Movers
These past few weeks have been spent in trying to work out the logistics of our move to Ithaca. I was laboring under the delusion that we could wrap the move inside 3,000 $, boy was I mistaken. We were quoted upwards of 7,000 $ and it just doesn't seem worth it. Oh and this price does not include transporting of the car.
So instead of going with long distance movers, (something people should use only when their company pays for it), I am fast coming to the conclusion that the self sufficient process of renting and driving a U-Haul truck is the way to go. Offcourse I will get local movers to load and unload the truck. After carrying a particularly heavy sofa for a 'friend' up two flights of stairs, I swore never to lift another sofa again unless I was stone broke. The Bay Area unsurprisingly has several cheap 'ethnic' moving companies, that charge as low as 55$ an hour for 2 people with a truck. So I plan to make use of the cheap muscle to load up at this end. I still haven't figured out the unloading in Ithaca, which again unsurprisingly has very few moving companies, but I am quite sure I can hire a couple of brawny undergrads to help me.
The U-Haul route seems to add up to about 3,000 $ including transportation of the car, which is relatively economical. It includes about 10 days and some 3500 miles which is well within the time and distance I have earmarked for the trip. I know some Bay Area Cornell admits were trying to work out a good deal for a bulk move, but that movement seems to have petered out and we can't wait for it to gather steam.
The most interesting thing about the long drive is going to traveling through 4 states I have never been too before, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa. That will bring my 'states' tally to 38 putting me within striking range of the whole 50.
So instead of going with long distance movers, (something people should use only when their company pays for it), I am fast coming to the conclusion that the self sufficient process of renting and driving a U-Haul truck is the way to go. Offcourse I will get local movers to load and unload the truck. After carrying a particularly heavy sofa for a 'friend' up two flights of stairs, I swore never to lift another sofa again unless I was stone broke. The Bay Area unsurprisingly has several cheap 'ethnic' moving companies, that charge as low as 55$ an hour for 2 people with a truck. So I plan to make use of the cheap muscle to load up at this end. I still haven't figured out the unloading in Ithaca, which again unsurprisingly has very few moving companies, but I am quite sure I can hire a couple of brawny undergrads to help me.
The U-Haul route seems to add up to about 3,000 $ including transportation of the car, which is relatively economical. It includes about 10 days and some 3500 miles which is well within the time and distance I have earmarked for the trip. I know some Bay Area Cornell admits were trying to work out a good deal for a bulk move, but that movement seems to have petered out and we can't wait for it to gather steam.
The most interesting thing about the long drive is going to traveling through 4 states I have never been too before, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa. That will bring my 'states' tally to 38 putting me within striking range of the whole 50.
6 Comments:
You can see my post on using U-Haul for a full dose of how horrible that company is. My only two pieces of advice:
1. Make absolutely sure that they have secured the car tower to the truck properly. At the U-Haul I used, they didn't/couldn't. And no, they didn't apologize after the car trailer came unhitched on the highway.
2. Consider other truck rental places (Penske, etc.)
After the hell of doing the "move it myself" route coming out to Ann Arbor, no matter how far in debt I had to go, I am glad to be paying movers to take my stuff on the way out.
Zachary
http://www.zacharyemig.com
Zachary,
That whole episode sounds traumatic. Interestingly this is the second horror story that I heard about U-Haul since I shared my moving plans with people. The first story was when the brakes of the U-Haul truck failed somewhere along the route.
It is making me extremely wary to use U-Haul, especially considering the fact that I have a drive of over 2,800 miles, and I would be totally screwed if any of the above happened to me somewhere along the way. But $ 7,000 is just too much and I would rather sell the furniture than pay that price. Truth be told, I would sell everything and travel as is, but for the wife's 'sentimental' attachment to our stuff.
Thanks for being so prompt on commenting though, I was planning to make a reservation tomorrow with U-Haul, now I will give Penske and Budget a shot.
Strangely enough, I was going to send you an email on an unrelated issue. :)
Jdiddy,
Thanks for the info. I probably should have researched this a little more but having used U-Haul for all my in-city-moves, never thought of trying someone else. Penske is slight more expensive than U-Haul or Budget but definitely quite economical.
I will post a more detailed complied post, with all the information you guys have so generously shared, for others planning their move.
Thanks once again
I'd recommend against U-Haul. You may want to look into ABF U-Pack, which is who we used when we moved from Emeryville to Austin, then back to Emeryville, and then again from there to Chicago. The process is much the same, except that they drive the truck for you. (You load up the truck, they drive the track, you unload the truck.) That way too, you can drive your car and not worry about getting it in the truck.
Hm. Somehow that comment got submitted before I intended to. Anyway... two more things:
a) Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska and Iowa... if you're taking the same route we did (eastbound on I-80), some stretches are really boring, others quite breathtaking. Bring lots of good music.
b) ABF U-Pack is at http://www.upack.com
Ask some class of 2006 Johnson students who did a similar trek to Ithaca last year from CA. I don't think incoming students have access to the JS listservs yet so you may want to ask Michael Corbett (he knows everything about the school).
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