Need advices for moving from SoCal to Austin (San Antonio, El Paso: transport companies, to rent)

[bvn99]

My familiy will be moving from SoCal to Austin this March.
I and my brother plan to rent a Uhaul and drive to Austin. My wife and kid will fly. Any advices from folks who did move to Austin from SoCal by Uhaul are very appriciated.
1. Where should I make overnight stop?
2. How long is the drive?
3. Any things I should be aware or prepared before the trip?
Thanks for your responses.

[achtungpv]

I drove a great dane from the Bay Area to Austin. Does that count?

We drove from Danville to the AZ/CA border the first day. We were slowed down since it was the Friday before Memorial Day and we hit LA at 3pm. It took 3 hours to go 25 miles. If you're leaving from LA, you should be able to get to Tucson or even possibly El Paso the first day. Be aware there is basically nothing between the two, so if it's a stretch to EP, stop in Tucson. From EP to Austin is another 9 hour stretch of nothing. We stopped in Ozona the 2nd night. There's only 2 motels so you should plan ahead. If you want to stop in Ft Stockton, plan ahead since hotels fill up fast will Big Bend visitors. From Ozona, it was an easy 4 hours or so to Austin exiting I-10 to take 290 into Austin.

I think if you leave early you could stop in Tucson, then Ozona, and then hit Austin. That way you're only driving around 12 hours a day for the first 2 days and around 4 hours the 3rd. It's a pretty easy, but dull, 2 1/2 day trip. Get gas literally every chance you get from Tucson on. Stations are few and far between.

[dfarmer002]

Myself and family just moved from so. cal last spring ( oc to be exact) and after pricing out all the options we rented a POD. It ended up actually being cheaper than a uhaul,penske, etc especially when you incorporate the gas and lodging/food charges you will incur. The POD worked great, was delivered to each door without any hassles, and we used two for a 2400 sq. foot home. By the way, the price comparison was based on two pods versus truck versus moving company.

Its the only way to go ( absent paying movers) as I see it. As an aside, they also allow to store the pod at their facility here for a relatively insginficant monthly fee. This worked out nice as we were able to have a single pod delivered to our apt and store the other pending escrow closing on the home.

p.s I dont work for pod, but was one of the best companies ive ever dealt with from a customer service standpoint.

While on the topic of moving, Id reccommend drive your vehicles and stay away from transport companies. Suffice it to say we were promised our vehicle on one day and it arrived almost two weeks laters after essentially being told by the compmay, its not our problem. So I would wholeheartedly say keep your cars with you, whether driving them, towing them, flying back to get them, whatever the case maybe. It was a total nightmare with the transport compnay. And in talking to several others it apparantly is a normal situation for them to load your car and basically f*** you around on there schedule and deliver it whenever they see fit.

[austin-or-bust]

I moved from So-Cal to Austin a little over 3 years ago and I used uPack and had a good experience. But I also drove a uHaul from Austin to SoCal when I moved out there 3 years prior to that.

achtungpv is correct in saying that there is very little in between El Paso and Austin. If you are going to stop, then I would say it is a good city stop in...my friend and I did it non-stop and it took about 24-25 hours...one would sleep and the other would drive.

You might consider going via 290 instead of taking 10 all the way to San Antonio and up 35...not sure what your directions are telling you to go.

Welcome to Texas. Hope you enjoy living here as much as I do.

[apocatastasis]

Just wanted to step in and say, if you rent a truck, which may or may not be the best thing for you, I suggest you not rent U-Haul. They have terrible business practices and aging, faulty equipment that has done everything from having faulty brakes to hitches that have come loose and run over people, cracking pelves.

Google 'Upkeep lags in U-Haul's aging fleet - Los Angeles Times' and you can read a 9 page article about the company. Complete nightmare.

Other than that, I'd say that when you hit the section of I-10 in West Texas where the speed limit goes to 80 MPH, don't go over 80 or one of Texas' finest will gladly write you a ticket.

