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I am making a cross country move again! Tomorrow actually. I'll be driving from Colorado to Virginia in a U-Haul towing my car behind me. I have a family member driving with me, so we'll be able to take turns. I think it took about 25 hours when I moved out here, but there was a little bit of a delay from bad weather, however I know it's probably going to take a bit longer driving the U-Haul and being slowed down by the car behind us. I am SO ANXIOUS about the long drive...I just want it to be over with. I hate long car rides and I tend to get anxiety. No one thinks we can do this drive in one go, but I feel like if we take turns driving and rest while the other drives, we just might be able to do it without stopping. What do you guys think? Anyone ever done such a long drive in one go?
Also - any tips about driving a U-Haul with a tow? I'm pretty nervous to drive it.
I usually don't do more than 11 or 12 hours in a day. I know I need sleep and sleeping in the car doesn't count for me. I pushed it once driving from Aspen to Houston in one shot, by the time I got into to Houston I was exhausted and frankly I shouldn't have been driving, I'm lucky I didn't cause and accident.
Yes I did but I would not suggest it to others. I drove from Florida to Michigan and only stopped to eat and use the restroom. It took around 24 hours I think. I have an odd body though and can go days with no sleep but still it is not good to do. Better to take a break then get into an accident.
I thought about doing this on a cross country move from PA to AZ a year ago. The truck rental sites say your max speed when towing a car is 55. That did it for me, my max speed is more like 80 (where legal of course). I don't know how practical 55 is, we drove the car out instead. I did 100% of the driving myself, all 2500 or so miles. I think the longest day was 10 hours or so, from Amarillo to Winslow. Breaks not included.
I would not do a straight through drive of that length. Even professional drivers are not allowed to drive that long---for safety reasons.
How would you feel if you fell asleep or had slow reflexes and crashed and killed a family because you wanted to get the drive over? Could you live with yourself afterwards? And taking turns sleeping and driving can end up with a tired driver and a sleeping companion, so no one to help the driver stay awake. And you are driving a heavy slow stopping rental you are not used to and towing a vehicle which you are also not used to...I' recommend short days, not longer ones.
Be safe, not sorry. A few days driving, as much as you may not like it, is better in the long run for the rest of your life
I wouldn't want to do more than 800 miles a day pulling a tow. Hint get a trailer that gets all four wheels of the car off the road rather than a Dolly that just lifts the fron two, cover the windshield and buy the insurance. I once picked up a piece of tire tread that blocked one of the wheels and ruined the dolly.
We moved from Alaska to northern Michigan with a 20ft U-Haul and a car trailer, at about 55mph we did about 500 miles a day which was plenty enough given the road and weather conditions at the time.
My longest drive in one day was from eastern Pa to Charleston, S.C. And this was with 6 in the car, 2 with drivers license but 1 won't drive interstates. lol Made for a LONG day! Google says it's a 12 hour drive but Mr. Google wasn't in the car with a 2 yr old that threw up twice, and his mother who wanted to stop and get something to eat or drink at least once an hour, at least that's what it seemed. Next trip I take with her in the car I'm looking for a route that has absolutely no Krystal's anywhere around. lol
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