HELP with arranging a state to state move (not local)?

[nwsteve]

We recently moved 300 miles from one side of the state to the other. We purposely left behind old dining room set, all appliances and most of living room. Downside was the big movers did not want to bother even quoting on it. Pods also not available in our zip.
Our option was to self pack the boxes, and hire loader/unloader from Simply Moving Labor (https://www.simplemovinglabor.com/) to provide the lifting and truck packing labor. SML basically contracts with moving companies in your location and destination location for teams (always at least 2) to do the heavy liftin. They offer insurance as well as materials but we found WalMart/Home Depot cheaper. We rented one way 16 ft truck from Penske for just a tad over 150 plus gas ~ $125 (3 days allowed) and drove the truck. Our SML fee for loading was 2-3 times higher than unloading as crew had to commute 90 miles each way at our hourly rate. Total SML cost was less than a 1000. Our total bill was about half what we paid 13 years previously to move the other way albeit much less stuff. You do have the option of SML packing if you wish.
SML sent pros and they worked hard and got done probably in half the time had we attempted and we had a professionally loaded truck.

 

[Cessna152]

We just moved ~1300 miles. I contacted United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines for quotes. United had an agent in our area and sent out an estimator. Atlas did not, so was gong to do an estimate using the Face Time app/service on my iPhone wherein I would walk around and show a remote estimator all that was expected to be moved. I decided I preferred to deal with a company with a local agent, so United got the business once I got the single estimate (it was in range of the online estimation calculators.)

We got the pickup date we desired (May 1) , but delivery date to the destination is typically a range of dates (May 4 to May 20(!)in our case.) On the day of the load we got a specific delivery date of May 10 (subject to weather and other external delays.) Our stuff was placed into local storage till May 7 when a truck headed toward our area was available. They like to load several households onto one big rig if they can. (Turns out our household was the only one on his truck.)

In our case a complication was the destination house we were renting sits on a hill at the end of a steep gravel road. I called it to the attention of the estimator during the estimation. Google Earth and Street view come in handy when discussing things like this - I went overthe issue with the driver when he got the job. Wanted to know if anyone had ever backed a big rig up the road, so I had to call the rental property management folks if they knew if anyone had managed that, but they didn’t think so. The firm contracted by United at the destination to supply labor had someone drive by the place to see if it was possible. They concluded a big rig could not be used, so everything was shuttled from the big rig to a smaller truck that could safely negotiate the road. They obviously prefer not to shuttle if it can be avoided.

We packed everything, as we normally do. We were discarding things months prior to the move and still had too much stuff. A professional packer can probably pack 6 times faster than the average person (according to a younger brother who has packed professionally for years.)

If you are counting, every item in our house was moved 5 times:
(1) Onto truck at originating house.
(2) From truck into warehouse.
(3) From warehouse into big rig.
(4) From big rig to shuttle truck.
(5) From shuttle truck to destination house.

For all that, only 4 kitchen glass items were broken - two in a box that was dropped at step (5), which we witnessed. The driver also brought our attention to some damage he thought might have occurred during transit (it didn’t.) The United agent sent a followup email asking if everything went well and whether we needed a claim form (we had insured for full value.) The broken stuff was probably under $20 value, so we didn’t bother. Others no doubt would.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We always put our jewelry,etc in our own car.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Not sure where I saw this but: https://www.ebth.com/

From the removal of a few personal things to the contents of an entire home, our full-service model makes home transitions & estate sales simpler.

 

[frayne]

Been about 15 years ago but moved 500 miles to another state. Got a quote before hand and wife insisted packing cookware, misc. stuff. Took most of our clothes and valuables in our personal vehicles. Pretty sure we used American Van Lines and the pick-up and delivery were unremarkable. I think the cost was around $4K, half up front/half after the move. I hate moving more than root canals.

 

[38Chevy454]

I used United, with a local agent to be the estimator at old place. Went pretty well overall. Estimator worked with me to show where I could save some money. It may not be the absolute cheapest, but United being a better company did not have the added fee BS or other issues. Being flexible on dates (esp delivery), can save you some money. We had them pack, load, transport and unload. No unpacking at new place.

