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I have done TX to AZ 1,000 miles many times in the middle of winter, and that gets to the low 40s. I keep the heaviest mink blanket you can find in the cab, and it gets really cold because of the heat transfer through the windows. As others have said, if you are doing this within the next month it will be too cold, unless you leave the truck running with the heat on, but then you need to leave the windows cracked to not risk carbon monoxide poisoning. That will still use several gallons of fuel, and I PROMISE YOU, you WILL NOT sleep well. You will not be used to it, you will not get comfortable, and you will spend 5-8 hours getting the equivalent of an hour or two of sleep and needing a chiropractor. Considering you will be sitting in the truck for at least a few days, this is NOT something you will want to do 2-5 nights in a row. Your best option would be to use an extremely cold weather sleeping bag (if you have cold weather training/experience) and sleep under, ontop, or inside the truck. Rest stops are busy, and you will be disturbed and woken up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by itinérant
Are there any travel centers with chairs that you can sleep in?
Ideally, I would like to rest at rest stops and travel centers only. After driving for about a day, I would naturally wan to take a shower. I presume you can do that at travel centers. I was hoping they would have somewhere where you can lie down too.
As for the travel center showers, IIRC, if you are not a trucker, don't get a couple hundred gallons of fuel, and don't have a frequent use rewards card, the shower will cost you $15, and has a time limit.
Shower -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $15.
Factor in a truck stop meal ----------------------------------------------------------------------- $10,
Fuel to let the truck idle over night so you don't freeze and be woken up shivering. --------- $10-15 dollars
You are already at --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $35-$40...
You will be able to find hotels all along the way for $35-$50. It WILL BE WORTH IT just for the bed. Then theres the tv to relax, the second shower, (one when you get there to relax and one in the morning before you leave). The hotel coffee, or continental breakfast. The privacy is nice, and being able to do all that on your schedule is worth getting the room. Use your phone, check hotels.com and you can probably save a few bucks and see your options about an hour or two in advance once you start to get tired. Go on your own schedule, and if you check in early enough just tell the front desk clerk you have a moving truck and would prefer to have a room where you can keep an eye on your vehicle. Put a padlock on it, (and if you really want to get clever about it, find a way set some bells or some noise maker on the inside of the cargo door.
I have taken probably well over 100, 1,000-mile trips over the last 15 years. I have learned that if you don't have a vehicle you can lie completely down and spread out in, then sleeping in your vehicle, and rest stops should be an emergency option only. & 5 hour energys are awesome once you start getting tired in the middle of the night, or to even help keep you alert.
To keep from getting cold, I don't use the heater or it makes me drowsy, put on a hoodie, a knit hat, and 2 pairs of thick socks (loosen your shoe laces). Take everything out of your pockets to get comfortable. Theres no reason to sit one side on your wallet for 3 days.
A lot of people who move that sort of distance decide how many hours they will drive each day and then stop at a hotel to rest for the night. As cold as it is, napping in the truck isn't the best option, bucket seats or no.
It's about a 40-hour drive (2724 miles)
I'd probably figure 4 days of 10 hour drives (with breaks and food stops) or 5 days of 8 hour drives.
If you mean that you can't drive long distances without lying down every few hours to stretch out your back, you may want to re-think driving a moving truck out to California.
If you meant something else, I didn't get it.
Unless you have someone else to take over driving, 10 hours a day is too much. Limit this to 8 hours for one person with frequent breaks.
If you really can't spend the time driving there, then use a moving company and fly there. It isn't like you have to move like this all the time, no reason to kill yourself or anyone else on the road!
Unless you have someone else to take over driving, 10 hours a day is too much. Limit this to 8 hours for one person with frequent breaks.
If you really can't spend the time driving there, then use a moving company and fly there. It isn't like you have to move like this all the time, no reason to kill yourself or anyone else on the road!
I agree with this. Why not put it in a Pod and have it sent to your new address, and you hop a plane?
Are there any travel centers with chairs that you can sleep in?
