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General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: Hot_AZ on July 13, 2015, 04:58:55 PM

Title: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Hot_AZ on July 13, 2015, 04:58:55 PM
We are making a rather dis-jointed move from AZ to a small town in Wyoming.  Trying to find the best and most economical way to move our household.  My husband is already in WY working so I'll be doing this on my own.  We have a 3 bedroom house and a garage full of sporting equipment/gym equipment.  I am also having to move all the belongings I inherited from my mothers estate which are currently sitting in an Uhaul box at a facility.  There are no Uhaul facilities in WY that accept the boxes to reshipping that portion doesn't work.  It will have to be unpacked, repacked and moved.  Uhaul boxes, Packrat and PODS do not go to this small town in WY. 

I can either hire movers/bribe friends to help pack a truck and drive via Uhaul, Budget, etc.  This is the most MMM but not the easiest option.

Or I can hire movers/hire a truck that will drive for me so i can just drive my car there.   This is the option that sounds the best but is the least MMM.

Any insight?  Anyone have good luck with a moving company they want to share? 
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: forummm on July 13, 2015, 06:34:38 PM
If you hire someone to drive it for you, Allied Van Lines is a good mover.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: TheThirstyStag on July 13, 2015, 08:11:25 PM
I recommend getting 3 quotes from companies that send someone for an in-person estimate.  Allied is a good recommendation.  So is Graebel.  I also got a quote from Mayflower. 

This is an extremely competitive business. Use this to your advantage (and get everything in writing). 
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: gt7152b on July 14, 2015, 07:13:49 AM
We recently used Budget and Penske to do a self move about 200 miles away. It was split into 2 separate weekends because we just had too much stuff to fit in one truck. We used a 16 foot and a 26 foot but really could have done it with 2 16 footers. I liked the Budget truck much better and it was much cheaper. The Penske truck was the bigger one and I expected it to be more based on the online quote but they didn't honor the quote when I showed up to get the truck. It involved some nonsense about the online quote including a AAA discount even though I never selected that option. Not much I could do about it since the move was already scheduled.   

We had several friends that offered to help load the trucks and got some help unloading from a friend and my Dad. It sounds like you could get loading help from friends where you live and do the unloading with your husband when you get there. I would suggest purging as much stuff as possible. Even after you think you're down to your core necessities you will find tons of useless stuff on moving day.  I really liked splitting the move up into two chunks but you may be too far away to make this feasible. Upack is another option if you don't want to drive but can get the help loading.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Sibley on July 14, 2015, 07:18:28 AM
I'd also highly recommend purging your belongings. The less you have to move, the easier, faster, and cheaper it is.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: protostache on July 14, 2015, 07:32:10 AM
When we moved from the PNW to Michigan we used United Van Lines. They were extremely professional, on time, and communicated with us during the entire process. We also got quotes from Allied and Mayflower, but this particular United affiliate had great reviews and no dings on their reports.

If you haven't seen it already, the US Department of Transportation has a whole website dedicated to this subject, where you can look up potential movers and see legal reports and citations: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: MissStache on July 14, 2015, 07:45:18 AM
I moved from Charleston to Boston many years ago, and my parents paid for my move as a very generous birthday gift.  I used Mayflower and had no complaints.  They were fast and professional and everything arrived undamaged.  It was NOT cheap, but when I later moved from Boston to Virginia with a Uhaul and my boyfriend, boy did I realize what a good value it was!

If I ever did another big move like that, I'd absolutely get a professional moving company to do it. 

But before you move, get rid of as much stuff as you possibly can!
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Sweeney on July 14, 2015, 09:18:28 AM
I used upack a few year ago. Basically rent space on a truck that they drive. You do need to pack and unpack yourself. At the time is was a pretty reasonable price.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Hot_AZ on July 14, 2015, 10:21:46 AM
Thank you for your replies so far.  I have checked upack and the price is decent.  I just moved my moms stuff to AZ from WI via Uhaul box but it won't ship to Wyoming (no locations in the WHOLE STATE accept the boxes). 

