Costs of hiring a mover...

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DrQuinn

DrQuinn

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So in 5.5 months, I'll be packing up and moving back home, to DC. I have a big question, though... has anyone ever used professional movers? We have a "relocation account" that we can use, covers a couple grand. The wifey and I are just curiuos about how much it costs to hire a long-distance mover. We are in a 2 br 2 bath 1200 sq/ft condo, with honestly not that much stuff. I have absolutely no idea how much it would cost to hire a mover! And I want to try to avoid going over the allocated $. :) Any help would be much appreciated!

Q
Members don't see this ad.
 
i hired a mover for about 2200 lbs, basically a 1 bdr, from NC to chicago (800 miles) and it was just over a grand, had no problems w/ my stuff. like most movers they were a couple of days past schedule.
 
I found moving into my DC apt to be a horrible experience overall...

Buying things and accomplishing errands around here is either super expensive or very inconvenient and out of the way, I spent LOTS of time going to target and getting garbage cans and other random household stuff I should have just brought from my old place

I also live in a 2br 2 ba condo w/gf w/o a lot of stuff and I just drove it all down from my current location in 2 trips. Better than having moving people steal your stuff, charge alot, show up late, you have to deal with them etc....
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Hoya11 said:
I also live in a 2br 2 ba condo w/gf w/o a lot of stuff and I just drove it all down from my current location in 2 trips. Better than having moving people steal your stuff, charge alot, show up late, you have to deal with them etc....
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See, I'll be moving from Tampa -> DC, and will be moving into my brother's basement in Falls Church, VA... probably wont' be buying a house initially until after working for a few months... so basically I just need a mover to drop all our boxes in my bro's basement...

Q
 
Obviously having furniture would increase the cost. If your 2 Bedroom house is sparsely furnished as you suggest I imagine 2-3K should cover it. You could call UNited, Allied or one of the other big moving companies and they will give you a free quote.

Hope this helps.. Good luck Quinn
 
QuinnNSU said:
See, I'll be moving from Tampa -> DC, and will be moving into my brother's basement in Falls Church, VA... probably wont' be buying a house initially until after working for a few months... so basically I just need a mover to drop all our boxes in my bro's basement...

Q
Click to expand...

Dude, I have moved out-of-state 11 times in my life. I think you have 3 options:

1. Do it all yourself
2. Hire a professional moving company to load, unload, and drive the truck
3. Rent the truck yourself. Hire some hands to help load and unload. All you have to do is drive and pack and unpack. Your proabably going to have to do the packing for options 1 & 2 anyway.

Option #3 is definitly the most cost effective. Save your lower back. If your moving expense account only covers ~$2000, this may be the way to go. Remember you can always add stuff like, gas hotel lodging and meals to your expense account and it is unlikely that a Tampa to DC move will cost less than 2K when you add all that in. You can try local moving companies for help loading, or you can try www.emove.com and get help for Tampa and DC online. You can also get online quotes for the professional companies, but I have had universilly poor experiences with Benkins, Allied, and others.

The drive-it-yourself method worked great for me last time and I saved a bundle. I recomend Penskie or Budget for rentals. All I had to do was drive the truck with one car in tow. Let's face it, driving the truck is serious man-activity and fun.
 
Margarita is quite right the most cost effective method is to hire movers. At least in Chicago you can find movers on craigslist, I am sure you can find some helping hands in Tampa as well and obviously in the DC area. It will be much much cheaper. The real question is did they give you enough money for a moving company to do everything or not?
 
EctopicFetus said:
Margarita is quite right the most cost effective method is to hire movers. At least in Chicago you can find movers on craigslist, I am sure you can find some helping hands in Tampa as well and obviously in the DC area. It will be much much cheaper. The real question is did they give you enough money for a moving company to do everything or not?
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Yeah, I'm not sure... apparently I get $2500 for moving expenses. (Other job offered 5k, *sniff* *sniff*). But hey $2500 is nothing. I definately figured 5k would cover everything, but with 2500 I'm not so sure.

