I’m moving across country and I have questions about using pro movers

OP, you need more furniture. What fun you'll have in LA furnishing your new pad.

you don't have that much stuff. can you rent a U-Haul it and drive it yourself? Do you have a job when you get to LA? if so ask them who you can use.

seconding r2, with professional movers to pack and unpack the U-Haul at each end. I did a move from Atlanta to Boston in U-Haul, it made a fun adventure and the company gave me $10k for moving expenses which I got to pocket.

You will need to reserve sidewalk space with the city for the day of your arrival, so they can ticket and tow cars parked in front of your new apartment.

Are your furniture pieces antiques or otherwise special to you? It would probably be more cost-effective to sell them in Chicago and get new stuff in LA, certainly no shortage of furniture stores in the southland.

Get rid of 30-40 of those boxes. You know you don't need most of that stuff. Buy a new mattress when you get there. Drive yourself. You have to go there anyway, why not take your own stuff with you?

Get a Uhaul you lazy whore!

85 boxes???? Of what?

OP here. The move isn’t work related. I’m solvent. I just wanted this move to go smoothly. I’ve been through it the past few years and have worked so hard to get out of here. Chicago is insanely violent. I’m sick of the whole place. I just want to get out safely. I would rather pay to have this done. I don’t look forward to driving a uhaul for a few days and worry about the truck being stolen or robbed. I just want to get from A to B safely.

OP Here again, I’ve never driven a truck anywhere. Do you think I’d be safe with a truck? I looked it up and it says 30 hours to drive to LA from Chicago. I can’t drive at night so this would be a few days of driving.

I'm sorry I called you a lazy whore, OP. You're actually a rational whore. Best!

- R6

Try the app "uShip.".

I've used it many times for whole house moved, for delivering a piece of furniture bought at a distant auction, and for small lots of boxes and household goods.

You describe the job much as was done in the OP, provide some dimensions and details of anything of unexpected size; define the pick up and delivery points and a date range, and await movers to contact you (usually with questions to refine a bid.).

Shippers vary in experience and professionalism but that is rather transparent from reviews/ratings, the nature of their communication with you, and any details you can shake out on Google. A professional moving company will have lots of reviews in different places,, a guy who deliveries fruit between Maryland and Maine who fits in the odd small job en route will have less to go on. Prices vary; it's good to not be too quick to accept the first and cheapest bid. But I have had excellent experience with them. You will get bids from pro movers who have a job they have to deliver between cities A and B and between dates C and D; their ability to work in so additional jobs that fit those routes and dates increases their profit.

People who buy furniture and large paintings at distant auctions do this all the time, and there are movers that specialize in this. These same movers use uBid to fill empty space in their trucks.

OP? LA here. Do not move here. You will be severely disappointed and we are full. Also, our streets are full of violent homeless people who also commit a lot of property crimes. Even if you live in a nice neighborhood!

Use those people from Shipping Wars.

They bid on your job using some website that fields the bids.

R12 again. An hour ago someone was stabbed less than a mile from me. OP, I hope you like the sound of helicopters hovering! Because you will hear it EVERY DAY no matter what time of day!

R13, I think that is the UShip that was mentioned above.

I used uShip a couple times to fetch a cars I'd bought out of state. The last time- about 2 years ago- was a nightmare. It took about a month to get the car delivered. They said the truck drivers kept cancelling.

I'll never do it again. I should have just taken a Greyhound there and drove it home myself.

Sure R12. OP in Chicago would have no idea what that’s like.

🙄

Sorry to hear OP, good for you on getting out and best of luck on your fresh start. If it eases your burden skip Uhaul and hire out but get rid of stuff you really don’t need if you can.

OP - how are you planning on living a full life in LA if you can’t drive at night.

Why LA of all places???

[Quote]Chicago is insanely violent. I’m sick of the whole place.

Do you think LA is Mayberry OP? It's also a rough city where there is plenty of crime.

I could see if you were moving for the weather, but you seem to have unrealistic expectations of what you'll find in LA.

Do not search the net and contract with a broker out of Florida. Do not.

Both times I moved crosscountry I used U-Pack — it's a pod they set up for you, you fill with furniture/boxes, and then you call them to take it away and drive it.

When you're ready for it at your new place, they drop it off and you reverse the process when it's empty.

Cheaper and more trustworthy than a pro mover. Here's the one I used.

You seem very hesitant so don't drive your own stuff to your new destination. Get someone else to do it for you. How about a friend or someone you could hire who is trustworthy? Best of luck to you!!

