So I'm moving to Denver from Charlotte sometime in August. I've been given a certain amount for the move but would still like to keep the price down (I can use any additional for furniture etc).

A Uhaul will run me $1000-1200 for the rental plus $500-600 for gas. Worse case $2000 max.

I called Pod and their first quote was $2995 but I talked them down to $2700.

What about these online companies like First Call Movers or Mover Nation? I tried to get a quote online and immediately got calls about move date and inventory. They appear to have decent reviews but I'm skeptical.

What are people's recommendations? I'll do a Uhaul if I have to but it might be nice to have everything done for me.

7/2/2013 6:54:55 PM

have your new employer pay for it

7/2/2013 7:03:47 PM

They are paying for it and I've got a set amount but anything extra I can use on other things...so I'm trying to keep the moving price down.

Regardless of that what are everyone's suggestions for moving services?

7/2/2013 7:06:00 PM

my company has paid for professional movers to move me twice. even if i got a lump sum like you're getting, i wouldn't pack and move myself again and i'm a cheap bastard.

7/2/2013 7:11:38 PM

Ok so again what are some recommendations on moving services...

7/2/2013 7:16:59 PM

My company set me up with Atlas Van Lines. They did a phenomenal job on my recent 2,000 mile relocation -- very quick and courteous and thorough. They're probably priced a little higher than others, but it was well worth it. Great communication throughout the process and they delivered on the quoted date.

My only complaint was that they were too safe and used more stuffing and wrap than they needed to.

I, too, am a very cheap bastard. But even if I would have had to pay for it out of pocket, it was such a smart decision. You have so many other things on your mind and so many loose ends to tie up.

7/2/2013 7:18:33 PM

my company used Hilldrup Moving and Storage. they were great. the dude in charge of the crew was Norman Glen. i was so pleased with him the first time that i specifically requested him for the second move. he owns the truck and does work on the side where he cuts out the middle man and can save you some money. i asked him about cross-country moves like yours and he said he'd move anybody anywhere if the money was right. i can PM you his personal number if you're interested.

[Edited on July 2, 2013 at 7:28 PM. Reason : dasf]

7/2/2013 7:26:33 PM

Thanks for the suggestions. I did a quote with Atlas and it was $3k. I'll see if they can go down at all.

7/2/2013 7:50:05 PM

ncstatetke, did AVL pack you as well? or just load, deliver, and unload?

7/2/2013 8:39:40 PM

all inclusive. arranged, packed, loaded, shipped, unloaded

I sat on my back deck and watched a movie

7/2/2013 9:03:21 PM

I don't know what type of place you're moving into, or if you have a desire to rent small and find something bigger after a few months... But if that's a consideration, the all inclusive moving companies will also provide storage.

When my family moved we flagged specific items for our temporary place while our house was built. A truck showed up at the new house and unloaded the remainder, 3 months later.

Obviously it adds to the price, but so does storage and a uhaul locally.

7/2/2013 9:55:03 PM

Quote :

"all inclusive. arranged, packed, loaded, shipped, unloaded I sat on my back deck and watched a movie"

that is the way to do it.

7/2/2013 10:16:13 PM

^I'm leaning more towards this. Again the cheaper I can get the price the more I have to spend on other things but I don't want someone to break all my shit.

7/3/2013 10:44:22 AM

if you go through a legitimate moving company, then they'll pay you for anything they break

Quote :

"all inclusive. arranged, packed, loaded, shipped, unloaded"

this is how both of mine were and it is definitely the way to go. i'm a DIY guy who hates paying folks to do things i can do, but i still wouldn't move my shit again.

7/3/2013 10:53:32 AM

Thanks. I'm leaning more and more towards it. Going to ask for a little more cash money.

7/3/2013 10:58:57 AM

I'm sure it's convenient but I don't think I could stomach paying $3000 for a move. Maybe if I had kids, but not otherwise. Plus I hate giving up control of things like that and would be afraid things would not be packed correctly/would get lost/would get broken/etc.

Even if a company was funding it, if I had the choice, I'd U-Haul it and pocket the difference. Maybe some new furniture for the new home or $ to spend on improvements/lanscaping.