I have purged, we have a ton of stuff already packed up in storage so the house could go on the market.  I know i didn't purge enough.  My husband didn't purge any of his.  I think some stuff might end up "missing" on the arrival end of the move, LOL.  We are not moving the living room furniture, it will be donated/sold as well as other smaller furniture pieces we have in the house. 

Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: tvan on July 14, 2015, 10:34:09 AM
Citydata is a great forum for a lot of info on long distance movers. 

I just moved a 3 bedroom house plus gym equipment 1500 miles.

Who did I hire?  Nobody.  We assessed the value of everything in our home.  Considered the moving costs.  Considered the money we could make by selling the bigger items, considered whether we would need items in the future location.  After all this we realized we weren't gaining much of anything by moving it all. 

We sold about $2000+ worth of things on craigslist, gave away much more to family, and threw a lot away.  I think the hardest thing we had to let go of was a 1200 dollar 2 year old mattress, and we still got $200 for it on craigslist. 

Gym equipment has a really good re-sale value by the way (assuming you bought it used originally).

We drove 1500 miles with our entire life (plus two dogs) packed into an SUV*.  It was exciting.

*We did ship 5 boxes weighing about 50lbs each to our new location for about $250.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Hot_AZ on July 14, 2015, 11:39:22 AM
tvan, that's amazing.  I wish we could do that.  My husband is not MMM, it's a daily battle.  he rented a 6x12 trailer and moved his gym equipment this week.  He's a former personal trainer and most of his equipment was brand new.  He even moved a stupid 350 tire (has another 500lb one in the backyard he plans to move) in "case he can't find another".  OMG, we're moving to a FARMING STATE!  Again, another forum discussion maybe.

Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: jtraggie99 on August 02, 2017, 08:14:39 AM
At one point my family and I moved from Dallas to Los Angeles and then back to Dallas 3 years later.  The first time we rented a truck from Penske.  We hired local movers to load the truck and then unload, and rented a trailer to tow one of our cars.  This was by far the cheapest.  I would avoid U-Haul like the plague.  Penske and Budget tend to have more powerful trucks so that you're not trucking along at 45 going uphill. 

When we moved back, we used ABF to transport everything.  They do not load or unload, they simply move your stuff.  Once again we hired local movers to do all the loading / unloading. 

After college I moved to Denver from Texas briefly, and used a national mover.  It took them almost 2 weeks to get our stuff there!  I found out the hard way that if you do not have enough stuff to fill an entire truck, often times they will pick up your stuff, drop it off at their local facility, and it sits there until they have room on a truck heading your direction.  Yes, this really happens. 

Lastly, I would purse this website https://www.movingscam.com/.  It's a site that's been around for awhile and has all kinds of good info surrounding moving as well as reviews and recommendations for local and national movers.  I will point out that based on what I've learned, a local affiliated of a national mover means nothing.  Mayflower, Allied, etc, are just a name and each local affiliate is different.  One could be great and another terrible.  If you use a national mover, do your homework. 
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Mtngrl on August 02, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
My neighbor just moved and she actually used a local moving company -- even though she is moving over 1000 miles away. They gave her a very competitive bid -- the bid was to pack all her fragile stuff (she packed clothes and books and things like that), load it into a truck they rent, drive the truck to her new home, unload it all, then the two guys would fly back. I guess they really wanted her business -- she said they were cheaper than any of the national companies. So you might see if any of your local guys want to bid the job.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: chasesfish on December 25, 2018, 05:31:06 AM
Posting to follow - I've had four company paid moves and may finally be looking at paying for my own.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: DaMa on December 25, 2018, 10:54:36 AM
I used Belkin to go from Michigan to California in 2017.  I was very happy with them.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: NorthernBlitz on July 26, 2019, 05:18:33 AM
I used upack a few year ago. Basically rent space on a truck that they drive. You do need to pack and unpack yourself. At the time is was a pretty reasonable price.