 

[walkinwood]

We moved from NJ to Denver in 2011. My recommendation is to use a big name national brand like United, Atlas etc. Call their local agent and they'll come over and give you a price (not an estimate). I remember finding sites online that provided checklist to make sure that you're not being taken advantage of.


IIRC, we went with Atlas. We packed most of our belonging into boxes. The boxes were numbered sequentially (so we could make sure they all arrived at the other end) and labeled by room (so they could be stacked in the correct room at the destination) They packed a lot of the more delicate stuff (so that if something broke, it would be their responsibility). It was stressful to see all our belongings roll away on a truck, but it worked out well for us. We had a couple of dings in our furniture that they took care of, but everything else arrived in good condition.

 

[Sunset]

....

The other concern with (generic) pods is having blankets/quilts for furniture to keep pieces from hitting each other and to keep stuff a little cleaner. I know the pod outfits will supply boxes, tape, etc. but I hadn't noticed if they had quilts for furniture. I'll look more...

Harbor freight has moving quilts, they are basically disposable as they are cheap and cannot be washed. They are normally $899 but Harbor freight offers 20% off coupons regularly so if one was passing by a HF now and then you could stock up a lot.

https://www.harborfreight.com/72-inch-x-80-inch-movers-blanket-66537.html

 

[Dtail]

Full service movers still do that - my parents had two quotes that way recently. The better service walked around with an ipad to get pics of everything for a more accurate quote.

+1
Had a full service mover when we moved 1100 miles to FLA. They came in and took pictures and gave us an estimate which was guaranteed to not be higher for the actual cost, plus wrapped and packed everything.
Yes it was expensive, but have 3 friends so far who threw out their backs when self moving many things.

 

[Masquernom]

If you go to the UHaul web site, when renting a truck it now asks if you want help loading and unloading the truck. There will be links to labor on each end of your move. That's what we did when moving from Michigan to Kentucky. We packed everything, and local labor loaded and unloaded the truck. I just did the driving.

In some ways, I like that better. The big movers sometimes unload your stuff into a warehouse between picking it up and delivering it. Also, if you have less than a full load, your stuff is on the truck with other peoples stuff. Extra handling and chances for lost boxes, etc.. When you drive the UHaul truck, your stuff arrives when you do. No staying in a hotel waiting for the moving company to schedule your delivery.

Of course, you have to be comfortable with driving the truck. We also rented a car dolly and pulled a SUV behind the truck. But the UHaul trucks are all automatics now, so not difficult to drive.

 

[greydog17]

After many mega corp moves over the years, we knew that it was a good idea to have the pros handle moving - even though it wasn't going to be inexpensive. After ER a few yrs back, we moved 1300 mi to new state last year and after researching cost estimates and customer ratings, we used North American. They have full service including local agent & estimator who came to house and shared cost saving tips (ie self boxing clothes) etc, and we used their packing service for other items. We were downsizing and sold/donated a lot of furnishings - so ended up with 1/3 of full sized 18 wheeler van (vs completely full when we moved last time!) All went smoothly regarding dates, packing, pick up and delivery, and no cost changes etc vs estimate, credit card was used to pay.

 

[Katiek]

I would check Clark Howard’s website. He had a bit on a recent podcast on how to find movers who give firm bids versus the horror story operators (bad estimates, delays, etc.)

https://clark.com/homes-real-estate/how-hire-best-moving-companies/

 

[MichaelL]

I looked at all options. I'm moving today, 225 miles, Pleasanton to Reno. Pods is very expensive and unreliable. They wouldn't commit to a delivery date and they charge all kinds of extra fees. A full service mover is expensive and wanted two weeks to deliver with no firm commitment. The cheapest was to rent a truck and pay people to load it and drive it but that was more complicated for me and risky with the truck in my name. I hired packers to come today. I hired a local mover and two of their loaders and will pay them overtime to drive their truck direct the same day tomorrow. On Thursday I have unpackers coming. The whole thing will cost about $2,500 to $3,000. I won't be sitting around for two weeks sleeping on an airbed in an empty place or staying in a hotel, so it's worth it. I'm only one person in a small condo. I sent the movers pictures and I filled out a sheet with a list of everything.