Moving a carfull of stuff between US cities - without driving it myself
May 18, 2015 11:53 PM Subscribe
I am moving cities, and need to get my stuff (small furniture and some boxes) to a city 3-4 hours drive away, but without driving it myself or asking a friend to drive me. How?
I'm currently in central New Jersey, and moving to Washington DC. I estimate that I have about an SUV-full's worth of stuff. The obvious solution is to rent a small U-Haul - the problem with this is that I am an inexperienced and unconfident driver (I've never done any drive more than about 90 minutes, and that was in another country) who is used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road (have done only short local drives here) and have never driven anything bigger than a compact car. All in all, the idea of driving into DC in a van seems high-risk and incredibly stressful.
I don't have any friends that I could ask to do the driving for me - they are all leaving town at the same time (we're finishing grad school) and so are busy with their own moves. A moving company seems overkill for this amount of stuff.
If I can't come up with anything else, I'll probably ditch the furniture and ship the boxes via USPS or UPS, but that's going to be expensive and wasteful. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I'm currently in central New Jersey, and moving to Washington DC. I estimate that I have about an SUV-full's worth of stuff. The obvious solution is to rent a small U-Haul - the problem with this is that I am an inexperienced and unconfident driver (I've never done any drive more than about 90 minutes, and that was in another country) who is used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road (have done only short local drives here) and have never driven anything bigger than a compact car. All in all, the idea of driving into DC in a van seems high-risk and incredibly stressful.
I don't have any friends that I could ask to do the driving for me - they are all leaving town at the same time (we're finishing grad school) and so are busy with their own moves. A moving company seems overkill for this amount of stuff.
If I can't come up with anything else, I'll probably ditch the furniture and ship the boxes via USPS or UPS, but that's going to be expensive and wasteful. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
In the UK this would be called a "small removal", typically performed by what we call a Man with a Van. Surely it's a thing in the States too. Try Craigslist?
posted by Grunyon at 1:42 AM on May 19, 2015
posted by Grunyon at 1:42 AM on May 19, 2015
If you can fit it on pallets, that's usually a cost-effective way to move stuff in this size range. A freight company will easily be able to give you a quote once you have your stuff palletized.
posted by Harald74 at 3:13 AM on May 19, 2015
posted by Harald74 at 3:13 AM on May 19, 2015
Yea, my move post grad school was done with one of those freight companies where my stuff was only a small portion of the load. It can take a little longer than regular movers because you're at the mercy of the other deliveries, but it was significantly cheaper. I think my stuff took a week to go from Florida to DC. Other than that it was just like regular movers.
posted by bluefly at 3:35 AM on May 19, 2015
posted by bluefly at 3:35 AM on May 19, 2015
Amtrak won't take furniture, but they will take other freight (unpalletized, although the size restrictions make me think they're just palletizing themselves).
posted by nat at 4:24 AM on May 19, 2015
posted by nat at 4:24 AM on May 19, 2015
Also, I used uShip to find the freight mover. Truck operators bid on your job, and you can look them up and see reviews from other customers. I think this was the operator I ended up using. They were very reliable, if a little slow.
posted by bluefly at 5:31 AM on May 19, 2015
posted by bluefly at 5:31 AM on May 19, 2015
I've never used one, but this sounds like a perfect situation for one of those "you pack" pod companies (ABF, Pods, etc) that drop off a container, you fill it, and then they pick it up and take it to your new place.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:51 AM on May 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 5:51 AM on May 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you don't want to use one of the moving companies who do this as their job, some other options:
FedEx Ground is roughly a dollar a pound, so a packed suitcase is about $45.
Put this on Craigslist in the Gigs section. Or make a post in the subreddit for your city and/or school.
Put a notice on the bulletin board at your school - someone else may be moving and have space in the truck, or an undergrad who is not moving out may have a truck or a van and be willing to spend the day driving your stuff out there and come back.
posted by CathyG at 6:48 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
FedEx Ground is roughly a dollar a pound, so a packed suitcase is about $45.
Put this on Craigslist in the Gigs section. Or make a post in the subreddit for your city and/or school.
Put a notice on the bulletin board at your school - someone else may be moving and have space in the truck, or an undergrad who is not moving out may have a truck or a van and be willing to spend the day driving your stuff out there and come back.
posted by CathyG at 6:48 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Would the very smallest PODS size work for you?
posted by radioamy at 9:48 AM on May 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by radioamy at 9:48 AM on May 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: A car full of stuff really isn't that much. I am guessing you can sell a bunch of it and ship the rest to yourself. I shipped myself suitcases of clothes, a desktop computer and a monitor. Then I bought new furniture and appliances at IKEA/Target. Sell your furniture and appliances on craigslist and that helps offset the cost even more. For reference, I shipped a 60-pound suitcase of clothes 3,000 miles for $70 via FedEx. I don't think paying someone else to drive it for you will be any cheaper. Every time I've looked at any sort of service to transport stuff during a move, like PODS-type services or a moving company, it's always astronomically over my budget.
posted by AppleTurnover at 12:14 PM on May 19, 2015
posted by AppleTurnover at 12:14 PM on May 19, 2015
I shipped my car-load's worth of belongings from NYC to Denver for about $300 base rate using Greyhound. It was absurdly easy. For slightly more money a random dude with an unmarked van will show up at your house to take the stuff, and another person will deliver it to your door at the new city. (And if you're lucky, this second driver may even help your brother schlep it from the parking lot to the apartment door. Tip well.)
Also, it looks like they have recently implemented a student discount program - put that grad school ID to good use before it expires.
posted by philotes at 10:26 PM on May 19, 2015
Also, it looks like they have recently implemented a student discount program - put that grad school ID to good use before it expires.
posted by philotes at 10:26 PM on May 19, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks all. I ended up ditching the furniture, and a friend who was also moving to the same city had some room left in their U-haul and was happy to take my boxes and suitcases.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 1:12 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by une_heure_pleine at 1:12 PM on June 18, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 1:30 AM on May 19, 2015