I also want to know what's in those 85 boxes.

USPS has flat rate shipping, a heavy box is ~20 bucks. Try to throw away as much junk as you can, or even move stuff into storage in Chicago to bring later once you are settled.

You could also take a few flights and let the airline ship your stuff.

It's cheaper to just get of most of your things and buy more when you get to California. It's not worth spending thousands of dollars to move an old bed, a chair and boxes of kitchen stuff.

Yeah if you have cheap stuff its often not worth the expense to move it that far of a distance. Be honest about how much it is worth.

I, too, am moving across the country in late summer/early fall from NorCal to NY. I have moved across the country several times over the years.

Those saying U-haul, you don't really understand for long distance moves how expensive it is. For instance, I have a studio apartment and will only be moving 5 smallish pieces of furniture, no appliances, and the rest boxes. The cheapest, smallest truck i can get is $5,135 and that's not including the gas that I have to pay for myself!!! I am doing all my own packing, driving, unpacking and it's over $6k or more to move my very few belongings. NOT cost effective at all. The days of U-haul being the cheap option are long gone.

I still haven't figured out how I'm going to get my stuff out there. Doing a pod seems overkill as well...i don't have enough to fill up an entire pod. Going to check out U-pack like one of the previous posters recommended.

I hate driving, not to mention long distance. I can’t imagine renting a U-haul cross country.

That doesn't seem right, the cost of renting a uhaul for a cross country move should be around 2500 r28. Expensive, but as expensive as you are saying.

r30 - I JUST PRICED IT OUT ON U-HAUL'S ONLINE WEBSITE. THAT was the cost - 5135 plus the amount I pay for in gas for the truck.

If it was 2500, then i wouldn't be still searching for a way for my stuff across country. I don't need 9 days to drive across but it automatically defaults, so that is something I can't change. I am selecting the smallest truck available, a 10' box truck. I can't imagine it's the date I chose (Sept 1st).

R31 = I used U-BOX from Uhaul. I didn't ship any furniture. I just moved my personal items. I must say I was happy with it. Just another suggestion. About 8 years ago when it was a newer service. Glad I did.

Sept. 1 is smack in the middle of the start of colleges across the country, R31. I'll bet it's one of their busiest seasons.

OP just throw all your stuff into a grease fire, get on a plane, and buy new stuff when you land.

r33, i adjusted it to Sept 12th, same price.

r31 U-Box is $4287, which is still quite a lot for the small amount of belongings and few pieces of smallish furniture. Honestly, the van they show that isn't available for my move would be more than enough room for my things. But, it's not given as an option.

OP if you hire someone to move your stuff for you the PLEASE a make sure you do your research to make sure you don’t get surprise expenses later on or even worse, they run off with your stuff and you never see it again. There have been many stories about these things happening.

r33, just an FYI - i also went back and adjusted the dates to 9/29 and 10/15, both the same exact price. So really date has no bearing. This is a flat, fixed rate.

Whatever you do, make sure the company is trustworthy. I knew a grad student who moved from NY to the Midwest and the moving company packed and shipped her stuff—-but then held it hostage and extorted her for more money.

I moved a few times for grad school and drove the smallest UHaul truck for $1200-$1400 or so (rocky mountains to CA) and towed my car with it. It was fine. The truck had a heavy padlock on it. All of the other options were far more expensive when I did price searching. Even the Pod was going to be like $2k or more and I was very poor and couldn’t swing that at the time.

Intrastate moves are almost always sketchy, even if you go with one of the more reputable moving services like North American Van Lines. I am surprised moving services are not more tightly regulated across state lines. I have had several bad experiences, even after exercising an abundance of caution. Common issues: stuff arriving on separate trucks on separate days, even though it was all loaded onto one truck; missing items; unexpected charges at the destination location that could not have been foreseen, etc. And once your stuff is in their hands, you have very little ability to push back on any of this stuff because they won't give you your shit if you protest or refuse to pay.

I don't know what to tell you in terms of advice, other than to move yourself if you can. If not, expect drama, especially for a cross country move.

[quote]Going to check out U-pack like one of the previous posters recommended.

I should have added that U-Pack has many different sizes of pods, and they can advise you on which is best for you.

Also checked out the PODS company, but they wanted an email before they'd give me a quote and then promptly sold it to all kinds of moving-related companies.

r40 when i just did the quote, it didn't offer any size options, just one "Relo-cube." The cost was 4674. Again, really excessive for my amount of belongings. Maybe I need to call them and ask if they have a smaller size cube? I have been contemplating this move for quite awhile and haven't been able to get past how to get my shit out there.

