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We're a family of four preparing to move across the country (from WA to ME) and I was wondering what kind of options we truly have regarding moving our stuff.
We have whittled down our belongings to essential furniture and must-keep posessions, but we still have a good size load that'll fill a BIG moving truck.
We also have two new vehicles that have to be moved and we're planning on driving one of them across the country and somehow shipping the other.
Questions:
1) Any idea how we'd get the other vehicle over there? What kind service ships your car for you? Dh thought of maybe pulling one behind us but that seems like it would make that long trip really cumbersome and harder than it already would be.
2) Are there any honest moving companies anyone here has used that they would recommend? It makes me a little nervous turning over ALL our stuff to perfect strangers for a Big move like this!
3) Is it at all possible to do this kind of a move by ourselves (i.e. without a moving service)?? I keep racking my brain trying to think of ways to do ourselves, but I can't think of any way we could. Just would like to save as much money as we can.
Thanks, I appreciate all your helpful replies!
Very doable by yourselves. I am moving the other direction this June and in addition to a LARGE moving truck we also have 2 vehicles, plus a boat, camper, and utility trailer. We are gong to have somebody we know drive one of our vehicles towing the utility trailer, while I drive the truck with the boat behind it and the wife drives our other vehicle towing the camper. We are putting the friend up when we get to where we are going for a few days for a "Vacation" then sending him back to Maine on a flight. He gets a mini-vacation, we get all our "stuff" for cheaper than hiring somebody we don't know to transport a couple of things.
If it is just towing a vehicle behind the moving truck, don't sweat it. The person in the following vehicle and the truck driver should have a set of those FRS radios so they can communicate with each other. Get ones with the longest range you can afford because being inside vehicles really cuts down the posted range. The person in your own vehicle follows the truck and lets the driver know when it is clear to change lanes via radio because it can be hard to judge exactly where the towed vehicle is in relation to traffic if you are not used to it. Get the rechargeable type radios because then you just bring the charger into the motel room when you stop and they are fully charged and ready to go the next day. No batteries dying halfway through the day, and missing a message. I have moved all over the country and they are the best investment I ever made, plus I can use them on the job site or out hunting/camping. You can communicate all day with those you are traveling with in the other vehicle and have no roaming charges like a cell phone wold have.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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You might also consider a POD move. They drop off a large container in your driveway, you pack and load it and lock it and then call them and they pick it up and load it on a truck and eventually possibly a rail car and then a few days later it is dropped off at your new location. Since you load it and lock it, nobody has their hands in your stuff. Cheaper than movers, easier than doing it yourself.
My brother had to do a cross-country move several times. Here's what he did. He would rent something like a 26' Ryder truck one way. Some of his funiture was too heavy for 1 person, so he had movers just load the truck for him. There are people that will do this at an hourly rate of $20 per hour per person. You get 3 guys to do this for a few hours and let them load the heavy stuff. The light stuff you do yourself. Then, he would drive the truck to his destination and have another set of movers unload the heavy stuff. He would also tow one of his personal vehicles behind the Ryder truck on a car hauler flatbed that you can rent from Ryder.
He would then take a train or fly back to get his other cars and drive them. He's like me. Doesn't want any of his personal possessions to be in the hands of someone else when he's not there, especially vehicles.
Wow, these are really interesting ideas, thank you so much for sharing them. Unfortunately for us, we don't know anyone that would be able to help us with this move - we're on our own in that respect. But if we did, that is a GREAT idea.
I like the idea of the FRS radios (what's FRS mean?) enabling full communication if we did venture to drive ourselves. At this point, dh is not wanting to drive anything bur our vehicle and possibly pull the other one behind us.
Oh, and I really like the Pod idea!! If that is possible, I think that would make me feel a whole lot better about sending our stuff on without us watching over it because it's locked.
We sold off all of our back-breaking heavy stuff, so we could probably load it ourselves, although hiring some help there would be dh's preference.
I'm going to check out the pods, thanks again.
Please, if anyone has anymore ideas, I'm open to hearing lots of suggestions. Having so much on my mind right now, I'm a little overwhelmed and you guys are a BIG help.
Thanks!
Oh, and I really like the Pod idea!! If that is possible, I think that would make me feel a whole lot better about sending our stuff on without us watching over it because it's locked.
The only PODS location in Maine is located in Portland. I don't know how far they deliver from that location. Where in Maine are you headed?
I have had good luck with the Cobra radio models. Motorola are nice as well. I picked up my sets at Wal-Mart for less than $50 and they have a 12 mile range (really about 4 or 5 on the road in vehicles).
We're not sure where we're going yet. Maybe Charleston. I spoke with the PODS company today and they said Charleston is 159 miles away from their storage place in Portland and we'd have to move our stuff from there. Plus they quoted me a price of over $4100! For an 8x8x16 POD. Wow.
My husband really likes the idea about the frs radios. We discussed in length all the options we could think of. Each one involves some sort of signifigant sacrifice whether in money, convenience or comfort.
If we move all our stuff, it'll mean hiring movers and spending around 8,000 just to move it plus the expense of our road trip.
If we sell the furniture and just move the must haves in boxes we could buy new furniture with the thousands we saved. But we'd be pulling a trailer and missing our drive together.
Niether of us have ever been on a trip like this, so we were hoping to really see the sights along the way.
Also thought of buying a 16' trailer here, using it to pull our stuff and then selling it once we're there. Our truck is only a 1/2 ton and can only tow about 5500 lbs. (inluding the wieght of trailer and persons in cab).
Decisions, decisions.
We will have to see. Either way, we know it'll be an adventure.
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Plus they quoted me a price of over $4100! 
