Long-distance moving options

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
WisNeuro

WisNeuro

Board Certified in Clinical Neuropsychology
Verified Member
Psychologist
Verified Expert
15+ Year Member
Bronze Donor
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
19,120
Reaction score
26,532
Members don't see this ad.
No recent threads on this topic so I thought I'd get an update. In the past during my moves I've pretty much been able to just do it with my car since I had pretty much just throwaway furniture. Now I've got more things that I'd like to keep and whatnot and will need some type of moving service. So far the most economical option seems to be U-Haul's U-box pods. Has anyone else made a long distance move (+1000 miles) and used a moving company? Any suggestions?
 
I've had such terrible experiences with moving companies in the last few years (between grad school > internship > postdoc), including breaking/ruining a lot of my stuff with no options on my part to be compensated for the loss. Moving companies are so expensive, that unless your employer is paying (or you are independently wealthy), I think they are unreasonable. The moving companies that aren't as expensive are often exploitative and cheap for a reason - they just don't care. After my last cross country move, I promised myself that I would use Uhaul/Penske and move my own things. Not for cost savings, but simply because it's not worth it to me to pay more to someone else to destroy my stuff. I have at times hired movers to help me load/unload a truck, and with that I have had great success.
 
Yeah, I was going to stay away from the no-name movers because I have heard horror stories. The reason I was thinking of the U-box stuff was because I could load the thing myself and at least have some control over that part.
 
Did my second cross-country move with uship.com last year. It's essentially like eBay for moving services. You post everything that needs to be moved, and then movers bid on it. Before I accept a bid, I read up on them (i.e. reviews on the uship website and google them to make sure they're not scammers). Positive experiences both times, cost was the same or less ($1200 for CA --> FL for 1600lbs) as doing it yourself, didn't have to lift a finger, movers were fully licensed and fully insured (not just the ridicolous $0.60/lbs). Although there are scammers (and nowadays private, uninsured persons trying to make a quick buck), movers often times try to fill up their truck, and people who have some stuff (I had a couch and 40-something boxes) are just what they're looking for).
 
I'll likely be trying one of those pod/cube things as well, since at this point I'm tired of driving a U-Haul truck across multiple states myself, but I don't know that I can financially swing paying a decent company to do the lifting. I know of someone who, like Marissa, used the uship.com service and had a good experience, but for some reason I'm hesitant to try it. Maybe I'll break down over the next couple weeks, though.

Worst-case, back to the U-Haul truck it'll be. Luckily, I only unpacked about half my things with this move; the rest is still boxed up in my closet.
 
WisNeuro said:
No recent threads on this topic so I thought I'd get an update. In the past during my moves I've pretty much been able to just do it with my car since I had pretty much just throwaway furniture. Now I've got more things that I'd like to keep and whatnot and will need some type of moving service. So far the most economical option seems to be U-Haul's U-box pods. Has anyone else made a long distance move (+1000 miles) and used a moving company? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Do NOT use Oasis moving.
 
Uhaul has an option for packing, loading, and unloading and you just do the driving. I did this in my last move and it seemed to be cheaper until I figured in the cost of gas. I was only moving 400 miles but the Uhaul is a gas guzzler an it cost $300 bucks to refill the tank. The truck was $500 buck and the load and unload was about $250 bucks.

A friend of mine who has moved recently decided to sell all of his furniture on Craigslist and buy used/new furniture at his new place. I think I may try this next time.
 
Never mind, I started to post and just realized that the moving company I recently used to move +1,000 miles for internship was local to where I just moved from.
 
I used a pod-like option, call ReloCubes. I chose them over PODS and others because they were a) cheaper and b) came in smaller sizes so I could use only what I needed (e.g., 3 relocubes is equal to about 1.5 PODS) and c) I did not have to drive the 1,000 miles by myself with an anxious cat/attach my SUV to a trailer. Hubs and I loaded it ourselves, called them, they picked it up on Friday afternoon and by Tuesday it was at my new home 1,000 miles away. We saw the guy unloading off the truck and while his maneuvering skills were mind-blowing on a narrow city street, lets just say I wish I'd bubble wrapped more things. Because I think we both considered a trial separation on more than one occasion during the loading process (I kid...kind of), we coughed up $100 for 2 guys to unload the cube in 2 hours.. I found them on UHaul's moving help website and checked reviews and such. That turned out to be the best $100 I've ever spent.