7/3/2013 11:43:05 AM

^Yeah I'm weighing my options. I don't have a family and I really don't have that much stuff. The biggest items are a queen size mattress, a couple cabinets, tables, and a sectional coach. Me and a buddy would probably do it in a few hours.

7/3/2013 11:44:49 AM

- Hiring movers is always cheaper than fixing your back. trying to carry furniture and/or appliances up/down stairs and around awkward spaces will lead to lifting in a way that can injure you. As a dude in my 30's, this shit matters to me.

- In my experience, I've had less stuff damaged by having movers pack and load furniture/appliances than when I did it myself (i'd end up cheaping out on packing blankets and shit too).

- See if you can have movers just handle the "big" stuff, and pack and box up the small stuff yourself. For us there was a massive difference in cost doing it that way vs having them do it all.

[Edited on July 3, 2013 at 12:15 PM. Reason : Edit--- if you don't have that much big stuff... probably easy to DIY]

7/3/2013 12:14:12 PM

^Thanks. Good advice there. I'm a climber and was a stage hand for a number of years so packing/unpacking and fitting into small places is one of my favorite things to do. Haha.

7/3/2013 12:18:53 PM

Assuming you don't have $20K in furniture, just sell everything you own and use Amtrak Express for the clothes, small appliances, flatware, and books. I moved Raleigh, NC to San Francisco, CA and took the relocation money to buy new stuff. The move would have only cost $1K if I didn't buy anything new. I had 47 boxes totaling about 1200 lbs.

http://www.amtrak.com/express-shipping

7/3/2013 7:13:30 PM

^wow, I have never heard of that. Just did some reading - sounds awesome!!

7/3/2013 8:55:59 PM

Quote :

" Plus I hate giving up control of things like that and would be afraid things would not be packed correctly/would get lost/would get broken/etc. "

I am this way too, but after having movers pack my stuff once, I trust their packing jobs more than I'd trust my own. Granted, my full-service move experience was based off a company with a military contract, so I'm not sure if they do anything differently because they really don't want to lose that contract. We used DeHaven Transfer & Storage, and they were great.

With the movers I'd say keep any appliances you have plugged in so you can show them they are working before they pack them up. That includes washer/dryer, microwave, TV and all that jazz. Possibly videotape the demos because they love putting "mechanical condition unknown" on everything with a plug so they can cover their asses if something breaks.

My parents had some stuff sent to me via AAA Van Lines years back, and they were absolutely awful. But I think they are blacklisted in multiple states so I don't think you'd end up with them anyway.

7/3/2013 10:32:53 PM

My BFF just moved from Raleigh to Denver and had professional movers pack them up. I'll ask what their price was. Maybe.

7/3/2013 11:03:39 PM

Quote :

"Assuming you don't have $20K in furniture, just sell everything you own and use Amtrak Express for the clothes, small appliances, flatware, and books. I moved Raleigh, NC to San Francisco, CA and took the relocation money to buy new stuff. The move would have only cost $1K if I didn't buy anything new. I had 47 boxes totaling about 1200 lbs."

I thought about this but it just doesn't make any sense. Most of my better furniture, TV, etc were all great deals that took a while to find. Even if I only have $2-3k in furniture driving a Uhaul for $2k to transport it is better in the long run than trying to sell it all and buy new stuff. It just doesn't make sense. I really don't have the time or patience to sell anything and I'm going to be getting a Uhaul regardless because I can tow my new car (saving the tires and mileage) and I don't want to ship stuff.

^Cool. I just think for the amount of stuff I have it makes more sense for me and a couple guys to do it. I don't really have that much stuff. This is only my second place after college.

7/3/2013 11:10:02 PM

Just chiming in: recently did a 5-hour move myself in a U-haul and I would've paid pretty much anything to have someone else do the boxing and moving. And I'm as frugal as they come. It's truly the worst thing ever -- and had to take vacation days on top of that.

7/4/2013 4:54:55 AM

You guys are all really lazy or maybe I Just don't have that much stuff. Packing up a Uhaul is fun.

