Moving stuff cross country

[BabyScientist]

Hey! I'm in the process of trying to figure out the most cost efficient way to ship/move all my things across the country, and I figured there are probably a bunch of you out there in the same boat. Why not try to share the cost burden?

I only have a few furniture pieces and some boxes. Anyone want to share moving truck space and cost?

Details:

Moving from California bay area to Washington, DC/Bethesda, MD area

Have to be in DC second week of July

We have a queen mattress, TV, small desk, and some boxes (fit in a standard pick up truck bed last time we moved).

We're looking at a 16' moving truck costing about $2.2k (still looking for a better deal).

We don't have nearly enough to fill a 16' truck. I'm thinking if we get a bunch of people with just some stuff they want to ship from and to similar areas, we can all save some money. We can drive the truck itself so it's like you just shipped your things.

Anyone interested? Or know of some sort of website that does something like this?

[rising_star]

Honestly, if that's all you're moving, I'd ship the boxes (Amtrak, Greyhound, USPS, etc.), sell everything else, and buy new/used things when you get to DC. Between the truck and the fuel, that would be way more cost effective.

[TakeruK]

I agree with @rising_star. The most cost-effective would be to sell the furniture and ship boxes of stuff you can't buy. Out of the items you list, if you have a nice mattress, that might really be the only thing worth keeping (since it's tough to sell used mattresses).

When we moved a similar distance, we did move our mattress because it was pretty new and we paid a lot for it (still have it 8 years later and totally worth it for how much of a nice rest it provides!). So, we ended up doing one of those pods, which only cost a little bit more than just shipping the stuff (i.e. paying about $200 to keep our mattress instead of buying a new one was worth it to us).

If you want to share a truck, I would suggest a company like ABF Freight. We used their cube/pod service to move from California to Canada, but they also sell portions of a truck---you pay for whatever space you need. I think the minimum amount of space (7' if I remember right) was about $600-$700, so it will probably cost you the same ish as sharing your 16' truck quote. 

However, this might give you more peace of mind than sharing with random people because:

- You aren't responsible for what is in their boxes (i.e. what if someone puts something illicit in their boxes and then you get pulled over)
- You don't have to worry about disputes with other people if their stuff gets damaged (similarly, if I was moving, I might hesitate to ship my stuff with you since there's no insurance etc.)
- You don't have to worry about arranging the pickups, dropoffs, etc. You'll pay ABF (or similar company) to do this for you.