FWIW, if you are still technically a student or military, they gave me a $50 discount on the cubes. Then when I said I didn't want to reserve right then and went to hang up, they knocked off another $50 and assured me I had one week to cancel and no penalty. This was only a couple of hundred more than what I estimated a UHaul to be, but to me the reduced stress was worth it.
 
WisNeuro said:
Yeah AA, I looked into the truck option, but for my distance, it's actually much more expensive than the U-box option after factoring in gas.
Click to expand...

Yeah, wouldn't doubt it. My last move was somewhere around 450 miles, and like OneNeuroDoctor, the total gas costs were around $250, give or take. I'm pretty sure that once I factor those expenses in, it's actually more expensive to do the driving myself than to use one of those crates/pods. The one-way, out-of-state rentals + truck insurance (if you're required to get it, which I was last time) are what really drive the prices up.

As for furniture, I actually sold and/or gave everything from grad school away and just ended up renting furniture for the year while on internship. Saved me on moving expenses (both to internship and again to postdoc) and aggravation, and wasn't terribly expensive for the amount of stuff I got (at least in my opinion).
 
I found PODS to been very pricey compared to their competition. I found UBF U-Pack to be the most competitively priced of the larger companies. I talked to their CS a couple of times (setup dates) and they were very professional. The pod option was my preferred method bc I didn't have enough stuff to make a full service moving company make sense, but I passed "pack a truck w. some friends & a pizza" 6-7 years ago. IIRC PackRat was okay…but more expensive than UBF.

U-Haul for long trips can be a NIGHTMARE. I've had pretty bad luck w. their trucks (including junk gas mileage). My CS interactions with them have actually been pretty good, but the quality of their trucks has been a crapshoot. I'm not sure if the other rental trucks are that much better, as I've tried most of them.

I used a full service moving company for my last move (employer paid) and that is definitely the way to go if money is a secondary concern, though this is a tough option if you are trying to do it on an intern's salary.

ps. Never…and I mean never….use the USPS to mail *anything* you value. I lived a nightmare scenario with them when I relocated for internship. I sold all of my furniture and packed what I had left in my car. I mailed my (many) books and other random items…and most of the boxes looked like they got kicked all the way across the country. They sent one of my boxes in a document mailer. You may ask yourself, "T4C…how can a box possibly fit in a document mailer?!" Well…all that was left of one box was a partial flap that had my address written on it. I mailed something like 15 boxes…and they lost/damaged 4-5 of them. Filing insurance claims was a nightmare and their CS was uhm….exactly what you'd expect. Horrible experience.
 
Last edited:
I have generally used PODS (pods.com), and didn't have any problems with them.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I found PODS to been very pricey compared to their competition. I found UBF U-Pack to be the most competitively priced of the larger companies. I talked to their CS a couple of times (setup dates) and they were very professional. The pod option was my preferred method bc I didn't have enough stuff to make a full service moving company make sense, but I passed "pack a truck w. some friends & a pizza" 6-7 years ago. IIRC PackRat was okay…but more expensive than UBF.

U-Haul for long trips can be a NIGHTMARE. I've had pretty bad luck w. their trucks (including junk gas mileage). My CS interactions with them have actually been pretty good, but the quality of their trucks has been a crapshoot. I'm not sure if the other rental trucks are that much better, as I've tried most of them.

I used a full service moving company for my last move (employer paid) and that is definitely the way to go if money is a secondary concern, though this is a tough option if you are trying to do it on an intern's salary.

ps. Never…and I mean never….use the USPS to mail *anything* you value. I lived a nightmare scenario with them when I relocated for internship. I sold all of my furniture and packed what I had left in my car. I mailed my (many) books and other random items…and most of the boxes looked like they got kicked all the way across the country. They sent one of my boxes in a document mailer. You may ask yourself, "T4C…how can a box possibly fit in a document mailer?!" Well…all that was left of one box was a partial flap that had my address written on it. I mailed something like 15 boxes…and they lost/damaged 4-5 of them. Filing insurance claims was a nightmare and their CS was uhm….exactly what you'd expect. Horrible experience.
Click to expand...
My understanding is ABF U-Pack/ReloCube is the same company. I priced out all of the pod like things I could find for the month of June and they beat everyone by at least $150.
 
I just did a cross-country move to internship. Rented a Penske truck we drove ourselves (was half the price of a U-Haul truck), hired people through U-Haul moving services to load and unload for a couple hundred bucks on either end. I think it depends how much stuff you have and how quickly you want it, as well as how comfortable you are driving a gigantic truck. Wife and I have some larger furniture items we have a (possibly unhealthy) emotional attachment to and didn't want to sell, so would have needed 2-3 pods. Even factoring in gas, it was about the same or more expensive to do the pods and it would have taken longer for stuff to arrive (which means either a week of air mattresses or hotels - likely negating any cost savings).

