things can go wrong. But for the right situation, it can be a decent option.
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Yes, they like to market it that way, and yes its possible to not have problems. That said, Uhaul regularly asks customers on cross-country trips to haul a uBox on a trailer for a discount. They do not make it obvious to people like your daughter that some other rando customer might be hauling their things.

Here are some examples:
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/t64sv5/is_it_worth_it_to_tow_a_trailer_for_compensation/
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/ut9fkr/uhaul_asked_me_to_transport_additional_cargo_and/
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/uobbxr/load_share_not_worth_it/
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/owkacv/anybody_do_the_loadsharing_and_tow_a_trailer_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/ne2t3e/how_much_will_a_ubox_container_reduce_my_mpg_on_a/
https://www.reddit.com/r/uHaul/comments/jnigdn/uhaul_asking_to_pick_up_a_load_and_transport/

Uhaul calls it "load sharing"....They'll give you $350 or so off your rental...but depending on factors, that might barely even cover the fuel difference...Not a great deal for either uHaul customer involved, IMO.

Its already pretty risky that they let the average unqualified joe rent such large trucks. Now they've got them hauling other peoples cargo as well...lol...
 
The final bill for my last move (WA to FL) was ~$13k. It was a full house of stuff though. I did not lift a thing, just pointed and it went in a box and on the truck. Also, I wasn't paying out of pocket as it was my final .mil move. Moving is expensive.

That was a little misleading. My LAST move I did myself. Packed, loaded, drove, unloaded, and still unpacking. Uhaul was ~$200 for 3 days. 2 Stars, do NOT recommend.
 
I used to move people in 48 states for a large van line as an Owner-Operator driver - 1977-1982. Did this full time for about 5 years, then part time after I sold my 1977 Peterbilt. Very hard work, and alot of skill and training involved if you want to move the customers household goods safely and efficiently.
Here's my advice:
  • Throw stuff away. Look at the price per hundred pounds that you are paying. I moved a doctor and his large family from Salt Lake to Philly. When he looked at the bill, he realized that he just payed $8.00 per hundred to move his fifty pound bags of grains. He had about 30 bags of grain. I believe he said the cost to buy them (1978) was about 50 cents per hundred. I've moved many thousands of pounds of firewood, nuts and bolts, safes, dog houses, worthless pianos, patio bricks, broken power tools - you name it. It's not going to be $8.00 per hundred nowadays!
  • Hire a well known van line, and get some references. United is probably the best that I know of right now.
  • Don't move in the summer. That's when everyone moves, and you are more likely to get substandard labor.
  • Have a plan at your destination residence. Don't be having these guys standing around holding your triple dresser while you are trying to decide where to put it. Assign one adult to check the inventory sheets as the movers bring your household goods into your house, and have another adult showing them where to put stuff. MOVERS DON'T LIKE TO MOVE STUFF TWICE!

Good Luck!
 
800 sf doesn’t sound like all that much. The first thing to do is pare down, sell or give away stuff not needed.

I’ve seen a relative in recent years move a whole 5 bedroom house full of stuff 5 states away, then move it all back 2.5 years later. This was part of divorce induced craziness. 2/3 of the stuff wasn’t worth moving, which was my suggestion.

Moving is a pain, best to minimize that pain. You could get ‘temporary’ storage for some things, but don’t want to end up paying for years, again, paying more than the value of contents.
 
luvflyin said:
Yeah. Regardless which way decide do the move, we will do the packing. Probably hire out the loading though, just typing about it is making my back hurt. No appliances are being moved.
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If you pack, they will claim that any damage is due to your packing.
 
luvflyin said:
Ah. Good point.
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…and it probably will be because of your packing. A good “pack job” can get expensive, but professional packers will do a nice job. We called them “PBO’s” - packed by owner. Some would fill the big cartons with books. No fun.
 
Last move, 2 years ago TX to WI we used this mob https://www.upack.com/ its actually ABF freight. Basically they are a commercial freight line, for the price they drop a 20 ft semi trailer at your place. You pack it lock it and call them. They come get it and drive it to you destination and drop it, then you unload and get them to come get it. Its like the pod system, but with the advantage that you get your own trailer (if you pay for the full trailer, you can rent a portion of the trailer and they put in a divider and load the rest with freight)

Then you have the flexibility of hiring movers/packers/unloaders at each end or do it yourself. (They let you keep the trailer for 5 days or so)

And lastly yes moving insurance will generally specify all items must be professionally packed, so if you pack it your self most moving insurance will not pay.
 
Zeldman said:
I did that.... once.

Small boxes are easier to pack, load and carry.
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true, but sometimes it’s the sheer number of boxes that’ll do ya in

years ago I help a seminary graduate move. In the garage was stacks of boxes containing just all his books. The pile of boxes was about the same volume as an SUV - and not one of the little one - and I’m not talking about the inside of an SUV but the amount of space taken up by an SUV.

Yikes. That taught me to not help someone move
 
I have moved coast to coast and across town. Coast to coast was easy, and when coming back to CA, I sold and left a lot of stuff behind. Used movers both times, the first was company-paid, second was out of my pocket. Not to bad considering everything.

The hardest moves were across town - well more like 80 miles up the road. Dealing with U-haul, boxes, packing, unpacking, etc... oye!

New neighbors did the Pod thing, they were pretty happy with it.

Welcome to SoCal - if you ever head down to KCMA, give us a shout.
 
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