Cargo Van/Truck Month-Plus Rental
April 26, 2011 4:41 PM Subscribe
Forgive terseness. Rent a cargo van or box truck for more than a month. Take some gear from Washington, DC to Phoenix, AZ. Shoot a movie. Take gear back to DC. Total of around 36 days.
We'll be renting some things in AZ, but renting all of it is not an option. We could consider renting a vehicle for the drive out, then renting another vehicle for the shoot itself, then renting another for the trip back, and if that's cheaper please let me know. Gear going out and back would fit in a full-size SUV but just barely, but the extra size of a cargo van would be necessary for the total amount of gear during the shoot.
Help me, hive mind! I need to be sure I'm not missing anything.
We'll be renting some things in AZ, but renting all of it is not an option. We could consider renting a vehicle for the drive out, then renting another vehicle for the shoot itself, then renting another for the trip back, and if that's cheaper please let me know. Gear going out and back would fit in a full-size SUV but just barely, but the extra size of a cargo van would be necessary for the total amount of gear during the shoot.
Help me, hive mind! I need to be sure I'm not missing anything.
What you're asking is a bit unclear for me too. While we can forgive the terseness, there might not be much we can do in the way of answers with little information to steer us in the right direction. If you include some specifics about the trip and specific questions you'd like answered, then you'll definitely be able to get some specific answers from the hive mind in order to get your bases covered/learn what you need.
posted by tenstairs at 5:04 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by tenstairs at 5:04 PM on April 26, 2011
Assuming you are looking for tips on how to cheaply transport a van load of things from DC to AZ, then locally in AZ for a month, then back to DC:
Call the local truck/van rental places on the phone and negotiate, pitting them against each other. Rental prices are highly variable and local franchises have a great deal of discretionary power. Also look in to buying a truck and re-selling after you are done. Box trucks (commonly used U-Hauls, etc) past a certain age mostly stop deprecating as long as they are usable. That might be risky for a DC / AZ trip but worth considering, especially since you are looking at potentially thousands of dollars for the rental.
Or try a commercial moving service (possibly Uship.com) for the DC / AZ transportation and rent a truck locally. Greyhound Package Express is also an option worth investigating, depending on how things are packaged.
posted by ChrisHartley at 5:13 PM on April 26, 2011
Call the local truck/van rental places on the phone and negotiate, pitting them against each other. Rental prices are highly variable and local franchises have a great deal of discretionary power. Also look in to buying a truck and re-selling after you are done. Box trucks (commonly used U-Hauls, etc) past a certain age mostly stop deprecating as long as they are usable. That might be risky for a DC / AZ trip but worth considering, especially since you are looking at potentially thousands of dollars for the rental.
Or try a commercial moving service (possibly Uship.com) for the DC / AZ transportation and rent a truck locally. Greyhound Package Express is also an option worth investigating, depending on how things are packaged.
posted by ChrisHartley at 5:13 PM on April 26, 2011
Try Movie Movers. Their East Coast office isn't too far off I-81, and they handle all kinds of things. Seriously, they've seen it all.
posted by infinitewindow at 5:18 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by infinitewindow at 5:18 PM on April 26, 2011
Response by poster: So, bad assumption that the point of my original post would be obvious. I'm working on a movie, and my gear and possibly the gear of another guy will need to be transported from the metro DC area to the metro Phoenix, AZ area. We'll be there for just under a month. Then we'll come back. Total trip, assuming 4 days of travel each way at 8 hours ish a day, 4 days each way or 8 days total.
We need a truck while there for the extra gear plus our stuff. At the end we'll drive our original stuff back.
Hopefully that'll help.
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 6:19 PM on April 26, 2011
We need a truck while there for the extra gear plus our stuff. At the end we'll drive our original stuff back.
Hopefully that'll help.
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 6:19 PM on April 26, 2011
Make sure you get insurance that will cover theft of gear from vehicle. It sucks to hear about people who are traveling with equipment with which they make a living only to have it stolen from the unattended vehicle.
posted by loquat at 6:41 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by loquat at 6:41 PM on April 26, 2011
Sorry, there's still no question in your question. Hint: create a sentence that ends in a question mark. Are you asking about cost, or logistics, or where to rent from, or what you might be forgetting, or something else entirely?
posted by decathecting at 6:45 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by decathecting at 6:45 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
You are probably better off buying a truck or van using it for the month and then selling it, if you get a good deal up front you could theoretically make a profit off of it.
posted by bitdamaged at 7:10 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by bitdamaged at 7:10 PM on April 26, 2011
Disagree with bitdamaged, buying temporary vehicles is almost always more trouble than it's worth. Long term rentals, or figure out if you can hire a friend with a van to be your driver for a month?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:21 AM on April 27, 2011
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:21 AM on April 27, 2011
Do you want advice on where to hire a vehicle? How much it 'should' cost? budget options? most expensive options? How to kit it out this van with a jacuzzi?
What do you actually want advice on?
posted by mary8nne at 5:08 AM on April 27, 2011
What do you actually want advice on?
posted by mary8nne at 5:08 AM on April 27, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brainmouse at 4:44 PM on April 26, 2011