Moving companies
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I'm just a Trump voter, so I'm not very smart, but my son traded sweat for money during his last move.
The company gave him x amount of money for moving expenses. He and I, along with his uncle, packed all of his stuff up and he rented a U-haul truck.
His wife drove his pickup, with a U-haul trailer. Stuff was divided out, so that immediately needed items were packed to be first out. Stuff that could be unpacked and let sit for a few days, was last out.
Yes, it was a pain, but he put about four grand in his pocket.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
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Who is paying for the move, you or your company? If it's the company and they pay enough (they usually do), by all means have them pack. If you pack they probably won't cover breakage.
If it's you? As Copper said, U-Haul pods are a great way to go. We just moved my daughter to NC and for a large one bedroom we filled up a 16' truck. We had guys load it in Ohio and another crew unload it in NC, but saved a lot by doing the driving. He roommate who was moving from the west coast used the pods. Only problem was they did not arrive when promised.
How much stuff do you have? Is it heavy?
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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I have moved our household cross country a zillion times. (Ok, just 6 times since 2010
). Depends on what you can afford and if your new job is paying. And how much stuff you have. (And how heavy it is). My preferred way is to pack up the irreplaceable valuables (paintings, jewelry, etc) and important papers and the things the movers won’t move - like liquids that are too expensive to throw out or give away- scotch collection 
) and move those ourselves (used the horse trailer last time) and to let the movers pack everything else onto a van. (But that’s $$$)The last two moves we did all the packing, and then the movers loaded and moved, which saved us some money, but wow it’s time consuming, and stressful. Even if they do the packing, It’s smart to go through everything you own and do some culling - I organized a lot of the tiny things (kitchen, art studio) into plastic bins and small boxes which made it much easier and faster for the movers to fit/pack into their boxes. Let them pack your dishes and china (they have special boxes and do a great job) And if you hire movers, hire good ones - don’t go cheap. (friends have a horror story of the discount movers truck showing up after hitting a bridge and peeling the top back, and then throwing rain soaked boxes off the truck to unload)
If you can afford to send a car, do - it nicer to drive with company. You don’t have to have the movers move the car, there are lots of companies that do it - if you are on a well traveled route, or live near a terminal where you can drop it off it’s not that expensive. (Fort Kent Maine is on the edge of the Universe, so Steve had to make 3 trips this last move to get all our vehicles to Montana - it’s a 5 day drive!)
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@jodi said in Moving companies:
I have moved our household cross country a zillion times. (Ok, just 6 times since 2010
). Depends on what you can afford and if your new job is paying. And how much stuff you have. (And how heavy it is). My preferred way is to pack up the irreplaceable valuables (paintings, jewelry, etc) and important papers and the things the movers won’t move - like liquids that are too expensive to throw out or give away- scotch collection ) and move those ourselves (used the horse trailer last time) and to let the movers pack everything else onto a van. (But that’s $$$)The last two moves we did all the packing, and then the movers loaded and moved, which saved us some money, but wow it’s time consuming, and stressful. Even if they do the packing, It’s smart to go through everything you own and do some culling - I organized a lot of the tiny things (kitchen, art studio) into plastic bins and small boxes which made it much easier and faster for the movers to pack. Let them pack your dishes and china (they have special boxes and do a great job) And if you hire movers, hire good ones - don’t go cheap. (friends have a horror story of the discount movers truck showing up after hitting a bridge and peeling the top back, and then throwing rain soaked boxes off the truck to unload)
If you can afford to send a car, do - it nicer to drive with company. You don’t have to have the movers move the car, there are lots of companies that do it - if you are on a well traveled route, or live near a terminal where you can drop it off it’s not that expensive. (Fort Kent Maine is on the edge of the Universe, so Steve had to make 3 trips this last move to get all our vehicles to Montana - it’s a 5 day drive!)
This.
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My preference is to let them pack though there’s always a subset of things I want to pack and keep control of.
We’d probably get a second car moved because my wife hates driving distances. But if she didn’t mind I wouldn’t bother with the expense most likely. At least the distance you’re talking.
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Oh, and they will come and estimate how much and how heavy your stuff is - they often can fit two or more moves on one truck - you don’t have to worry about that, they do it automatically. They section off the truck so all your stuff is in one place. The guy who drives the truck will hire local guys on either end to help him load unload - and it’s nice to have a cooler with gatoraid/water for them. I also bought them all lunch - pizza or burgers. And tipped them each at the end of the day.
What you absolutely do not want is for them to move your stuff to a warehouse and then on to another truck - the more times they load an unload your stuff, the more chances there are to break things, AND to lose things. When they unload, they will give you a checklist of the numbered boxes and furniture to make sure everything is there as they carry it off the truck. (Move as much of your “high value” stuff as you can yourself) And pay attention when they unload stuff - I had a couple of antique pieces broken that I didn’t notice until later.
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Listen to @jodi ... that's what I would do if I have move.
When you get a quote from the moving companies, ask for a "will not exceed" figure.
Last time I used a moving company, they sent a representative out to my house to look around and wrote up a quote, and just to avoid surprises, there is number on it that says whatever happens, my cost will not exceed $X ... so even if the representative who inspected my house missed something and later the movers found something that's harder to move than expected, I would still be protected by that "will not exceed $X" figure.
You don't have an acoustic grand piano to move, right? I had my piano moved separately by specialists who actually know piano, apart from the general house moving crew.
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Get Aqua to drive your 2nd car up...
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@copper said in Moving companies:
If you haven't touched something for a few years you probably want to trash it or ebay it or donate it.
Those uhaul pods are a good idea; hadn’t thought of that. And yes, we are doing a very good removal of lots of unused items, it’s quite cathartic. Thanks!
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@jolly said in Moving companies:
I'm just a Trump voter, so I'm not very smart, but my son traded sweat for money during his last move.
The company gave him x amount of money for moving expenses. He and I, along with his uncle, packed all of his stuff up and he rented a U-haul truck.
His wife drove his pickup, with a U-haul trailer. Stuff was divided out, so that immediately needed items were packed to be first out. Stuff that could be unpacked and let sit for a few days, was last out.
Yes, it was a pain, but he put about four grand in his pocket.
Thanks Jolly! And in all seriousness and to be crystal clear, I think you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever (virtually) met, and respect your opinions that I (usually) agree with completely.
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@mik My company is not paying, I’m working mostly remotely so this is a voluntary move. Good feedback, thanks!
We won’t have too much stuff...furniture is basically a toddler room’s worth, our bedroom, a couch and maybe a living room table or two. Otherwise just boxes of personal items (clothes, dishes, toys, etc). Over the last few years we’ve been slowly clearing out a bunch of stuff we don’t need.
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@jodi said in Moving companies:
Oh, and they will come and estimate how much and how heavy your stuff is - they often can fit two or more moves on one truck - you don’t have to worry about that, they do it automatically. They section off the truck so all your stuff is in one place. The guy who drives the truck will hire local guys on either end to help him load unload - and it’s nice to have a cooler with gatoraid/water for them. I also bought them all lunch - pizza or burgers. And tipped them each at the end of the day.
What you absolutely do not want is for them to move your stuff to a warehouse and then on to another truck - the more times they load an unload your stuff, the more chances there are to break things, AND to lose things. When they unload, they will give you a checklist of the numbered boxes and furniture to make sure everything is there as they carry it off the truck. (Move as much of your “high value” stuff as you can yourself) And pay attention when they unload stuff - I had a couple of antique pieces broken that I didn’t notice until later.
Great info. I appreciate your time sharing it all!
