Almost ready to make a move

November 19, 2023 12:42 PM

I need to move the contents of a 10x20 storage unit from Santa Fe, NM to a house in Colorado Springs, CO. I can think of a number of ways to accomplish this. What do you think would be best?
posted by falsedmitri to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

I can think of a number of ways to accomplish this as well, and which one I chose would be dependent on a bunch of factors you're not listing. Is the storage unit completely full, like floor to ceiling, all 20x10? If it's not, could what's contained in the unit possibly be consolidated into a smaller footprint if you used more vertical space? Is this something you have a desire and ability to handle yourself or with some friends? How much of an issue is cost? How quickly do you need it moved? I think if it were me, looking at maybe the whole volume of the unit needing to be moved, I'd probably just rent a larger truck and do it myself for a drive that short; or rent a smaller truck and do it in two trips if I wasn't working against a real short deadline.
Other options:
- Professional movers: I've never used them, no idea how that would work or how they'd deal with getting access to your storage unit's grounds. There's the whole "holding your stuff ransom" scam to deal with, but that doesn't seem like it'd be a huge deal with a 5-ish hour drive vs cross-country?
- PODS, ABF U-Pack, similar things: I don't know if they'd be able to get access to your storage area to drop off their moving unit things, so if you had to rent a truck to get it out of your unit and take it to the PODS or ABF terminal anyway, you're already pretty far along the way to just driving the whole truck anyway. PODS has different unit sizes and a larger one might be able to fit all your stuff. ABF has a smaller box called the relocube that almost certainly wouldn't fit all your stuff unless you got more than one, but you can also rent out a portion of a 26' long trailer (you get an empty trailer and only pay for the space you use) that would almost certainly fit all your stuff. With all those options you might have to load their box at their terminal, but they could deliver it right to the house in Colorado Springs. The ABF trailer may not fit in your driveway or be able to be left on your street.
posted by LionIndex at 1:25 PM on November 19 [1 favorite]

Need more information to answer:

What is your budget?

How much free time do you have available?

Are you able bodied?

Do you have able bodied friends who like you well enough to help you move? In both cities?

How delicate or valuable are the items?
posted by Jacqueline at 1:34 PM on November 19 [3 favorites]

Best as in lowest cost, safest for the contents, least time, safest for you, or least physical labor for you? What are you trying to optimize?
posted by soelo at 1:36 PM on November 19 [1 favorite]

Hello from Colorado Springs!

The easiest way I can think of, though probably the most expensive, would be professional movers. I've used Two Men and a Truck here in town half a dozen times over the past nineteen years and they've been terrific in both cost and service, so I'd probably start by getting a quote with them. They also have a location in Santa Fe.

If that quote was completely out of budget, I might look into U-Haul or Penske and drive it up myself, and I'd probably resort to quiet, earnest prayer while driving over Raton Pass.
posted by mochapickle at 1:37 PM on November 19 [2 favorites]

Depends on the stuff, how full is it? Do you have people that can help. Are you cool with a 5 hour drive? I'd likely rent a truck and haul it. But then without an extra person, any car you might have is back in Santa Fe.
posted by Windopaene at 1:41 PM on November 19 [1 favorite]

The POD or U-Pack type places are usually set up to drop off the pod one day and pick up the next. If you wanted to consider this, you could call the storage place and ask if it is OK to have a pod in parking lot overnight. (It might well - they certainly won't be surprised at the question.) You would then need to figure out how to load everything from the storage space into the pod. You can hire movers do to this or just use the carts to haul the stuff out to the parking lot yourself. Same at the other end - they drop it off in your driveway (check the rules about where they can leave it, check with the city if you think you want it on the roadway in front of your house) and then figure out how to unload it and call them when you are ready to have them take it back.

One benefit is that you put your own lock on the pod, you don't have to worry about your stuff getting mixed in with other people's things or accidentally off loaded at the wrong place.

We've done this twice, both cross-country, although not from a storage locker. In one case we also hired a local guy to help load (he was wonderful) and the other time we had it for a few days and loaded it ourselves. Very easy to get a quote and you can easily compare the size of the pod to the size of your storage locker. Just consider how high you can stack things and make sure that when you pack it, things are secure enough that if the unit gets tipped slightly loading or unloading nothing will break.
posted by metahawk at 2:55 PM on November 19 [1 favorite]