Let me put it bluntly, when my wife and I moved into our condo together right before internship (end of June), we nearly beat the crap otu of each other and got divorced (we had just gotten married). Not only was just moving in and of itself stressful (plus we didn't have anyone to help us move), but the Tampa heat and lack of sleep really put a damper on things. So, I'm trying to avoid as much physical labor as possible. I have no problem packing everything in boxes and all... just want to avoid the actual lifting and putting the boxes in my brother's basement. Not sure if $2500 would cover a 1000 mile trek.
Q
 
Then def hire someone to load boxes and unload them. Probably $20-$30 per hour per person. Usually they have a 3 hour minimum. Then if you are willing to drive yourself it will be super easy. Otherwise I dont know. Many of the movers charge by weight so if you have a lot of furniture then that might be costly to use a national mover. Good luck..
 
QuinnNSU said:
Yeah, I'm not sure... apparently I get $2500 for moving expenses. (Other job offered 5k, *sniff* *sniff*). But hey $2500 is nothing. I definately figured 5k would cover everything, but with 2500 I'm not so sure.

Let me put it bluntly, when my wife and I moved into our condo together right before internship (end of June), we nearly beat the crap otu of each other and got divorced (we had just gotten married). Not only was just moving in and of itself stressful (plus we didn't have anyone to help us move), but the Tampa heat and lack of sleep really put a damper on things. So, I'm trying to avoid as much physical labor as possible. I have no problem packing everything in boxes and all... just want to avoid the actual lifting and putting the boxes in my brother's basement. Not sure if $2500 would cover a 1000 mile trek.
Q
Click to expand...

I would definitly hire loading and unloading help then. It is amazing how much easier a move is when you are not wasted from a days of loading and unloading frunature and other heavy items from a truck. It will allow you and your wife to concentrate more on how you want your new home arranged, rather than just trying to empty the truck.
 
Or at least how he wants his basement to look. :)
 
EctopicFetus said:
Or at least how he wants his basement to look. :)
Click to expand...

Exactly. Quinn, what I meant to say was: Your wife can spend more time telling you how she wants the house arranged. :D
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Have you considered something like PODS, with hiring help to load/ unload? Last time I moved, my brother helped load the minivan (Oh, to have such little stuff again!), and I hired a local mover to unload. That way, you wouldn't have to worry about driving a truck without a/c, radio, towing car etc.
 
Moved from the midwest to California in June. I had 3000 lbs of stuff, and it cost me a little over $2000 to move it all. Also shipped my car for $800.
 
margaritaboy said:
I recomend Penskie or Budget for rentals. All
Click to expand...

I probably don't need to say this but, stay away from U-Haul.
 
Try Upack @ www.upack.com . When I moved I used them. Here is how it works, they bring the moving truck to your house. You Pack the truck and they drive it too the city you are moving to. After you get to whereever you are moving. You call the company and they have a driver bring the truck with you belongings to your new house in the new city. Simple as that! I moved over 900 miles away from my home and it cost me less that 1000 dollars. Hope this helps
 
Agree with Ectopic -- everytime I have moved I (family drove) have rented a U-Haul and driven to the new location. I also pack everything myself and then pay for people to load and unload. I have usually paid around $300 for loading and unloading and $700 for the U-Haul. You can go to your local Walmart to get boxes for free. THis has been the most economical way I have found. (Moving distance for me has been 350-400 miles) Hope this helps a little. Good luck with the move.
 
i'll do it for $3000. the UHaul is going to run me $1500 for just over 1000 miles. and my plane ticket back is going to be $200. Since i'll be doing it with a buddy, that means we each make only $500. Let me know if you're interested.
 
or you can try that upack.com thing and i'll work for $2500 - upack.com cost
 
keeping-it-real said:
or you can try that upack.com thing and i'll work for $2500 - upack.com cost
Click to expand...
You guys might want to check out a consumer advocacy website on moving called www.MovingScam.com, where I'm a moderator posting as "Diane" and a long-time unpaid volunteer. We have a thread on rental vans at http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2060 that compares Budget, U-Haul, and Penske and tells how to get discounts with Penske. Everyone is correct--U-Haul stinks and should be avoided in favor of Penske or Budget if possible--but if you HAVE to rent with them, there are tips on that thread about how to get the best possible truck (or any truck at all, since it appears that online reservations with U-Haul are sometimes a mere fantasy).

