Need to Find a Cheap Mover for a Cross-Country Move... any Suggestions?

[Misunderestimator]

Not too much to move, as I've sold a lot of jointly owned possessions and furniture to my ex, but probably 2000 to 2500 pounds, or two or three rooms. I've found some, but there are so many that it's hard to sort out the bad from the good. Looks like I can get some great prices of under $2,000 (going from FL to CA), so basically I'm just looking for someone who has used a small company like this and would recommend them.
Some of the sites I'm looking at are www.Deltavanlines.com; www.Progressivevanlines.com; www.Summitvanlines.com.
Any suggestions of companies to use, or names of companies definitely NOT to use would be most appreciated.

[shraby]

1. We bought a cheap van to move with

then sold it when we were done moving. Cost: gas

[Misunderestimator]

7. That's a great idea actually...

but I'd need more space than a van could give me, probably a 15' - 17' truck would do. Very resourceful of you!

[murphymom]

2. Don't know if this would work for you

but when we moved a few years ago from California to Oregon, we rented a Ryder truck twice to take our stuff in 2 loads and my husband drove it himself. We hired 2 sets of movers, one to load the truck, and the other to unload the truck at our destination. When we added everything up, we paid about the same amount as a friend of ours did who hired a full service moving company to move from one side of San Jose to the other. The nice thing about it was we always knew where our stuff was.

[Misunderestimator]

4. I looked into renting and it would be way more expensive...

since I would also have to rent a trailer for my car, and pay for the gas. Actually the movers are cheaper because the gas is included as a surcharge of only $100. U-haul quoted me $1,300 for the truck and trailer rental, whereas I get the same approximate rate for a company to load, drive, store for 30 days and unload.

Mainly, I don't want the physical stress and aggravation, plus I don't really feel like driving a big truck and trailer across country, so I'm really just looking for recommendations of companies that do the moving.

Thanks though... :)

[Rick Myers]

3. We moved from Ohio to Minneapolis

Using ABF Trucking... We saved over $1000 by NOT renting a truck. If you can get your stuff to their depot in your area, you load into one of their trailers and they put up a bulkhead. At the other end you unload. We had to rent a 15' truck at each end and still saved a ton of money. Downside is you gotta load and unload.

Check out their website:

http://www.upack.com/landingpgs/moveupack.asp?refnum=gototrt4

Best of luck!!!

[Misunderestimator]

5. Great idea, but it's the physical loading and unloading

I'm trying to get away from. I'll bookmark this though in case I need something like it in the future. Thanks.

[miss_kitty]

6. be really careful about your choice

I don't know how to research movers, maybe start with your local BBB, and see who else THEY suggest you ask-but you can be ripped off for your possessions and/or more money. The more money scam works thusly-someone comes in and sees all you have to move and gives you a figure. The movers show up and accuse you of having more stuff than the estimator saw and refuse to move you unless you come up with more $$$.

I had a friend who I helped move from Modesto to NOLA and we drove I40 in a Ryder. It was Fun.

Good Luck! :hi:

[Misunderestimator]

8. That's exactly what happened last time I used one like this...

a few years ago to help a friend move across country. I had listed everything accurately, with just a few additions, very few, and they were half packed in the truck when they decided to up the price. It was only by a couple of hundred dollars, so it wasn't a biggie at the time, but on TOP of that, they had an incompetent guy helping who made the two hour loading job turn into 8 hours. That's the kind of company I'm trying to avoid, but I don't want to pay an exhorbitant amount more money.

[miss_kitty]

9. Well, I will feel much better once you are safely across country

tucked up all cozy with NSMA and all your stuff is unpacked and put away.

:D

[Misunderestimator]

10. You ain't kidding!!

Me too... :)

[LynneSin]

11. What about the Hood....

...of NSMA's car?

:shrug:

[Misunderestimator]

12. There is SO not enough space there for my stuff...

given the dozens of people already there :)

[LynneSin]

16. Hey, rumor has it that NSMA is a taken woman....

...she should clear out some space, you know!

[oxymoron]

13. Also check out Wheaton Van Lines

I've used them before and had very good luck with them. It was a larger move, but they had the best pricing at the time.

http://wheatonworldwide.com/

[Misunderestimator]

14. Thank you! I will check them out.

[On the Road]

15. For a Local Move in MD, I Found a Great Contact

on Craigslist, believe it or not. $35 per hour for loading and unloading. Had to rent my own truck. It's possible to make arrangements on both ends.

[UdoKier]

17. Those are all super-expensive. Go to upack.com

It's great and economical. They bring the truck, you load all the stuff in it, then they take it to wherever for you.

http://www.upack.com/default.asp

[Misunderestimator]

18. I'm too lazy and too old to do that much grunt work...

:) I'd rather pay someone else to do the painful stuff. However, I will check it out... I could always just hire some guys to do the loading and unloading. Thanks!!

I checked it out... good site.... the quote is about in line with the others, but if they are more reputable, it might be my ticket. Thanks for the tip.

[Misunderestimator]

19. kick

[NV Whino]

20. Go with a company that has a history

Might cost a little more but will be worth it in the long run. I went with a cheap Internet company to move my mother from SoCal to NoCal and wish I hadn't. The guys who loaded and unloaded were great. The office sucked. Their scheduling was terrible. They were supposed to make two drops at the end of the line. The office decided that they couldn't do the second drop. The worker bees wre williing and saw the sense of doing both drops the same day. I commadered a guy's cell phone and told the manager I thought that the truck was going to get a flat tire and be delayed about an hour and 20 minutes then hung up. The manager called back and told the guys to make the second drop.

P.S. none of the companies you mentioned are the one I used.

[Misunderestimator]

21. ...

[Zomby Woof]

22. FINALLY!

Hoorah! You're moving!

I may be next, lol. Hey neighbor! :hi:

[Misunderestimator]

25. Hehe.... yep it's just around the corner...

:hi:

[Corgigal]

23. I used North American

They came out to the apt I was renting. Packed a three bedroom place and then put our furniture in storage (air conditioned) place.
When we purchased the house we called them up and we got our stuff within the week. Everything was there and nothing was broken.
They can come out to the house and give you an estimate. I also had insurance placed on the belonging because we just felt better about it. I'm not sure what the price would be for that type of move but I moved from Florida to South Carolina and it was several grand. However I did have lots of stuff.

This company also moved the Clinton's into the White house.

Also be very careful. I use to work 911 emergency calls and you have no idea how many calls I would get from regular people when they saw the condition of their belongings. Yeah they called 911 on a civil matter but I still felt bad for them.

Website below:

http://www.navl.com/

[hickman1937]

24. I read something in the paper last year,

about people finding cheap movers on the internet. The movers come in, check your stuff and give you a price. On moving day they come in and do their job, then call you the next day and up the price. They've got all your stuff and most states don't seem to have any laws on the books that say that they can't extort more money. Be very careful.

[Misunderestimator]

27. That DID happen to me last time...

so I won't be doing it again.

[Misunderestimator]

26. UPDATE: I checked up on the internet companies with the BBB...

and this site: http://www.movingscam.com/ and... thanks to Udokier's suggestion, I've decided to go with http://www.upack.com/. The others are just way too risky... lots of former names and addresses... and the last one I used which I had a bad experience with has disappeared.

It will cost about 25% more than the others, but they have some of the highest ratings in the business. Best part is that they will leave the trailer at your home for 2 days for loading and 2 days for unloading. I can find enough friends in that amount of time to help me load. :)

After I move, I'll let you know how it worked out.