moving

[lirio]

So who is moving this summer? Can anyone recommend a good moving company/truck?

Last year we moved from DC to Boston. DH drove the U-Haul and I drove the car. Now we’re moving to Chicago but we have 2 cars now. So I don’t know what to do. Should we tow a car? Or get a moving company to drive the truck? Any ideas?

I used to use a website called www.movingscam.com. At least I thought I did. It isn't working. There is www.movingsham.com and it looks very similar. The scam one had a message board that was really helpful.

You might want to look into ABF or Broadway Express as well (you pack or hire someone to pack the truck and they drive it).
http://www.upack.com/
http://www.broadwayexpress.net/


It's been a few years but we shipped a car with this company:
http://www.autotrans1.com/

They had the best rate. I needed to ship a car another car, they had the best rate, but I didn't go through with it because I found someone to drive the car. If you do an ABF or Broadway Express move, it could free up a driver to drive the cars.

[lirio]

OK, I'll look into those. Thanks for the help!

[spotty_dog]

We've moved with two cars and a rental truck twice, just rented a tow dolly to go behind the truck. It's very doable and if you're on any kind of a budget I imagine it's the way to go. Admittedly the dolly is supposed to limit you to 35 mph or something but...we kinda disregarded that.

We're getting rid of one of the cars before this summer's move, so it'll be a Penske truck and a station wagon (and a friend who's caravaning with us most of the way in her car.) If we did the math it was going to cost about $1000 for someone else to drive the truck (Broadway Express) and all we'd get out of that deal was to be separated from our belongings for an indeterminate amount of time and to have to jam two adults, two babies, three cats, a dog, a betta fish, some miscellaneous houseplants, and luggage enough to last us for said indeterminate amount of time, into one station wagon. That didn't sound too appealing, and we are on a budget, of course (seeing as we may go for two months or so without a paycheck after the move, and we have a 3000 sf house to furnish) so really the Penske truck won out on most counts.

[HouseofWool]

We're moving this summer as well and are planning on a U-Haul type truck and towing one of the cars. I will drive the other with the baby.

We are only moving about 5 hours away and my parents will be meeting us in the new city to help with the move in. DS will be going to their house for a few days to avoid the chaos in our home.

[lirio]

Thank you Alison and Kris.

Can anyone recommend a company that loads, drives, and unloads?

The problem is we have no parking in Chicago. And we can’t unload ourselves. So I think we need to hire a company that will unload as soon as the truck arrives.

[alison]

Thank you Alison and Kris.

Can anyone recommend a company that loads, drives, and unloads?

The problem is we have no parking in Chicago. And we can’t unload ourselves. So I think we need to hire a company that will unload as soon as the truck arrives.

Which neighborhood are you moving to in Chicago?

My husband and I are leaving Chicago, and we ended up not needing to have our car transported for us. One of the places I looked into was "Dependable Auto Shippers." We would have gone with them.

One thing we had to consider was point-to-point shipping vs. p/u at the actual address. The Chicago shipping yard is a good hour outside of Chicago, and we would have had to take a cab back from dropping the car off. The difference that takes into account cab far wouldn't have been much. I'd go with p/u and d/o at the actual address. Finding parking in Chicago is absolutely maddening. We pay $280/month to park near our apartment.

[spotty_dog]

No personal experience, but that movingscam.com page that Nellie recommended mentioned Moovers, Inc. as an upstanding, reliable firm, and I got a quote from them.

[HouseofWool]

I just did a quote on U-Haul and one thing that they have added to their website was recommendations for moving companies in both cities. It was nice to see a few names to choose from. Even though Penske will be cheaper, I printed off all of the info that I got on companies that will help load the truck and locations of storage lockers. Much less research to be done that way.

[lirio]

Which neighborhood are you moving to in Chicago?

I'm moving to Lakeview. Where are you now?

Thanks for all the help guys.

I think the cheapest thing to do about the extra car is to fly my dad out from MD (for about $150) to have him drive one car. It's a lot better than towing or shipping a car.

I also think we will go with Penske too. They also give an AAA discount. Now I just have to see what DH thinks!

[alison]

I'm moving to Lakeview. Where are you now?

Thanks for all the help guys.

I think the cheapest thing to do about the extra car is to fly my dad out from MD (for about $150) to have him drive one car. It's a lot better than towing or shipping a car.

I also think we will go with Penske too. They also give an AAA discount. Now I just have to see what DH thinks!

Where in Lakeview? We live in East Lakeview.

Will you be able to work downtown? If so, I'd really consider downsizing to just one car. I don't know your needs, but you really don't need a car in this neighborhood.

[HouseofWool]

Lirio - when we moved to NYC - my dad drove with DH to NYC and helped move stuff in. A couple of days later I flew with DS who was 4 months old at the time. It worked pretty well and dad flew home after I arrived.

[MarissaNicole]

Lakeview is beautiful!

Here is another reputable company that packs and unloads: Mayflower