Also, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of efficient and pre-emptive packing. The best way to piss off your pool of laborers is to have things floating around and not already packed into boxes of roughly equal shape and weight. No loose lampshades or other oddly shaped things that then get awkwardly placed on top of stuff in the truck. Your truck should be an impeccable game of Tetris.
I third doing Penske for one-way moves. Just remember if you get a car trailer that it is very hard to back up with it on.
Get that big role of saran wrap from Home Depot to wrap up big stuff. Drape your blankets over furniture like dressers and couches, then saran wrap them really well.
Get rid of lots of stuff. I dont know if I would get rid of the table because the legs should unscrew, making it pretty flat.
I can't reiterate these points strongly enough. We moved ourselves about 4 years ago, and it was an astonishingly easy move,
because we were super organized (thanks, DW!).
1) We chose a 26' Penske over U-pack, because we were going on a week-long vacation during the move, and we didn't want to pay $400 for them to park the trailer for the extra time. Had we been going directly to our new home, we would have gone with U-pack.
2) Get rid of stuff before you go, especially furniture, and ESPECIALLY sofas. They take up tons of space, and you can find replacements at the other end.
3) Blankets + saran wrap. We did it, and it was a huge help.
4) I wish we had spent the extra $100 on the two-axle trailer which holds the entire car--backing up would have been so much easier.
5) Tetris. I even created a computer model of the inside of the truck and all our furniture, etc. Uniform-sized boxes help a lot.
6) If you have lots of books, boxes from disposable diapers and wipes are just perfect.
7) We splurged on boxes from Lowe's. The uniformity in size was a big help. And we gave them away to someone else after unpacking.
8) Label boxes with their destination room.
9) Minimize loose stuff, like Paul der Krake said.
10) I built a platform inside the truck with 2x4's and plywood, for holding boxes. Stuff on the bottom doesn't get crushed that way
11) Got rid of our piano. It wasn't a great one, so it wasn't worth moving. We bought a nicer one once we got here.
12) Keep in mind which things you'll need off the truck first.
Because we had a plan, it only took us (and a half dozen friends) about an hour to load the truck. And it took a whopping 45 minutes at the other end to unload.
Things I would have done differently:
1) two-axle trailer for hauling the other car (or sold it and bought at our destination)
2) things I should have sold/given away/junked and replaced at our destination:
- lawnmower
- grill
- kids' bikes
- other big outside stuff--wheelbarrow, broadcast spreader, etc
- more furniture. We brought an entertainment center that we eventually gave away because it didn't work in our new home.