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Has anyone used PODS for shipping long distance? We are trying to find a way to sell our furniture and be able to ship our remaining household items in boxes, rather than get a UHaul and make the long trek. We don't want to spend a fortune, but we have only seen the website for PODS...we don't know anyone with personal experience with them. We've attempted to contact them, but they want us to say "yes" to using them, and then agree to giving us a quote.
We are not concerned about how quickly our items will get to Daytona Beach, but we can't see spending $1400 for a truck and have to drive it from Phoenix.. If we ship thru the post office, it costs close to $1 per pound, which can also add up quickly. Any other ideas?
A friend of mine use Pack Rat to move from Miami to Atlanta, their house wasn't ready in Atlanta so they needed a place to keep their storage and some how to ship it. They had a great experience. When we move I will move in one of these things Pod, Pack Rat you name it, no moving company, way to expensive.
I just came on here to start a thread about how much I love my POD and here was your post on the top of the page, how crazy is that?!
I haven't actually moved yet but I've had the POD in my driveway for the last 5 days. I've been absoutely AMAZED at how much stuff i have been able to fit in there! This is my fourth move in as many years and I've always had to rent much bigger trucks to fit our stuff but since we are able to pack slowly at our pace I've been able to make use of every single little crevice inside of the POD.
We went with the larger one (16 feet) and live in a large three bedroom apartment BUT have about a 4 bedroom family room/living room three dining room house worth of stuff. (plus we own all our appliances) We've almost finished packing up the POD and I would say 90% of our stuff is going to end up fitting. We are paying $269 for the first month and this includes drop-off, pick-up first months rent and delivery at our new location (only 45 minutes away who knows how much they will charge for X-Country).
It is a little more expensive than it would have cost us to put the stuff in storage for a month (our lease is up september 30th and we are HOPING to close by halloween) but we saved our selves 2 loads/unloads and since we had time we packed up everything much better than if we were rushing because we had to pay mover by the hour. Also we've been able to do it just my husband and I.
We'll see how the acutal move goes but so far I love my POS and think it's worth every penny.
We used PODS for one move from Va to Fl. Big mistake! When we unloaded the POD all of our stuff had shifted in transit. By shifted, I mean that the POD would have had to be almost on its side to do the amount of damage we found. Gouged furniture, large furniture shifted all the way across from where it was placed, boxes were crushed. It was a mess. We filed a claim and complaint with PODS & it took over 2 years to resolve. I strongly suggest...DO NOT USE PODS FOR LONG DISTANCE MOVES!
I just recommended this company in another thread. We used them last year and highly recommend them. I don't visit this particular forum much, so if anybody would like more info, send me a DM.
I priced them against several POD-type companies, and they were a lot less expensive for a long-distance move.
If you pack it correctly your stuff does not get damaged. The trick is to have everything tight without a lot of voids/unused space. I moved a 3 bedroom house with an overstuffed garage (no clue what all of that junk is he keeps out there, but there sure is a lot of it!) and the only thing that was damaged was a single glass block that got a chip on one corner.
My PODS move was at the end of 2005. I moved from West Central Florida to western South Carolina. It was $195/month for drop off and storage, plus $1400 for the transfer. I did a ton of research and it ended up costing about the same as it would have to rent a truck.
The big difference being that they bring the container to you, you take as long as you like to load it, and they come get it. We ended up closing 7 weeks later than expected and if we had used a truck we would have had to rent a storage locker, unload, then rent another truck, load, and unload after we closed. The best thing about it is that it is only a couple of inches off the ground. If you have ever climbed in & out of a moving truck you know how nice of a thing it is to be low to the ground.
The big difference being that they bring the container to you, you take as long as you like to load it, and they come get it. We ended up closing 7 weeks later than expected and if we had used a truck we would have had to rent a storage locker, unload, then rent another truck, load, and unload after we closed. The best thing about it is that it is only a couple of inches off the ground. If you have ever climbed in & out of a moving truck you know how nice of a thing it is to be low to the ground.
That is a very good point. We used ABF Upack, which drops off a semi trailer at your place. That thing was enormous. We had to get a city permit to park it in front of our house, and it blocked part of our driveway. Going up and down that ramp 100 times was definitely tiring ... and a challenge when carrying sofas and large furniture. We were moving a four-bedroom house and lots of stuff, so this was the most economical way for us, but the versatility of a couple small PODS vs. a huge tractor trailer is an important thing to consider.
I have one sitting in my driveway at the moment but its my first time using them. I didn't have any problem getting a quote up front over the phone but the guy did seem pushy IMHO. Also make sure the quote they give you is all inclusive (drop off, transfer, and delivery). I think 16ft is the only size they will ship cross country.
I chose a POD because I am already having to ship two other cars and didn't want the hassle of towing my SUV behind a rental truck nor did I want to deal with a ramp. Thus far I am happy with the service...the delivery guy was really nice and the POD itself is in excellent condition. I was surprised it was only somewhat less expensive than a truck...I thought it would be considerably cheaper but when gas is factored in the savings increase.
Good Luck with your move!
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