Teams
Forum List
Toggle sidebar

Cross-country move cost?

SpokaneCY

SpokaneCY

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
13,294
8,492
113
Spokane, WA
We're moving to CoSprings shortly so we get to do a move! Anyone do a cross-country move recently using a professional moving company? I don't want to call to get estimates yet, but curious what others experiences have been?

I HAD looked at Pods but good GOD they ask a lot of money! As a comparison, we're driving over a 12' van with unlimited miles for 6 days over the long weekend and Budget is only charging $300...

I won't (can't) move on our own - lazy, old and have too many artificial parts and despite the fact we're taking a load over on our own already. We have a basic 2-3 room home, no packing needed and we're driving our own cars but I've been out of this market for decades...

Anywho - curious about others' recent experiences...

Toodles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wxman1
If you have the time to supervise. Call manpower and hire 4 people on each end and you can knock it out pretty cheap.
 
Not terribly recent, nor is it cross country, but here’s a data point for you...

we moved from Omaha to MSP in Fall of 2015. Company paid for the move. We hired packers and a moving company that loaded and unloaded the truck. We used United. We had a 3 BR, 2 bath house. 2 adults and one infant at the time (for reference in the amount of stuff). It came in just under $5000.
 
BCClone said:
If you have the time to supervise. Call manpower and hire 4 people on each end and you can knock it out pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

This.

Or Two Men and a Truck will give you hands by the hour.

Van and driving are easy.

Hauling all that **** to the rooms will kill you.

I think we got 3 guys for $75./hr last spring in the Ft Collins area.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wxman1 and WhoISthis
BCClone said:
If you have the time to supervise. Call manpower and hire 4 people on each end and you can knock it out pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

Yeah, did something like this when I helped my sister move.

I drove a 30' penske truck from Houston to Oregon, and when i got there there was a crew of 4-5 there to unload the truck. Got it knocked out quick. Wish we'd done that on the front end as loading up that truck in the houston heat suuuucked.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wxman1
Two years ago I got estimates for a July move in March for around $1000 ($900 to $1300). Most seemed to track what I could get doing it myself with a UHaul. Going this way is a bit like renting a car, in that they’ll try to add on ****, depending on the movers.


A couple things to watch for:
-“add ins” past what they deem normal, like too many stairs, too far from truck to door, etc. I’ve slipped the two guys moving me some cash to overlook things, as well as refused to pay some of the **** they tried to up-charge me on.
-hidden storage costs, they **** you on entry and exit. If you’re not sure where to move but still want to lock in a good rate, I’d go with a self storage unit local to your new place, then hire labor locally to move in.
 
throwittoblythe said:
Not terribly recent, nor is it cross country, but here’s a data point for you...

we moved from Omaha to MSP in Fall of 2015. Company paid for the move. We hired packers and a moving company that loaded and unloaded the truck. We used United. We had a 3 BR, 2 bath house. 2 adults and one infant at the time (for reference in the amount of stuff). It came in just under $5000.
Click to expand...

We moved from Houston in 2016, had my wife's employer pay, and I think it came in pretty similar to that. We had them haul 2 of it cars, so that was extra.

We used United as well. Had to get three quotes, they were the most thorough on the estimate. Made sure to tip the movers and buy them food on pack up and unload days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: throwittoblythe
I know nothing of their costs, but I've seen recently that the trucking line Old Dominion will move your stuff. I'm assuming they drop a trailer, you load it, and they haul it to point B.

Edit: Looks like that's the case. You can actually plug in the two area codes (to/from) and the date you want to move and you'll get an instant quote without entering personal info. For reference sake, I plugged in a central Iowa zip to Dallas, TX for mid July and it's just over $2,000. Also, the further out you book, the better the rates. I'm definitely looking hard at this option next time I move.

https://www.odmove.com/ODMove/
 
  • Like
Reactions: wxman1 and LindenCy
A few years ago moved my mother-in-law from Phoenix to Des Moines. Move was from a 2 BR pre-fab to a smaller 2 BR apartment. In Phoenix, rented a 26 ft. U-haul truck. Using internet, found a source that provides people to load moving trucks. Got 2 guys who play semi-pro football. They did a professional job packing it tight with no shifting over the length of the drive. In Des Moines, family and friends unloaded the truck into the ground floor apartment for Casey' pizza. Approximate cost of packing material, loaders, truck, gas, lodging, and pizza was at or under $1,000. I think we ate the cost of travel food and our own lodging, mother-in-law paid other costs. We did most of the packing and unpacking of boxes.

Edit: 8:53 p.m. - Found the spreadsheet - total about $1,750. Of that, paid movinghelp.com $161 to load the truck.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: isutrevman
Stewo said:
I know nothing of their costs, but I've seen recently that the trucking line Old Dominion will move your stuff. I'm assuming they drop a trailer, you load it, and they haul it to point B.

Edit: Looks like that's the case. You can actually plug in the two area codes (to/from) and the date you want to move and you'll get an instant quote without entering personal info. For reference sake, I plugged in a central Iowa zip to Dallas, TX for mid July and it's just over $2,000. Also, the further out you book, the better the rates. I'm definitely looking hard at this option next time I move.

https://www.odmove.com/ODMove/
Click to expand...

Great resource. WAY cheaper than I ever thought it could be - instant quote was $1,600... Will definitely explore.
 
SpokaneCY said:
Great resource. WAY cheaper than I ever thought it could be - instant quote was $1,600... Will definitely explore.
Click to expand...

One thing to be aware of with the big outfits is that your stuff doesn’t always go directly from point A to point B. If you don’t fill up a full truck, or say you use 1.5 trucks, they may take your things to a distribution center where they will sit until they can fill the truck with other orders. This also creates the chance that your stuff gets mixed in with some random family’s things.

Our experience with United was good overall but it did take 3 weeks to get our stuff after they picked it up in Omaha. It was a little annoying as that’s only a 5.5 hr drive. Not trying to scare you away, but this is something to be aware of.
 
WhoISthis said:
Two years ago I got estimates for a July move in March for around $1000 ($900 to $1300). Most seemed to track what I could get doing it myself with a UHaul. Going this way is a bit like renting a car, in that they’ll try to add on ****, depending on the movers.


A couple things to watch for:
-“add ins” past what they deem normal, like too many stairs, too far from truck to door, etc. I’ve slipped the two guys moving me some cash to overlook things, as well as refused to pay some of the **** they tried to up-charge me on.
-hidden storage costs, they **** you on entry and exit. If you’re not sure where to move but still want to lock in a good rate, I’d go with a self storage unit local to your new place, then hire labor locally to move in.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a local move, at least here that’s about what moving 15-20 miles costs for load/unload and truck.
 
Used ABF to move to Portland from Utah, similar deal in they leave a trailer and you load. We hired that part. Don’t recall total price but far cheaper.


Oh to add we didn’t have room for a trailer so we paid the movers to load up, drive to terminal, and shift load to the abf trailer. They charge less for terminal to terminal, but movers cost more so it’s a wash. Terminal to terminal was about $700.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: clonefromNE
SpokaneCY said:
The unofficial on-line thing I saw was something like $1,400 (didn't get official quote)? I didn't read the details but it was NOT intuitive it would be more expensive. It may have been U-haul's version?
Click to expand...

That's not cheap by any means but i dont think its that insane vs the cost of renting a decent sized truck, gas, and probably an additional hotel night because driving a truck is a slower process than driving by car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Help Support Us

Become a patron
Top Bottom