[amber1983]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a moving company to move our stuff from Chicago to Las Vegas? We are trying to get different rates on hiring a moving company vs. renting a Uhaul.

Thanks!

[Danknee]

If you go the do-it-yourself route know that Penske is better than Uhaul. Both for their one way pricing and the level of equipment you get. Reserve online and Google a discount code before you check out.

Penske gave me a great truck, newer model, diesel, AC, radio etc. Looked like this >>




The last Uhaul I got was 4 months ago. They had a lot full of junkers with cabs from the 1990's. The beauty I ended up with had completely blown shocks, almost died at each stop light and made metal on metal crunching noises that made me grind my teeth. Luckily for me this was used locally for a 45 minute move, because I'd sooner drive that thing off a cliff than drive it cross country.

There might be better Uhaul vendors around, but in general it seems like Penske runs with better trucks.

[Buzz123]

If it's not a big move, and if you are able to do it yourself, it will save the inevitable frustration of dealing with movers to rent a truck and do it yourself. It will be a lot cheaper too. If it's a big move, get estimates from two or three nationally known companies and pick one. Then be prepared to go through a little frustration dealing with any of them. Also might depend on how much time you have, and if you have a place to move into once you get here. Movers will store the stuff until you're ready for it, but you are at the mercy of their schedule to get it out of storage. All in all, movers aren't too bad, and they are pretty much all equally priced. They will charge for the actual weight, etc., regardless of what the estimate says, so a low-ball estimate is not worth the paper it's written on. On the other hand you could look at driving a big truck cross country as an adventure, or a real pain in the a** ...depending on your attitude. We've done it both ways, and I lean toward using movers.

[Robustus]

If you do it yourself, I 2nd the Penske recommendation. For reference, I moved from NJ to Vegas and rented a Penske truck. We had a 26ft Diesel towing one of our cars, for 10 days. This was in October. With insurance and the tow-dolly fee, it was $1506. Fuel came in at another $1200 (truck was *fully* loaded down, and got about 8mpg).

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Robustus

If you do it yourself, I 2nd the Penske recommendation. For reference, I moved from NJ to Vegas and rented a Penske truck. We had a 26ft Diesel towing one of our cars, for 10 days. This was in October. With insurance and the tow-dolly fee, it was $1506. Fuel came in at another $1200 (truck was *fully* loaded down, and got about 8mpg).

Took you 10 days? You must have stopped to take a lot of pictures. Four days would have been a slow trip, IMHO, given the size of the truck and towing a car ...but ten days??? Four of us driving in a Bonneville once made it west to east in 38 hours non-stop.

First time I took my wife, a Texan, to West Virginia, it took us five days because she had to stop and see everything. When we finally got there she said she didn't know it was that far, and figured the drive should have been about a day and a half. Coming back we drove like crazy and did it in 2½ days. Dang Texans.

[Robustus]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Took you 10 days? You must have stopped to take a lot of pictures. Four days would have been a slow trip, IMHO, given the size of the truck and towing a car ...but ten days??? Four of us driving in a Bonneville once made it west to east in 38 hours non-stop.

First time I took my wife, a Texan, to West Virginia, it took us five days because she had to stop and see everything. When we finally got there she said she didn't know it was that far, and figured the drive should have been about a day and a half. Coming back we drove like crazy and did it in 2½ days. Dang Texans.

Well, driving a car, my wife (also originally a Texan) and I take 4hr driving shifts and do cross country in ~35hrs. That's with our two dogs.

For our move, our start point was NJ and our end point NV, but our actual path had us collecting everything we owned from all over the Eastern seaboard (stuff in storage, stuff at our friends and parents' houses, etc), before actually heading West. Hence the 10 days. I think the path ended up being: NJ -> CT -> NY -> NJ -> NC -> NV.

[dynimagelv]

When I left Gnu Jusey.....I left AC at 7:30 am and didnt stop until Terre Haute IN cept for gas....cause I was afraid they'd catch me n bring me back....

[kimba01]

There is a moving forum here and it is full of great info, tried and true. That said, when I made the move from MI to NV, I researched all options. PODS, Relo cubes, movers, Penske (unanimously better than Uhaul). It really depends on how much time you want to spend doing it. And if you are able to do it yourself or if you need people to load and unload.

With driving, we had to take in to consideration the loss of wages for us to drive, the gas, the rental, the loading and unloading. It just didn't pay for us. Even with the cubes, I couldn't have loaded and unloaded by myself. We would have hired guys to do it.

We ended up going with United Moving and they were awesome! Both ways (don't ask). Very professional and it was so worth it. Came out to about 2K, one way, with them doing the loading and unloading (and we were in an upper apt). They wrap your mattresses, fragile furniture, and TVs. We had no problems with messed up stuff.

Good luck!

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Robustus

Well, driving a car, my wife (also originally a Texan) and I take 4hr driving shifts and do cross country in ~35hrs. That's with our two dogs.

For our move, our start point was NJ and our end point NV, but our actual path had us collecting everything we owned from all over the Eastern seaboard (stuff in storage, stuff at our friends and parents' houses, etc), before actually heading West. Hence the 10 days. I think the path ended up being: NJ -> CT -> NY -> NJ -> NC -> NV.

Oh, so you were lost?

When we moved here my wife started getting cold feet somewhere in Ohio. I, and a woman that was with bringing us here, went to sleep, and when we woke up we found my wife was heading back east. I don't think it was an accident. We had three adults, a kid, and a cat in a 1962 Dodge Lancer with no A/C, towing a U-Hual trailer, in July. I think it took three days, but it might have been four. It was on Rt. 66 most of the way, but I wasn't getting many kicks.

[KiwiKate]

Originally Posted by amber1983

Does anyone have any recommendations for a moving company to move our stuff from Chicago to Las Vegas? We are trying to get different rates on hiring a moving company vs. renting a Uhaul.

Thanks!

If you decide to go full-service, I recommend Graebel. I used them for my move from WI to NV.