Moving companies were outrageous. Sure Mayflower, i'll pay you $5,000 to load my stuff on a truck with no way to track it and no guarantee of delivery beyond "It could be anytime between a week and a month, unless something goes wrong, and we can't give you an estimate until you agree and pay a deposit."
 
Just looked at the Penske option. For a 1200 mile move, it may save $50-100, but would probably take significantly longer that if I just drove my car after sending my u-haul box. May go for the higher price for more ease and time saved overall. Gah, I wish I had relo expenses from the new job!
 
We are moving about 1500 miles and looked at pods, and/relo cube, uhaul cubes, uhaul truck, and penske truck. We have two vehicles and some new bedroom furniture we got this year, along with some antique furniture we've had a while. And and uhaul pods weren't much cheaper than pods, and someone in our building has two down on the street now, and boy they look really small! We we're able to get a penske truck with cruise control, and a car carrier for $1200 less than pods wanted. Even adding $500 for gas, we are still ahead. We are taking a day to load the truck before driving off the next day, and hired helpers to unload when we get there.
 
Hmm, you must have gotten a deal on the Penske Truck. Here's my quick scratch

Penske Truck quoted at about $600 for 1200 mile move with a tow for my car. I figure conservative estimate of 10mpg (12 is listed), so if I say a conservative estimate of $4 a gallon for gas (I'll be moving right before Labor Day, gas will be more expensive than currently) that's 120 gallons for $480.

Base of $1080 give or take

For the U-haul option I'm quoted about 1100 total. Still have to drive my car up, but I have Civic that gets more than 30mpg on the highway. Might give up a couple hundred for the ease and speed of moving.

Although, I am going to call a few places (Penske, U-haul, Pods) to talk to someone to see what kind of deals they can offer, that may sway my final opinion.
 
If you search online, you can get a coupon code for 20% off.
 
We had a Penske truck for my internship move and it broke down for five hours. Just FYI. 😉
 
And you get a discount for booking online. Their prices are a teeny bit higher than when I booked our truck in late May for August.
 
Man, after reading reviews and looking at pricing of various places, I'm leaning towards selling off most of my stuff and just loading up the car. Just buy new stuff when I get there, should be cheaper and less hassle.
 
I would try to get a furnished apartment. They may be more expensive but to me the price is worth it. Pack up your clothes and go. That's what I did for my internship and I love it.
 
Yeah, I can see a furnished apartment or renting furniture as being a great solution for internship, given that it's only a year (unless you're set on sticking around in the area indefinitely).

But for a long-term solution, biting the bullet and buying is probably the way to go.
 
WisNeuro said:
Man, after reading reviews and looking at pricing of various places, I'm leaning towards selling off most of my stuff and just loading up the car. Just buy new stuff when I get there, should be cheaper and less hassle.
Click to expand...

Unless literally all your things are high-end, rare, or equally sentimentally valuable, this is 100% the way to go, imo.

I just furnished a little place; in my area anyway, most 2nd-hand sellers are asking for and getting at least 2/3rds what they paid (even for Ikea stuff, which, wow, really, sticker price for a broken Billy? But yup they're getting it!), so you definitely won't lose out. And as far as I can tell, most of the mid-range design that's out there is pretty similar and pretty decent (mid-century inspired for the most part) -- it's not like the world's full of ugly couches to avoid -- and most places that sell furniture are now "life design" stores, with everything from beds to dishes. Since you know what you like, you could set yourself up with basic stuff to sit, eat, work and sleep on in literally a weekend, and add the little touches over time.

(though I should say there are still some amazing deals to be had if you're minded that way and have time on weekends. the secret is to leave the city -- i've found a few vintage pieces i think are beautiful (real wood, proper construction) for peanuts at auctions in little towns a few hours out. the people wanting & getting their money back on busted ikea are in the city.)

Congratulations on the job 🙂
 
Last edited:
sockit said:
Unless literally all your things are high-end, rare, or equally sentimentally valuable, this is 100% the way to go, imo.

I just furnished a little place; in my area anyway, most 2nd-hand sellers are asking for and getting at least 2/3rds what they paid (even for Ikea stuff, which, wow, really, sticker price for a broken Billy? But yup they're getting it!), so you definitely won't lose out. And as far as I can tell, most of the mid-range design that's out there is pretty similar and pretty decent (mid-century inspired for the most part) -- it's not like the world's full of ugly couches to avoid -- and most places that sell furniture are now "life design" stores, with everything from beds to dishes. Since you know what you like, you could set yourself up with basic stuff to sit, eat, work and sleep on in literally a weekend, and add the little touches over time.

