Anyone moved recently?

And if so what companies or methods did you use to transport all your stuff?

My wife and I will be moving from Nashville TN, to Fort Myers FL at the end of next month and I'm trying to figure out the logistics of this thing. We have been thinning our possessions down to make the move as easy as possible but we still have a decent amount of stuff to transport. In addition to the house stuff, we have the vehicles. Her Mazda3, my Celica, Chevy 1500 and the project Camaro. The Camaro will have to be trailered. So my plan was to tow it with my truck and have the wife drive her car. That still leaves 1 car and a 3000sq ft house full of stuff to move.

Anyone had to move this much crap further than 2 hours drive? Need some suggestions on cheap movers.

Will be moving very shortly, about 5 hour drive. We aren't planning on hiring movers, we are recruiting family for a road trip. By that I mean they are volunteering. We plan to take more than one trip if neccessary, load up our cars, my van, rent a big uhaul van, and convoy down the road. Have you thought of that method?

For the record, we live in a one bedroom apartment with a garage, and while we have it all packed full of stuff, we don't have near what some people have in a big house.

TBH, cheap movers usually aren't worth the money you save, at least in my experience. When we moved, we just went for the best rated local movers on yelp and they did a pretty good job. I still had to go back to the other house and pack the stuff they forgot, but it was pretty minimal.

In reply to Rufledt:

It's about 13 hours to FL from where we are now. So doing the convoy isn't really feasible, especially with all the vehicles we have to move. Last time we flew down it was about 180 for a 1 way ticket. I might have to drive down and fly back a couple times...

I used ABF's service : U Pack I think When I moved from Detroit to Seattle. I hired CL movers at each end & everything worked out OK.

I under estimated the trailer size needed, so our 2k sq ft house (and KJ's garage stuff) did not fit in a 28' trailer. Get the bigger trailer, and they only charge you per linear foot.

KJ

Has anybody used the Pods method? If I needed to move, I would check that out.

I have not used but also hear good things about ABF's U-pack.

My last move was across town. I used 2 Men and a Truck. Three guys arrived and I paid the same 2 guy hourly rate. Best of all, we were allowed to help which cut down the overall hours.

JohnRW1621 wrote: My last move was across town. I used 2 Men and a Truck. Three guys arrived and I paid the same 2 guy hourly rate. Best of all, we were allowed to help which cut down the overall hours.

I heard good things about these folks years ago. I've heard some complaints recently.

Tow project car to FL with truck, on way back buy enclosed trailer from S. GA, continue to move. Enjoy enclosed trailer, or sell to recover costs. Ebay example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/24-Enclosed-Car-Cargo-Trailer-NEW-Freedom-storage-car-hauler-cargo-transport-/130912873977?pt=Motors_Trailers&hash=item1e7b03edf9&vxp=mtr

DIY: Think you can fit it all in a 26' truck? I drove one of those from Penske a few years ago, completely filled with palletized fruit, and it handled the (over) load very well. My experiences with Penske have always been favorable.

Here's my thinking: Convoy down on the first trip with the Celica and the Mazda3, driving the car that gets the better fuel mileage, and towing the other. Unload the moving truck in FL, and drop it off locally.

Drive back with the vehicle that gets better gas mileage, with both you and the wife in the car. Load any last bits into the car and the truck, and tow the Camaro behind the truck.

spitfirebill wrote: Has anybody used the Pods method? If I needed to move, I would check that out.

I plan to use one of these in the next few months. I don't know where I will end up; I just know that I won't be here.

Personally, I'd hire a reputable local mover associated with a major carrier, and have them deal with the household stuff (pack/load/unload). Tow the camaro, caravan with the 3, that just leaves the Celica. A bunch of options there: sell it, pay the movers to stick it in the truck, do the drive-both-ways thing, or find a friend who will caravan it out with you and buy him a plane ticket home. The plane ticket approach might well be cheaper than the gas of driving the 3 an extra two trips.

If hiring movers, do LOTS of research first. There are plenty of horror stories out there for people who got lowball quotes from movers, who showed up, packed all the stuff in their truck, drove to the new house, and then suddenly "discovered" a zillion new charges and held the stuff hostage until those extra charges were paid.

Only you can decide if the costs of hiring movers is worth not having to do it yourself. :)

I didn't move 1000 miles but we did move about 30 miles. We used Pods for probably 50% of the stuff and three trips with my enclosed trailer for the rest. The pod worked great. They dropped it off at the old house, we loaded it, they moved it to the new house and we unloaded it. Easy as pie and I didn't have to worry about a bunch ham fisted guy busting every thing up. We rented the pod for a month so it didn't have to be loaded and unloaded in a day. Moving it cost $90.00.

Just moved last year from TX to PA. I bought a bargain used 24' enclosed trailer, made two trips, and now I'm selling the trailer for more than I paid. With the exception of a metric ton of diesel fuel, I made out pretty well. First load went up with my stuff. For the return trip I found a guy who needed his Kia shipped back to TX so I picked up $750 for that leg and it was only 30 miles out of my way. Third leg back to PA I carried the last of my stuff and my last car.

The big stuff (couches, a couple appliances, etc) I sold on CL in TX, then picked up bargains once I came here. That saved me a third trip.

I refuse to pay a moving company. I've never heard one that did well. There is always something damaged, lost, or destroyed.

I have the Mayflower and Atlas estimators coming out next week to see just how much they want to bend me over for to move it all. I'm leaning more towards this plan. Budget/Penske truck with the Celica on a tow dolly behind it, wife drives the Mazda. Then I fly back and drive the truck with a rented trailer and the Camaro on board. I estimate about 2k to 2.5k for it all including fuel costs.

I do like the thought of picking up an enclosed trailer and having it for further trailering duties. Hmmm. Decisions decisions..

My enclosed trailer has served an incredible second life as temporary storage while we sort/unpack and decide what should be kept/sold/donated.