R40 Yeah that's why you make up a disposable email address for stuff like this and then just get rid of it and start over again when you start getting spam. I have an online shopping email, a PRON only email, my real "official" email, and an encrypted email service for when I want to be anonymous and not provide and real identifying info (like for flaming yelp reviews when they are warranted).

What if you get stuck in a trucker convoy?

R43 LOL!

Just call Rubber Duck on your CB Good Buddy R43

U-Box was cheaper when I used it 8 years ago. I was moving out of a 3 bedroom home and actually got 2 U-Boxes. But I was only moving 850 miles..Not bad..They were great.

If the price is in the $4-5000s range, it's time to consider the worth of the "big chair, bed, large dresser w mirror," and weigh what the cost and nusiance factors are to keep or to replace.

The figure of 85 boxes of things is a lot, actually — 85 medium sized boxes 18" x 14" x 14" (3 cubic feet ea.) = 255 cubic feet. I know that because I used to have between 85 and 120 boxes (same size) of books. That's 10 cubic feet beyond the capacity of a UHaul cargo van. — and that's just for the boxes (an Enterprise Rent-a-car XL cargo van, which can be cheaper than UHaul, is the same capacity at 245 cubice feet.)

255 cubic feet plus the furniture adds up to more than just a few small things. It's not going to be cheap. At R25's suggestion of shipping each box at $20ea., that's $1700, forgetting about your furniture.

It cost over $2k to move my mom's house full of stuff from Kansas to Washington State doing self drive U-Haul...in 1998.

Moving ain't cheap.

Reading between the lines, I'm guessing OP is older and he's moving Precious Belongings and not shit he wants to get rid of. Telling him to get "rid of it!" isn't what he wants/needs to hear.

You get rid of your shitty shit when you're 25 and all you own is shitty shit and it's not a big deal to buy new shit.

OP I recently paid $3500 to move 1 bedroom of stuff from NY to NC. I had about 20 good sized boxes, and the usual furniture. This was with a major interstate moving company. I packed my boxes.

I don't know what you have in 85 boxes but it's time to visit the GoodWill shop.

R49 here - It's about the space on the truck, and 85 boxes will cost a fortune. I have Wayfair furniture and they take it apart to save space and make the move cheaper.

OP = Mail me your valuables. I will keep them until you get settled. Then I will ship them to you at no cost at all....

[quote]Reading between the lines, I'm guessing OP is older and he's moving Precious Belongings and not shit he wants to get rid of. Telling him to get "rid of it!" isn't what he wants/needs to hear. You get rid of your shitty shit when you're 25 and all you own is shitty shit and it's not a big deal to buy new shit.

We're just doing the math. Most of his stuff can be bought brand new for less money than it costs to ship/move

USPS also has "book rate" which should take care of some of those boxes

I had half as many of those, and it cost me around 3K to have the boxes put on a truck, driven 3 hours, and taken off the truck. This was 5 years ago.

[quote] Enterprise Rent-a-car XL cargo van, which can be cheaper than UHaul, is the same capacity at 245 cubice feet.

Shop around.. I was able to reserve a large van for under $100/day...

OP, follow the advice of those above who said sell your furniture and buy new pieces when you arrive. It is easier and cheaper when you figure the moving costs. As for your boxes, ship them all USPS as suggested. Still cheapest way to go. (If some of your boxes hold things like vacuum cleaners, etc, that should go in the sell category with your furniture).

That's weird r31. I had a friend that moved from NJ to CA and he paid about 2500. I just priced those two cities leaving from NY and it was 2162. Leaving from CA it was over 5k.

I don't know why the direction you travel doubles the price.

R31 I am making a very popular move, from NY to Asheville. I was quoted $4500 from another company. I have a large 1 bedroom apt full of furniture.

I guess it costs more money to move somewhere cool!

-Born in LA so I know all about the charms of CA

Ooops meant for R57

Word of caution about USPS, the flat rate boxes can ship heavy items (70 pounds I think), but they are not super large. You can order empty flat-rate boxes shipped to you free, and even schedule pickup from your home.

Use a professional moving company. Get several quotes. I did this reverse move 8 years ago. I got rid of a lot of stuff and still had around 85 boxes. Don't drive a truck. Getting stuck on the road would be a nightmare. If you have the money, spend it wisely on the move. Conserve your energy for packing my up your stuff and unpacking when you get there. Somebody think about the stairs (or is the meme "think about the children?")