(though I should say there are still some amazing deals to be had if you're minded that way and have time on weekends. the secret is to leave the city -- i've found a few vintage pieces i think are beautiful (real wood, proper construction) for peanuts at auctions in little towns a few hours out. the people wanting & getting their money back on busted ikea are in the city.)

Congratulations on the job 🙂
Click to expand...

I did this when leaving for internship (actually ended up just giving most of my furniture away to friends still in school if they were willing to help me move), and it made that whole move so much easier. This meant I needed to buy new stuff for postdoc, though, and since selling it off probably won't save me much on relocation costs (I'll still need a cube/pod or truck to move the rest of my stuff, given that it's too much to fit in just my car), I'll probably end up keeping it. Plus, it all matches, which is pretty much a first ever for me.

The "forget it, I'm selling everything" option is still definitely a viable one that folks should keep in mind, though. Especially when it comes to internship (unless you're planning on sticking around in that city for more than just the one year).
 
AcronymAllergy said:
I did this when leaving for internship (actually ended up just giving most of my furniture away to friends still in school if they were willing to help me move), and it made that whole move so much easier. This meant I needed to buy new stuff for postdoc, though, and since selling it off probably won't save me much on relocation costs (I'll still need a cube/pod or truck to move the rest of my stuff, given that it's too much to fit in just my car), I'll probably end up keeping it. Plus, it all matches, which is pretty much a first ever for me.

The "forget it, I'm selling everything" option is still definitely a viable one that folks should keep in mind, though. Especially when it comes to internship (unless you're planning on sticking around in that city for more than just the one year).
Click to expand...

My wife and I sold everything and moved with nothing but our bear essentials and bought all new stuff. It seemed cheaper to do that at first but we had to buy everything all over again and it actually ended up costing us more than a uhaul. We moved 1200+ miles away. But if its just you and no pets or significant others, it may be the way to go.
 
ikea is great -- it's just as someone buying stuff, i am a little shocked that people expect (& get) $80 back for a desk they paid $90 bucks for three years ago. especially when there is huge variability in people's ability to follow assembly instructions.

like, a new car depreciates by 30% the minute you drive it off the lot -- apparently not so for the billy! (which is great)
 
Last edited:
WisNeuro said:
No recent threads on this topic so I thought I'd get an update. In the past during my moves I've pretty much been able to just do it with my car since I had pretty much just throwaway furniture. Now I've got more things that I'd like to keep and whatnot and will need some type of moving service. So far the most economical option seems to be U-Haul's U-box pods. Has anyone else made a long distance move (+1000 miles) and used a moving company? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I used a U-Box to move from CA to FL. It is def the cheapest option, but keep in mind their customer service is really bad and there is no way to track the boxes once they are en route. So just try to accept that it will likely take longer than advertised and it may be frustrating because you won't know when it will come. But everything got there safely, though like a week or 2 later than we thought.
 
WisNeuro said:
No recent threads on this topic so I thought I'd get an update. In the past during my moves I've pretty much been able to just do it with my car since I had pretty much just throwaway furniture. Now I've got more things that I'd like to keep and whatnot and will need some type of moving service. So far the most economical option seems to be U-Haul's U-box pods. Has anyone else made a long distance move (+1000 miles) and used a moving company? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I used a U-box when I moved cross-country and had a terrible experience. First, I complained that the lock on the box was broken and was told they would fix it, which they did not as it was still broken when it finally arrived. It also took a MONTH, yes a MONTH, for my things to arrive, even though it was only supposed to take a week to ten days. I called and complained several times and they said they would give me fifteen percent back, but never did. When I called again, they said my account was closed and they could not open it again. I would not use them again, especially for a long-distance move. Sleeping on the floor with only a suitcase for a month is not fun. As someone else said, customer service is bad and there is no way for them to know what state your box is in. It may be ok for a local move, but I would highly recommend against it for a long-distance move.
 
Also had a bad experience with U-Box. I would describe their customer service as non-existent.
 
I'm moving 500 miles for internship in 7 days. We were unable to do a "Pod" option since we live in the city and there is no place to park a Pod overnight. If contracting movers it's important to get several estimates and obtain a "binding quote", which means that based on the inventory given to the company they will not charge you more than what they quoted, but may charge less.