Be VERY careful when you stop in small towns, too, since you'll have out-of-state plates-- my car's got Louisiana plates, and I recently received a bogus speeding ticket in a small town when I stopped for gas, cop claims I was doing 46 in a 35. As I'm wary to the point of paranoia when it comes to small town speed traps AND have a manual transmission car, I'm sure I was doing 30. Sometimes there's nothing you can do, but just be forewarned.

Good luck with your trip-- Austin is a great place. I hope to move there next month myself.

[bvn99]

Originally Posted by dfarmer002

Myself and family just moved from so. cal last spring ( oc to be exact) and after pricing out all the options we rented a POD. It ended up actually being cheaper than a uhaul,penske, etc especially when you incorporate the gas and lodging/food charges you will incur. The POD worked great, was delivered to each door without any hassles, and we used two for a 2400 sq. foot home. By the way, the price comparison was based on two pods versus truck versus moving company.

Its the only way to go ( absent paying movers) as I see it. As an aside, they also allow to store the pod at their facility here for a relatively insginficant monthly fee. This worked out nice as we were able to have a single pod delivered to our apt and store the other pending escrow closing on the home.

p.s I dont work for pod, but was one of the best companies ive ever dealt with from a customer service standpoint.

While on the topic of moving, Id reccommend drive your vehicles and stay away from transport companies. Suffice it to say we were promised our vehicle on one day and it arrived almost two weeks laters after essentially being told by the compmay, its not our problem. So I would wholeheartedly say keep your cars with you, whether driving them, towing them, flying back to get them, whatever the case maybe. It was a total nightmare with the transport compnay. And in talking to several others it apparantly is a normal situation for them to load your car and basically f*** you around on there schedule and deliver it whenever they see fit.

What is the POD? Can you provide some info of how to rent it? Thanks

[bvn99]

Originally Posted by austin-or-bust

I moved from So-Cal to Austin a little over 3 years ago and I used uPack and had a good experience. But I also drove a uHaul from Austin to SoCal when I moved out there 3 years prior to that.

achtungpv is correct in saying that there is very little in between El Paso and Austin. If you are going to stop, then I would say it is a good city stop in...my friend and I did it non-stop and it took about 24-25 hours...one would sleep and the other would drive.

You might consider going via 290 instead of taking 10 all the way to San Antonio and up 35...not sure what your directions are telling you to go.

Welcome to Texas. Hope you enjoy living here as much as I do.

I thought about UPack but decide to go with UHaul because I want to tow one of my car with it. I don't know if that is a right decision.

Directions are difference from Yahoo and Google. Google direction is taking 290 but Yahoo is 10 and 35. I am very glad to point this out.

What part of OC you are coming from? I am from Huntington Beach. According to Google map, the distance is 1,400 miles and 20 hours driving.

How fast can you drive a Uhaul with a towing car ?

[RND]

We drove out with a Uhaul in June 2006. We stayed in Las Cruces. We had to make a lot of stops because we were traveling with 2 small kids. It took us about 24 hours. Our trip was totally uneventful and I hope yours is too

[Trainwreck20]

I highly recommend 290 to Austin. There is very little, if any, traffic on that route until you are right into Austin. The I-10 to I-35 is almost guaranteed to have some heavy traffic at best, and nightmare traffic if you hit it at rush hour with a uhaul.

290 does go through some small towns (Fredericksburg, Johnson City, a couple others) but I have never heard of them being a speed trap and they depend on tourism anyway, no desire to chase it away. Much prettier drive, faster although there will be lights occasionally, and it is 4 lanes pretty much the whole way, so you don't have to worry about getting stuck behind a cattle trailer .

[Trainwreck20]

If you want to stop in Ft Stockton, plan ahead since hotels fill up fast will Big Bend visitors.

The easy access, safe, and reasonably priced hotels/motels in EP fill up, too, as I have found out the hard way. At least call ahead as soon as you decide to stop, don't try and drive in and find a hotel, unless you are willing to pay for it.