7/4/2013 9:21:32 AM

I lived in a 3rd floor apartment in Morrisville and moved to another 3rd floor apartment in my new city. Yet another reason I'm glad I let professionals do it for me

7/4/2013 10:14:28 AM

In college or just finished I probably would've just said do it yourself. But, when you get out in the real world you tend to accumulate more shit which takes longer to pack, longer to move, and on top of that, since you're no longer in college, that shit tends to be nicer stuff...

All that being said, I moved for a new job roughly 1.5-2 hrs away earlier this year, and I paid $1000 for some movers to do it...some of the best money I've spent.

7/4/2013 10:56:36 AM

Fuck loading up a uhaul for moving that far, I moved from Raleigh to Dallas using an Allied affiliate and it was under $3k if I remember correctly and the benefits you gain from the difference in cost of using a uhaul and doing it yourself is ridiculous. I didn't even like driving a uhaul from Carrboro to Cary, I can't imagine going across the country in one.

7/4/2013 10:59:16 AM

Next move I make will be either professional via a company like Mayflower or Atlas or I will do the always popular sell all my shit except for laptop, dog, and a couple of dufflebags/suitcases that will fit in my car. I will never again pack up as much shit as I did on this last move. Fuck that.

7/4/2013 11:13:31 AM

the masses have spoken and it's fairly unanimous that you should go the professional route

7/4/2013 11:14:47 AM

Quote :

"Packing up a Uhaul is fun."

after moving 3 friends in the last year i have to disagree completely

7/4/2013 11:23:32 AM

Quote :

"I thought about this but it just doesn't make any sense. Most of my better furniture, TV, etc were all great deals that took a while to find. Even if I only have $2-3k in furniture driving a Uhaul for $2k to transport it is better in the long run than trying to sell it all and buy new stuff. It just doesn't make sense. I really don't have the time or patience to sell anything and I'm going to be getting a Uhaul regardless because I can tow my new car (saving the tires and mileage) and I don't want to ship stuff. "

My TV was one of the thing I took with me in the car. I had 10 days to offload everything and move due to constraints with wedding, honeymoon, new job, and tying up loose ends. I got everything sold. Do not underestimate the power of Square coupled with Craigslist.

7/4/2013 11:51:51 AM

In the last few years we have moved from NC to KS and then back to NC. Both times we used the Upack through ABF movers. Similar to PODS but much cheaper for us.

http://www.upack.com

7/4/2013 12:45:14 PM

You do realize that these major moving companies can put your car inside the truck, right?

7/4/2013 12:46:03 PM

For $$$$.

7/4/2013 12:51:18 PM

Yet you're worried about tires and mileage.

Buys car. Doesn't want to drive it.

7/4/2013 12:54:56 PM

Quote :

"- See if you can have movers just handle the "big" stuff, and pack and box up the small stuff yourself. For us there was a massive difference in cost doing it that way vs having them do it all."

Bingo.

When I went from Raleigh to DC there were two big things that varied the price. a) Who was packing the boxes and b) the timetable for delivery.

If they have a truck going to an area already and you don't care about the specific delivery date and have some wiggle room you can save a lot of money by doing a joint move arranged by the shipping company where they give you a 3-4 day window on when your stuff will arrive.

I've moved with Excel Moving and Storage ( http://www.excelms.com/ ) which is Allied. Both times they've been great.

[Edited on July 4, 2013 at 6:14 PM. Reason : .]

7/4/2013 6:13:52 PM

Got a quote on a Penske/Hertz 16 foot truck with a flat bed carrier for my car. $1077 total. Those cars are rated at 12 mpg so worse case with car in tow maybe 7-8 mpg. $700-800 for gas. At the most it looks like I can do it myself for under $2,000 and save at least a thousand. Screw moving companies.

7/9/2013 10:09:49 AM

best of luck!

quite a successful "advice thread"

7/9/2013 10:26:28 AM

Yeah as much as everyone is pushing toward a moving company I just talked to my buddy who's done a bunch of moves and if you're smart and don't mind a little lifting then doing it yourself is the way to go. I'm young, don't have kids or a wife, don't have much stuff, and don't mind lifting a couple pieces of furniture. I've done plenty of moves and I used to do it for work. I'd rather save $1000 and use it to buy something nice once I move to Denver.

