Moving Company Question (Naperville --> Minneapolis) (Chicago: sales, rent)

[sloroag]

After 2 years in Illinois, my wife, kids and I are moving back to Minneapolis in January.

When we moved to Naperville in 2011 we paid ~$13k (which included 3 months worth of storage).

Moving back to Minneapolis, we're being quoted anywhere from $11.5k (Vendor A) and ~$17k (Vendor B). Both vendors (Allied & United) are nationally recognized and well rated moving companies. Both of these estimates include packing materials, labor to pack, labor to load, transit to Minneapolis, local Minneapolis 3 months worth of storage (in their warehouse), loading and unloading in Minneapolis after we buy the new house. Both quotes only include the 'basic' insurance coverage, which we will likely elect or more comprehensive coverage.

I have a few questions:
1) Is it really that much more expensive to move from Chicagoland to another location (we were told this by the Vendor B sales rep).
2) Do you have any opinions on Allied vs. United moving companies?
3) We're considering having the moving company move our stuff into a storage location that we will pay directly for (such as Public Storage) and then have the local entity of the same moving Company that we hired in Naperville move our goods to the new home. We have a quote from Public Storage for $270/mo (which is much lower than either company's storage fees). Any opinions/suggestions on this approach?

Thanks for the insights!

[chet everett]

Honestly save yourself several thosuand dollars. Call 1-800-Pack-Rat or a similar "portable on demand storage" company. Have 'em drop off their largest container. Hire the a local moving company to do the "pack, box, wrap, stack" or a your goods in the unit. Let the on-demand movers haul the units away. When you get to your new house you can have the unit delivered. Call local movers in new location to unpack. Seriously this is the way to go. And the fact is that the majorioty of the "upcharge" is for insurance that will likely get denied and unless you have a house full of ancient pottery stolen from a National Musuem anything that gets busted can be bough new with the HUGE savings...

The moving companies can charge exhorbitant rates because their trucks are being billed out at super high hourly rates, which if you are the typical relocating family that wants the new house set up withing hours of you and your personal car arriving in your new homes driveway sorta makes sense but for for folks in the sitaution that you are facing, having stuff in storage for 3 months, there is ZERO reason to pay for such "service"... The on demand storage people will gladly "warehouse" your container full of household goods for even less than a "you stor-it locker". Local movers charge less to fill / empty these containers becuase they are DROPPED ON YOUR DRIVEWAY instead being a giant truck that requires ramps to load. It really is better all around.

[MSchemist80]

Rent a uhaul and car carrier, Hire moving help or get a friend for ~$100 at start and destination and your total cost will be less than <$2k.

I used a spot to spot cargo pod before and when my stuff arrived it looked like the pod was dropped off the side of a mountain. If you want something done carefully you need to DIY.

[chet everett]

While there are probably some on-demand container movers that are less than careful the design of the transport vehicles for the Pack Rat is such that the containers cannot tip / shift -- they are lifted parallel to the ground. This is the same method that is used for giant cargo vessels and it is extremely effective.