Also, just to let you know, besides the PODS service that one of you mentioned (which people posting on MovingScam.com say is good but expensive), there are other You-Pack, We-Drive companies that you might want to consider if you want to avoid driving and paying for gas. On our website we endorse the freight companies ABF U-Pack at www.upack.com and Broadway Express (BE) at www.broadwayexpress.net. There are currently 49 reviews of ABF and 178 mostly rave reviews of BE on our site at http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2050 and http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1935 respectively.

Finally, if you just have a question about moving, please feel free to come to our messageboard and post it and one of our round-the-clock volunteers will try to help you. Most of our visitors are people who are smart but don't have much extra money to spend on moving. THE most important advice I can give you, if you're looking for a full-service moving company rather than a You-Pack We-Drive arrangement, is to Google the name of the company before signing up with them. A lot of the time that will turn up complaints about scam activity--for example if a company has given lowball quotes and then held people's goods hostage for extra cash.

Just to give the original poster an idea of what Broadway Express would charge to move the contents of his 2BR condo from Tampa to Falls Church, VA, they would charge about $1427 if it is up to 1200 square feet and about $1689 if it is up to 1600 square feet. Included in the price are all the moving pads you need, a ramp, dollies, tie-down straps, and plywood to make shelves or partitions. They do all the driving in air-ride trucks (easier on your things than ABF's spring-ride trailers) and you can hire the driver for $30/hour to help you load, which is very worth it. You can hire additional workers from a service like www.LaborReady.com for around $20/hour with a four-hour minimum if you need them. I'm sure that the original poster could do his move for well under $2000 even hiring workers to load and unload. I believe that a full-service mover would charge at least $3000 if the weight was 4000 to 5000 pounds (a typical 2BR).

Another good thing to know is that last spring ABF U-Pack introduced a mobile storage container that looks like a small tool shed and fits easily into a parking space. The advantage of these over the ABF trailers is that they are rainproof, completely secure, and much easier to load than a trailer because they sit on the ground while you load them; you don't need a ramp. Each container holds up to about 2000 pounds of household goods, which is about equal to one room of furniture, so the original poster might need three of them. There are photos and further details in ABF review #23 on the ABF review thread mentioned above.

I also have an excellent brochure on Broadway Express that I could email to any of you as an attachment if you want to send me a Private Message with your email address. Please understand that I have no ax to grind in this--I receive no money for my work on MovingScam and I have nothing to gain whatever company people choose--I am just trying to make you aware of some options. (I am married to a physician and my three "kids" are all doctors--one of them actually went into Emergency Medicine.)

Hope this helps.
 
Check out the professional discounts for osteopathic students. My friend used Mayflower and she had no problems. You pack your house up, they load it, drive it, and unload it, and then you unpack it. Here's the contact info:
Shannon Price
Premier Transfer and Storage, Inc.
[email protected]
1-800-634-8571
 
Thanks for your input, Diane, much appreciated!

Quinn
Diane Moore said:
You guys might want to check out a consumer advocacy website on moving called www.MovingScam.com, where I'm a moderator posting as "Diane" and a long-time unpaid volunteer. We have a thread on rental vans at http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2060 that compares Budget, U-Haul, and Penske and tells how to get discounts with Penske. Everyone is correct--U-Haul stinks and should be avoided in favor of Penske or Budget if possible--but if you HAVE to rent with them, there are tips on that thread about how to get the best possible truck (or any truck at all, since it appears that online reservations with U-Haul are sometimes a mere fantasy).

Also, just to let you know, besides the PODS service that one of you mentioned (which people posting on MovingScam.com say is good but expensive), there are other You-Pack, We-Drive companies that you might want to consider if you want to avoid driving and paying for gas. On our website we endorse the freight companies ABF U-Pack at www.upack.com and Broadway Express (BE) at www.broadwayexpress.net. There are currently 49 reviews of ABF and 178 mostly rave reviews of BE on our site at http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2050 and http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1935 respectively.

Finally, if you just have a question about moving, please feel free to come to our messageboard and post it and one of our round-the-clock volunteers will try to help you. Most of our visitors are people who are smart but don't have much extra money to spend on moving. THE most important advice I can give you, if you're looking for a full-service moving company rather than a You-Pack We-Drive arrangement, is to Google the name of the company before signing up with them. A lot of the time that will turn up complaints about scam activity--for example if a company has given lowball quotes and then held people's goods hostage for extra cash.