This is what we did when we moved from Canada to the US.

Had friends help load up when we left, and hired a couple guys for a day when we got here.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: Just Joe on July 26, 2019, 10:46:03 AM
I know every situation is different but what does it cost for one of these moving companies to take a house full of furniture across the USA? Is this a $5K thing or a $10K thing or more?
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: BikingEngineer on July 26, 2019, 02:11:55 PM
I know every situation is different but what does it cost for one of these moving companies to take a house full of furniture across the USA? Is this a $5K thing or a $10K thing or more?
How big of a house? My wife and I recently went from SoCal to Chicago area using U-Boxes (6 boxes, we packed and unpacked the boxes, they hauled) and the total was essentially $5k with storage charges (2 months of house hunting). Assuming a similar amount of stuff (and we have too much, TBH) and with them packing I would assume you'd be north of $5k for sure.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: clarkfan1979 on July 26, 2019, 05:55:06 PM
If you move yourself, you should be able to rent a truck for $1500 and gas should be around $500. I really like the Penske diesel trucks. I think they come in 22 ft. or 26 ft. They get 10 mpg, instead of 6 mpg with a gas engine.

If you hire a national company for your move, everything is subcontracted. As a result, it is extremely difficult to get a "respectable company" I worked in the moving business for 3 summers in college and just after college. It's one of the lowest levels of employment. Just because you are paying them to move your stuff, I wouldn't have very high expectations. Your stuff is very likely to be damaged and/or lost at some point.

Small local companies for local moves can be different. They have their own employees and do not subcontract.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: chasesfish on July 27, 2019, 12:19:12 PM
@clarkfan1979 - That is the most awesome location tag I've seen yet.  I aspire to pull that off one day, Kauai and someplace awesome for the summer in the 48.

Agree with you on Penske, I would just advise people to break up the drive.  I did 17 hours straight on Day 2 and advise against it
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: stoaX on July 27, 2019, 05:21:13 PM
The big national names are, for the most part, collections of independently owned agents.  My experience with a few cross country moves is that the quality of the driver is what drove the quality of the move.  The driver supervises the loading and unloading of the truck - that's critical.   So I think the reviews and reputations of the independently owned agents of the moving company are more important than the corporate shell itself.

Also, each time I moved with the bigs moving companies, the loaders and the drivers had never met before.  It made me suspect that the loaders were just day laborers picked up for the particular job.

So do you research about the companies and also about the various scams and ways moving companies can pad the bill..and best of luck!
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: MapleFarmer on February 11, 2020, 12:37:47 PM
Just a thank you to the MMM community for this topic.  My wife and newborn and I are moving from the east coast to Utah this spring.  Learning from your experiences has helped us make a much more informed decision.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: chasesfish on February 11, 2020, 01:46:26 PM
I would also add to this....in evaluating my distance move in hindsight, ABF Freight / UPack would have been an equally good or better decision.  It all depends on the value you place on the time/stress of driving an unfamiliar Penske truck.  I ran the numbers when it was all said and done and the savings were marginal on the Penske.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: ChickenStash on February 12, 2020, 11:11:24 AM
I've had good luck with using movinghelp.com (Run by UHaul) to find people for the loading and unloading. I usually rent the truck and do my own driving. I prefer Penske for rentals over UHaul or Budget but they all work. Penske seems to do a better job maintaining their trucks, though.
Title: Re: Best Long Distance Moving Company?
Post by: SugarMagnolia77 on February 13, 2020, 09:22:15 AM
I used upack a few year ago. Basically rent space on a truck that they drive. You do need to pack and unpack yourself. At the time is was a pretty reasonable price.

I did this when I moved a long distance and it was great. I had friends help me pack the truck and tipped the driver $100 to help me unload on the other end.

I purged ruthlessly before hand, so loading took 45 minutes and unloading took 15. It was a great experience.

The people at the Moving Scam website have the three companies that let you do the u-pack thing linked right at the top of their page: https://www.movingscam.com/