Sure when I have a family and move shit I will most certainly pay for a moving company. I just don't think now is the time to do that.

7/9/2013 10:30:02 AM

Moving is definitely the thing I hate worst in the world. If my company was willing to foot the bill for a full service move, I'd definitely jump all over it. Even if it meant I didn't have any extra money left over to pocket. And I'm like NRR, I'm a DIY guy and pretty much never pay anyone to do something I can do myself.

7/9/2013 10:32:17 AM

Yeah for some reason I like moving and want the extra cash. I like all the boxes and compartmentalization, organizing, and strapping, etc. Kind of weird I know. It's fun. Like a big puzzle. I still don't like other people moving my stuff.

7/9/2013 10:36:51 AM

^Me too, plus throwing away all the shit I don't use or need anymore.

IRL tetris

[Edited on July 9, 2013 at 11:19 AM. Reason : .]

7/9/2013 11:19:30 AM

I'm doing a 360 mile move in two weeks. I've been moved by pros before (military moves) and I've moved myself in a variety of ways. The last military move weighed in at just under 10k pounds. I expect this move to be around 6k, we've ditched some furniture and moved books separately.

Quotes from reputable major van lines were around 5 - 5.5 thousand, or give or take 55 centers per pound plus packing. Getting multiple quotes is a pain in the rear. I started by telling them a poundage number to get a ballpark, and then had a few of them come out and do an estimate on site.

Some other companies that I was unable to vet satisfactorily quoted just over half that rate.

I ended up deciding to rent a Uhaul and have someone else pack and load. I chose TROSA based on recommendations here and from other people I know. They will send a crew of 5 people out for $138/hr, plus packing materials, and have estimated 6 hours and a few hundred in materials. I have yet to coordinate the unpack on the other end, but expect to need 6-8 people-hours of hired help to offload, at 30 - 40 bucks per hour per person from established companies. Net Cost expected to be less than $2500.

One note: The materials does not include moving blankets or tie down material. Uhaul rents moving blankets, but they are 'skins' as the industry calls them, essentially just the inside padding of a quilted blanket. Expect them to be thin, easy to tear, and require doubling on good stuff. I will be using them, but have also purchased a dozen real moving blankets for the good stuff.

7/9/2013 12:48:44 PM

I was told to avoid Uhaul. They're more expensive and strict. The best two truck companies to use are Penske (Hertz) and Budget. Both their quotes were $200-300 cheaper than Uhaul and included straps. Plus I have friends who can be paid in beer for moving stuff.

7/9/2013 12:51:34 PM

we use Atlas Van Line in the government and I can't recommend it highly enough. your back will thank you when you just leave it to the professionals. well worth the extra grand or so vs doing it yourself

7/9/2013 1:44:36 PM

Bunch of lazy people ITT. What else do I do squats for at the gym if I can't pick up a couple book cases and a mattress?

7/9/2013 3:34:15 PM

I just tried a Penske quote for my move. For the same truck and car trailer, Penske wants $500 more than I'll be paying with Uhaul, though they give me unlimited miles. Uhaul provided about 50 miles more than the direct trip, which should meet my requirements nicely.

I've used Uhaul for all the moves I've done myself, including multiple short trips with a trailer and a longer trip with a truck towing my car. I've been satisfied and would recommend them.

Make sure to check your personal auto/renter's policy. My auto policy won't cover things I rent with more than 2000lb cargo capacity, and my renter's insurance covers moves done by pros, with a bill of lading, but not moves I do myself.

7/10/2013 8:00:39 AM

I use Penske, mostly because I know someone that works with them and they keep their trucks in much better condition than Uhaul. With that said, I've always moved my own shit. Going back to when my dad bought and sold antiques, I have plenty of experience moving large/small objects and trying to fit them in a compact space (like Tetris, as someone said before). I've driven an 18' truck w/ my car being towed to Oklahoma and back and never had any real issues (including mountain driving, heavy rain, etc.). Moving stuff is not really that big of a deal, especially if you have friends to help. I lift weights somewhat regularly, so I kind of enjoy moving. It can be a good workout.

7/10/2013 8:45:04 AM