I've contracted Olympia Movers based in Chicago, but I hear that they serve nationwide. A colleague used them with great results and so far the cost to move our 1-bedroom will be $1500. This is nearly $500 cheaper than renting a U-haul and paying for gas. HOWEVER, U-Haul has the option of you renting the truck and then contracting movers to load up your inventory and/or unload your inventory in the destination city. We were going to go with this option but it's just less of a hassle to go with Olympia. Hopefully it works out well...

A friend who is moving is storing all of her furniture for the year and moving into a furnished apartment. It's cost-effective for her and is less of a headache
 
Terri Dactyl said:
I'm moving 500 miles for internship in 7 days. We were unable to do a "Pod" option since we live in the city and there is no place to park a Pod overnight. If contracting movers it's important to get several estimates and obtain a "binding quote", which means that based on the inventory given to the company they will not charge you more than what they quoted, but may charge less.

I've contracted Olympia Movers based in Chicago, but I hear that they serve nationwide. A colleague used them with great results and so far the cost to move our 1-bedroom will be $1500. This is nearly $500 cheaper than renting a U-haul and paying for gas. HOWEVER, U-Haul has the option of you renting the truck and then contracting movers to load up your inventory and/or unload your inventory in the destination city. We were going to go with this option but it's just less of a hassle to go with Olympia. Hopefully it works out well...

A friend who is moving is storing all of her furniture for the year and moving into a furnished apartment. It's cost-effective for her and is less of a headache
Click to expand...
I used ABF U-Pack in Chicago. I just went on CL and found some cheaper movers to move my stuff from my house to the facility. Actually, made things even easier for just about $150 more.

FWIW, if I were single I would only move with what could fit in my car. Since I am not my math has always shown me that moving with ABF U-Pack is most cost/time effective.
 
I have been reimbursed for moving expenses for my last two jobs. I strongly suggest asking for that during the hiring process. Most companies are willing to chip in and my current employer footed the bill for professional movers which was nice. Internship was load it into the Uhaul and go! (Or actually break down twice on same trip and it took us over 24 hours to make it 700 miles)
 
smalltownpsych said:
I have been reimbursed for moving expenses for my last two jobs. I strongly suggest asking for that during the hiring process. Most companies are willing to chip in and my current employer footed the bill for professional movers which was nice. Internship was load it into the Uhaul and go! (Or actually break down twice on same trip and it took us over 24 hours to make it 700 miles)
Click to expand...

Definitely worth asking. Although for folks applying for VA jobs, keep in mind that if the position listing doesn't explicitly say "relocation expenses have been authorized," they aren't going to be able to give it to you.
 
I had to move A LOT in the military. Now, this always meant a 100% paid moving company , but they are amazing. If you can afford a full moving service, they will pack it...ship it...unpack it and lay out all furniture where you want in the house, even unpack every box and set the items where you want. That is very expensive though, I could not afford that out of pocket. Uhauls are not that expensive, pack that bag boy completely full! Last time I moved I paid for the 2nd biggest truck, I can't remember the sizes but the first uhaul truck was too small, the next one up allowed me to move a 4 bdrm house in 2 trips. These are not the pick up trucks they have mind you, the actual moving trucks. The one bigger than what I had could easily move a 4 bdrm house in one trip with extra room. The gas isn't wonderful on those trucks though so have that planned.

Weeks prior to moving I would stop at grocery stores etc and ask them if I could have the cardboard boxes from shipping before they destroyed them. Every store let me take them with no hassle, my local grocery store told me which days shipments came in so I could come in right after the truck and it actually saves them work if you take the boxes off their hands so they won't have any issue with it. You can always buy boxes, but why purchase stacks of boxes when you can get them for free?

Bribe friends with free lunch if they help you pack lol. That is what I did haha, I paid them with starbucks and lunch and it made the day go by much faster having help packing.

I second the idea of asking if they pay relocation expenses. Does not hurt to ask.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Career change options
Replies
27
Views
3K
albatross_at_crossroads
albatross_at_crossroads
CuriousHedgehog
EPPP Changes-What Happens to Licensed Psychologists Moving Between States?
Replies
9
Views
2K
R. Matey
R. Matey
S
  • Question Question
Nontraditional student -- best options?
Replies
14
Views
1K
summerbabe
summerbabe
quickpsych
Apparently Midlevels may soon have interstate telehealth options…
Replies
14
Views
1K
ClinicalABA
ClinicalABA
P
Long Island University Post PsyD
Replies
5
Views
3K
pediatric_psydoc
pediatric_psydoc
Top