Moving from the east coast (DC)... moving company? (Denver, Boulder: apartment, rent)

[dc2co]

I will be moving from DC to Boulder in just over a month and am trying to find the most reasonable priced moving company to use! I have been getting quotes online from various companies and most range from $1,500-2,000. I haven't heard yet if I will be getting a relocation package from my company, so I am trying to keep the move as cheap as possible, while also using a company that is not going to lose or damage my stuff. I just had a reputable and well reviewed company quote me $15k (and it was not a typo), so I decided to come here and ask people who may have done this move before.

What companies have people used before to move from the East Coast to Colorado? How much did it cost you? Was the company on time and were your items treated well? Would it make sense for me to get a hitch installed on my car (Honda CRV) and tow my items myself?

I currently rent one half of a 2bedroom apartment just outside of DC. My belongings consist of the furniture in my bedroom, couch and chair in the main room, and probably about 15 boxes, so I am not trying to move a ton of stuff!

Thanks in advance!

[Mike from back east]

We did the move from Fairfax County to Colo Spgs 9 years ago this summer.

Our realtor hooked us up with the United Van Lines agent in Fairfax (All Star Movers) and by doing all my own packing we got a discount of 66% from the tariff rate. I was in the shipping and transport industry for many years, including the movement of household goods, and knew how to pack items. Being retired I was able to spend almost 2 months doing that.

We insured for full replacement value and got a BINDING estimate. Nothing got broken or stolen. Our goods filled 2/3 of a 53-foot semi truck. IIRC our move cost us about $10k, including all the packing materials and an auto hauler to take our second vehicle out here on an auto rack semi.

Binding estimates are critical. The mover does their homework very well and has to live with the price they quote you. The moving industry is full of horror stories where people did not get a binding estimate and upon delivery are handed a huge bill and told to pay up or not get their goods. It's essentially a blackmail scheme that low-ball bidders use.

There are extra charges that can apply, such as "long carry" charges which are billed to you if, for example, you live in a high rise and must travel down a long hallway to reach the freight elevator than go through another long hallway to reach the truck dock. It takes time and effort to carry or roll the goods through those hallways or sidewalks so they need to charge more. Be sure to ask about any extra changes that may apply.

My advice is to stick with the major van lines with long histories, including but not limited to: United VL, Aero Mayflower, Interstate VL, National VL, Paul Arpin VL, Allied VL, North American VL, etc

Major mistakes when making a move.

Should you hire a mover or sell-off your stuff?

Get rid of excess stuff before moving.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by dc2co

... My belongings consist of the furniture in my bedroom, couch and chair in the main room, and probably about 15 boxes, so I am not trying to move a ton of stuff!...

For that small amount of goods, I'd sell the bedroom furniture via craigslist (or donate it) and either load the car with the boxes or ship the boxes by UPS. Checkout the prices on new furniture at American Furniture Warehouse here in the COLO area.

[reed303]

Have you considered other types of moves ?? Such as the "you pack/we drive" type, either the pods/cubes style, or the partial trailer style, from outfits such as:

Pod/Cube:
ABF Upack Relocubes http://www.upack.com/moving-services...-container.asp
PODS http://www.pods.com/default.aspx
United/Mayflower Portable Storage & Moving Containers - Compare Us to PODS ® | United Mayflower Containers

Partial Trailer:
ABF Upack Trailers: http://www.upack.com/moving-services/moving-trailer.asp
Old Dominion Trailers: OD Household Services - Home Moving Companies: Get a Free Estimate

Also you should read about moving scams, etc here:
Moving: How to Avoid Being Scammed by Moving Companies

Also loads of info, reviews, etc in the C-D Forum for moving
//www.city-data.com/forum/general-moving-issues/

[headingtoDenver]

Since it is such a small amount of stuff, I would see about selling it all off. If you really have to have it, then I would recommend the POD route.

My wife and I used a POD when we moved from Florida. It worked out great for us. Total cost was just under 3K I think. We made sure to load our car up with our necessities and drove to Denver in the comfort of our own car. About a week after we arrived in Denver, our POD arrived. To help unload, we went through hireahelper. They sent two people over and for 100 bucks (2 hours), these two guys unloaded everything for us. They were very careful with our stuff and they were young college aged kids.

We could have done a UHaul move to save some money but then I would have been stuck driving a huge truck 2000 miles with a car on a trailer.

[dc2co]

Those are excellent options. Thank you so much for your input! Once I hear back whether or not I will be receiving money for relocation, then I will decide which route I want to go. I am not very attached to my stuff but the items I do own are nice, so unless it is significantly cheaper to sell here and buy new (of similar quality) in Boulder, I am going to try to take most of my belongings with me!

[Snikt]

PODs are insanely overpriced. You're much better off with ABF U-Pack and paying by the foot for a trailer.

I looked at the POD option vs renting the footage I needed in moving from Florida and it was like half the price.

Think I paid $1500 for the move, PODs wanted something crazy like $3000-4000

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by Snikt

PODs are insanely overpriced. You're much better off with ABF U-Pack and paying by the foot for a trailer.

I looked at the POD option vs renting the footage I needed in moving from Florida and it was like half the price.

Think I paid $1500 for the move, PODs wanted something crazy like $3000-4000

For their amount of stuff, you could be right. For our situation it was cheaper to go the POD route since we had a LOT more stuff.

[Florida2014]

We just used ABF U-Pack for our move from CO to FL and were pleasantly surprised. It was one of the only pack your own things kind of service that serviced our area (Eagle, CO) but they were reasonably priced and the move went off without much of a hitch. I would just ensure you either hire professional movers to pack their trailer or really do it well yourself as you're only given a certain # of feet in the trailer itself and anything beyond that is an extra cost.

[lurtsman]

We used an ABF relocube to move from Iowa to Colorado. We were moving a two bedroom apartment. We pack all the stuff in the cube, and we unpack the stuff when it arrives. They just transport the cube from one apartment to the other. It cost us about 1250 to 1300. We did have two cars that we drove. Our gas is not included, because we were going to need to transport those cars anyway.