Ideally, I would like to rest at rest stops and travel centers only. After driving for about a day, I would naturally wan to take a shower. I presume you can do that at travel centers. I was hoping they would have somewhere where you can lie down too.
NO; and why on Earth would you want to? That's what hotels are for.
Unless you have someone else to take over driving, 10 hours a day is too much. Limit this to 8 hours for one person with frequent breaks.
If you really can't spend the time driving there, then use a moving company and fly there. It isn't like you have to move like this all the time, no reason to kill yourself or anyone else on the road!
Depends on the person. I can routinely drive for up to 12 hours straight, with no one to help with the driving, stopping only twice (once for an early lunch, the other for an early dinner; I eat breakfast before departing and an evening snack after arriving). But that's me. Everyone's different.
But would I drive a moving truck across the country in the middle of winter? Not a chance in the world. Too much of a chance to be stuck on a snowbound highway out in the middle of nowhere. If the move needs to be done now, I would hire someone to do it and take a plane.
Are there any travel centers with chairs that you can sleep in?
If you can't sleep sitting up in the bucket seat of your truck, with a side to lean on and a relative amount of darkness and quiet out in the parking lot, you're not going to able to sleep in a chair in a travel center, with the lights on and people coming and going at all hours.
Cost is what concerns me about using a moving company. Presumably, it would be much, much more expensive. It already figures to be super expensive. I'm moving to Cali because I need money, not because I have it. But, yes, if you have recommendations as to companies, I'm all ears.
I am reluctant to stay at a hotel because I don't want anyone to steal the truck. As the one poster already indicated, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Yes, I have a padlock. But the criminals typically just steal the truck and worry about opening the box later.
Moving Pods: https://www.pods.com/moving
Plane tickets, buy asap for the best rate. Done deal, no worries. And you will save money because you pack the pod. Yours is so small it should be easy and cheap. And save yourself aggravation.
I hope that you learn in life, to factor in your own time spent as to a dollar amount. Value yourself, and if you are worth more than the costs assumed, then hire someone else, who does not understand that factor. They are everywhere, all you have to do is look.
Nothing wrong with frugal, I consider myself frugal. But take a look at what the other costs might be, (including your life, do you have experience driving a truck?) compared to you lying flat in the back of a U-Haul, in the dead of winter, icy roads with a truck. It might be worth an extra dime to let others handle that while you hop a plane.
Last edited by TerraDown; 01-19-2017 at 06:08 PM..
Cost is what concerns me about using a moving company. Presumably, it would be much, much more expensive. It already figures to be super expensive. I'm moving to Cali because I need money, not because I have it. But, yes, if you have recommendations as to companies, I'm all ears.
I am reluctant to stay at a hotel because I don't want anyone to steal the truck. As the one poster already indicated, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Yes, I have a padlock. But the criminals typically just steal the truck and worry about opening the box later.
No they really don't. That is completely uncommon, over exaggerated, unsubstantiated, scared of life response. Its one thing to steal a Honda in a big city, and be able to hide it in your garage and have the ability to part it out in your garage in a few hours. Its another to steal a 30ft bright yellow box truck in the middle of nowhere. Thieves can't hide the truck, can't use the truck, and therefor don't want it.
OP, you never said WHEN you plan on moving. If this is going to be within the next month and a half, you will be going over the rockies, in a heavy box truck, during winter..
For about a month after that, different parts of the country, (mostly east of the Mississippi) will be flooding.
If this was within the next month, I would at least consider the long route. (Map it out, just to get an idea and compare), i95 down to Atlanta, i10 west to Los Angeles, and the i5 north to Sacramento. Again if that's within the next month, you may add a day or two (there's NO WAY you will be doing anywhere near the speed limit going through the Rockies in winter in a heavy box truck, you will probably average 1/3-1/4 the speed limit if you stay moving), but you will have a much easier, and warmer drive. You may also save yourself from getting caught in an unpredictable snowstorm.
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