Just to give the original poster an idea of what
Broadway Express would charge to move the contents of his 2BR condo from Tampa to Falls Church, VA, they would charge about $1427 if it is up to 1200 square feet and about $1689 if it is up to 1600 square feet. Included in the price are all the moving pads you need, a ramp, dollies, tie-down straps, and plywood to make shelves or partitions. They do all the driving in air-ride trucks (easier on your things than ABF's spring-ride trailers) and you can hire the driver for $30/hour to help you load, which is very worth it. You can hire additional workers from a service like www.LaborReady.com for around $20/hour with a four-hour minimum if you need them. I'm sure that the original poster could do his move for well under $2000 even hiring workers to load and unload. I believe that a full-service mover would charge at least $3000 if the weight was 4000 to 5000 pounds (a typical 2BR).

Another good thing to know is that last spring ABF U-Pack introduced a mobile storage container that looks like a small tool shed and fits easily into a parking space. The advantage of these over the ABF trailers is that they are rainproof, completely secure, and much easier to load than a trailer because they sit on the ground while you load them; you don't need a ramp. Each container holds up to about 2000 pounds of household goods, which is about equal to one room of furniture, so the original poster might need three of them. There are photos and further details in ABF review #23 on the ABF review thread mentioned above.

I also have an excellent brochure on Broadway Express that I could email to any of you as an attachment if you want to send me a Private Message with your email address. Please understand that I have no ax to grind in this--I receive no money for my work on MovingScam and I have nothing to gain whatever company people choose--I am just trying to make you aware of some options. (I am married to a physician and my three "kids" are all doctors--one of them actually went into Emergency Medicine.)

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
 
Im the administrator and moderator of Movingsham.net and highwayrobbery.org and...uh...what Diane said.
 
AR1776 said:
Check out the professional discounts for osteopathic students. My friend used Mayflower and she had no problems. You pack your house up, they load it, drive it, and unload it, and then you unpack it. Here's the contact info:
Shannon Price
Premier Transfer and Storage, Inc.
[email protected]
1-800-634-8571
Click to expand...
We investigated this "affinity" program on MovingScam.com last spring and found that Premier Transfer (a Mayflower agent) was a very reputable company. One of our volunteers actually visited its facility to see. Mr. Shannon Price is the person who was handling the account at the time. This is a legitimate deal and deserves consideration by anybody who wants a full-service moving company rather than a self-move. I'm not sure, but perhaps even people who aren't osteopathic students could take advantage of it (you could call Premier Transfer to see). Here is the thread on MovingScam.com showing our initial skepticism and our eventual realization that it was legit - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3995

Diane

PS Not sure where the above poster is coming from. Usually it's only the scammers who don't like us. ;)
 
Apollyon said:
You have to get to know some of the more 'special' people on the EM board. It's nothing personal.
Click to expand...
Thanks . . . here are a couple of updates.

First, the Broadway Express brochure I was talking about above is now available online at http://www.movingscam.com/images/offsite/BroadwayExpress-0102.pdf

Also, here are some photos I took of the new ABF mobile storage containers that hold up to 2000 pounds, about equal to a studio apartment:
ABF1.jpg
.....
ABF2.jpg


The first photo shows an average-size man (ABF Branch Manager) next to a container. The second shows the specially-designed flatbed trailer that can be used to transport two mobile containers at a time plus an ordinary forklift behind the containers, at the rear of the trailer. At the residence, the forklift goes down the attached ramp with the mobile container on it. The trailer is lower than usual so that the forklift can also move the container on and off from the side without going up the ramp. The customer can then load the container at leisure over a couple of days. If storage at the ABF terminal is needed, it costs $125/month per container.
 
Another potential option: One of my couple-friends lived in a one bedroom in Hyde Park Chicago for three years before moving back to CA. They chucked all their furniture, mailed all the rest of their stuff to their parents' via USPS for about a grand, and happily spent all of 4 hours in an airplane traveling.
 
The other option is to have a spouse who is in a "normal" profession and have them find a job and usually they give you a little bit in moving costs..
 
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