I'm the CA to NY person. So far, everything is $4700+ for not a lot of stuff and 4 smallish pieces of furniture (no bed, no dresser, no couch, no dining table) and if I had to ballpark boxes I'd say 50 or less. I already live in a teeny studio so it's not like i have a ton of stuff to move.

I've read/heard you can't rent a car/van to drive from CA to NY for some weird reasons (you'd have to drop it another state, pick up a new car and continue on to NY) so trying to rent a van doesn't seem feasible (and U-Haul doesn't offer that option).

I did receive a call this morning from an inquiry I did last night and although I didn't talk to her extensively, shared that I had a very small move and that I was looking at a price point far less than 4700. She said there were options starting at 2k, but as I told her i didn't have time to talk, didn't get further details. She could be just blowing smoke up my ass, but i'll talk to her later on today.

I must admit I had a chuckle when I read the OP say he was leaving Chicago for LA because Chicago was so violent. Kiddo, you ain't movin' to a safer environment, you're just moving to a different kind of violence.

I feel for you, OP. I'm moving on Saturday just four blocks up from where I am now and it's wearing my ass out. Like the saying goes, you don't know how much crap you got until have to move it. Best of luck!!

[quote]I don't know why the direction you travel doubles the price.

Of course. Moving into NY or even NJ is a totally different thing than moving to California. It's not easy for anyone to move into NY.

There's not a lot of room in NYC. They don't want the extra rental truck stuck in NYC. They have to pay to store it or they have to pay someone to drive it upstate NY or another state.

When you rent a car in NYC it's more expensive than renting it in NJ. NYC is riskier (for accidents & theft) than NJ for the car rental company. If you rented a car in NJ, they would ask you if you were going to drive into the city.

Rent a truck, pay some homeless to help you load and then just drive it yourself. Its the only way to be safe.

Whew gurl, you nomadic gays are exhausting

R62 how did it work out with the mover that called? Does anyone have a cross country mover that they can recommend? I have no furniture and about 50 boxes. I’d mail the boxes but they’re heavy and UPS can get pricey. I mailed some boxes last week and the boxes were about 60 dollars each. If I average $75 per box, and it’s around 50 boxes, that’s about $3,750. It seems easier on me to use a mover, but I have the ups store near me and can walk the boxes there. I’m just so exhausted. Any advice welcome. I need to get the boxes out by June.

-OP

I used one of those pods to move from Illinois to Texas a few years back. It was super easy, I hired movers to load and unload it. I stuck a luggage tracker in it and I always knew where the pod was at any time.

These moving companies are all cheats. They will definitely lose some of your stuff and you'll find out the insurance they tout is worthless.

Sell your stuff and by new stuff in LA

[quote] I’d mail the boxes but they’re heavy and UPS can get pricey.

If you mail via 3rd class US Postal Service, it's pretty cheap. It'll take about 1-2 weeks to get there but you'll save alot of money.

Consider moving companies that allow you to fill your own pods. they just move the pods.

[quote] USPS also has "book rate" which should take care of some of those boxes

Of all things, don't waste money moving/ sending books, unless they are very valuable to you for some reason.

[quote] Whatever you do, make sure the company is trustworthy. I knew a grad student who moved from NY to the Midwest and the moving company packed and shipped her stuff—-but then held it hostage and extorted her for more money.

Yes, I remember this was a thing a while back. It was on the news that so many movers were doing this.

It even affected few friends. One friend called the police and the police forced the company to unload the truck. Another just yelled out "You can keep it all" and slammed the door. 10 minutes later, the mover knocked on the door and began unloading.

Best of luck to you, OP but LA is a shithole. I was there the last 6 years and other than the weather it’s a disgusting place to live. Violent, ugly, and just plain dirty.

I understand LA is no panacea but Chicago’s Boystown is super violent now. The crime is too much. The Midwest is depressing to me. A change can’t hurt. I know nobody here in the Midwest. Add for pods, I can’t use one.. There is nowhere to put the pod. The UPS store is near me. I understand the regular post office is cheaper, but I once sent my stuff via them and many boxes just never showed up. Others were opened and I was charged more when they were delivered... it was a nightmare. I lost some stuff that was very valuable to me, emotionally. I’d use a truck company, but I feel like it can be more expensive, and maybe they shake you down at the end. -OP

Have you looked into van rentals yet? You can use Taskrabbit to hire a few people to load everything up and drive.

From my understanding crime has gone way up in your area and no one cares.