moving concerns

[mochi7]

Does anyone have experience driving across the country solo? How long should I pace the driving? Is it crazy to think that I can leave on a Monday and arrive on Thursday? (the longest i've ever driven at one time was 6 hours)....

I didn't plan to, but as it seems that I can't get out of my car's lease early, i'd rather use the car up till when i have to trade it in next year, than to continue to make payments on a car that i don't use...but the 35 hour drive from the midwest to california seems kinda intimidating... :roll: :wink: (and shipping the car across the usa is ridculuously expensive)

all in all, the upshot is that I transport my few belongings in my car.

rising_star: thanks for the good tips!

[TulipOHare]

For long drives: I agree with the other people's ideas -- trade off regularly, take breaks, sleep when tired, try very hard to drive from dawn to dusk. I would also pack the following:

- Bottled water. But sip it so you don't have to stop every hour

- Snacks that are not messy and that don't produce a lot of trash (I like baby carrots, grapes, or peanut M&Ms).

- Gum. It's weird, but chewing gum keeps your brain awake through monotonous terrain.

- A LARGE supply of music and/or audiobooks available. If you don't have an MP3 player and a device that lets you play it through the vehicle's radio, it would be worth buying them just for the drive.

And NEVER RELY ON CAFFEINE TO STAY AWAKE... I'm not saying don't have a cup of coffee with breakfast -- I'm saying that if you're exhausted and caffeine is the only thing that stands between you and a wreck, don't pick the caffeine.

[nsfhopeful]

I'm not sure if they do this anymore, but Cracker Barrel used to let you rent audiobooks and return them at any location. If you don't have an MP3 player, this is another option (I think). Or rent some from your current library and mail them back to the library or a friend to return.

For those of you wanting to drive cross-country alone: do you think you could find a friend or parent to join you and then fly back? It would really help and be a lot safer.

[UnsunnedSnow]

Thanks for all the great advice-- good idea to have a list of possible hotels and their rates, since we probably can't determine in advance how far we'll be able to drive on each day. Scary to hear of all the U-Haul nightmare stories that my brief google search turned up...crossing my fingers that nothing goes wrong. Besides double-checking that my online confirmation has been received and giving the truck a very good look over before leaving the rental lot, does anyone have suggestions on what else we can do to make sure nothing goes wrong?

Update: after overthinking my Budget rental and hearing about a ton of U-Haul horror stories (see http://www.city-data.com/forum/general- ... ul-18.html ), we decided to switch to Penske and they matched Budget's price. Although breakdowns are, to some extent, inevitable and occur in rentals from all companies, sounded as though Penske does a great job with customer service/possibly maintenance as well and that many people hold Budget in lower opinion. Crossing my fingers that I get a truck with a CD player (not all their 16 fts have them!)

[teaganc]

I would also suggest looking into joining AAA. Even if you don't have to worry about your truck breaking down, you can go to their office and they will chart a route for you, along with potential hotels, prices, sight-seeing things, food, etc. They gave me an entire booklet for my trip, and it was really helpful. Also, a lot of hotels gave me a discount for being a AAA member (and though I joined for the trip, I have since called them several times when my car broke down and needed towing), and some sight-seeing things also have AAA discounts.

[jasper.milvain]

Every single time I or someone I know has used UHaul, it's been an absolute unmitigated clusterf*ck. They are satan in rental truck form.

That's all I have to contribute at the moment.

[LingGrad2009]

Does anyone have experience driving across the country solo? How long should I pace the driving? Is it crazy to think that I can leave on a Monday and arrive on Thursday? (the longest i've ever driven at one time was 6 hours)....

I didn't plan to, but as it seems that I can't get out of my car's lease early, i'd rather use the car up till when i have to trade it in next year, than to continue to make payments on a car that i don't use...but the 35 hour drive from the midwest to california seems kinda intimidating... :roll: :wink: (and shipping the car across the usa is ridculuously expensive)

all in all, the upshot is that I transport my few belongings in my car.

rising_star: thanks for the good tips!

I've crisscrossed the country several times solo and Mon-Thur for a crosscountry trip seems reasonable. I recently went from Portland to New York on that schedule and it was a pretty easy drive. You'll have to average 12 hours a day driving to make that. Drive in 4 or 6 hour shifts with a couple hours between each. Don't stop any longer than you have to for the night. Stop the car, go to sleep, wake up, start the car and drive. Eat during the shift breaks. Drink plenty of water and make frequent mini-stops, even if it's just for a minute or two to experience a standing position. Don't try to combine a move with a sightseeing trip if you're soloing it. About two-thirds of the way through you'll realize you could be there already if you hadn't been sightseeing, and you'll get demotivated and dangerous for the last leg.

Also if you really don't want to drive but do want your car, consider paying a service to drive it. They pay people like me to drive it for you. We're generally a lot safer and more trustworthy than internet horror stories make us out to be. And on a related note:

I've also used U-Haul for a number of moves between and among LA, SF, and Portland. I've never had a problem. U-Haul haters, are you sure it's not just a case of only hearing the squeaky wheels while the satisfied majority remain silent?

[mochi7]

LingGrad2009: Thank you for the advice! very helpful what is the name of the company where u pay people to drive your car across the country for you?

it would be nice to have someone help split up the driving with, but my friends and family members are all busy with their own jobs/lives/etc....

[LingGrad2009]

LingGrad2009: Thank you for the advice! very helpful what is the name of the company where u pay people to drive your car across the country for you?

it would be nice to have someone help split up the driving with, but my friends and family members are all busy with their own jobs/lives/etc....

Hi Mochi,

The service is called auto driveaway. You'll find a large number of companies that offer it. You can also probably find people on craigslist who will do it cheaper, but that's a real crapshoot. The companies are pretty rigorous about vetting criminal and driving records before turning your keys over. The most responsible drivers are also pretty rigorous about searching EVERY square inch of your car before driving it a foot, because if there's so much as an ounce of pot in it, they'll be the ones doing federal time for trafficking (once you cross a state line, the amount is irrelevant). With a driveaway, though, you turn the car over and then fly. You wouldn't be driving with them. That'd be a rideshare, which you can also find on craigslist and through most universities. I've had some bad experiences ridesharing (nothing criminal mind you, just unpleasant people, ones who didn't have the gas money they promised, or just outright no-shows). As you might have gathered from my last post, I get pretty focused on the haul and don't have time to dither with tourists and partiers. My dad's a trucker and I must get it from him.

[jasper.milvain]

U-Haul haters, are you sure it's not just a case of only hearing the squeaky wheels while the satisfied majority remain silent?

The last time I used a U-Haul for a minor in-city move (like, hauling a sofa and taking stuff to the dump) they managed to be a forty five minutes late after telling me I *had* to be there super early, did not apologize, had a broken internet connection and had to phone my credit card and driver's license number to some random dude with a working computer, couldn't give me an estimate because of the internet thing, gave me a vehicle with an empty gas tank after having me sign a contract saying it had half a tank, were incredibly rude and unhelpful generally, and then overcharged me by $75. Thankfully, the phone center people were lovely and fixed it.

When my husband used a U-Haul to move cities, they didn't have the truck at the location where he had reserved it. They sent him to three different locations, including (swear to God) one that was parked by a cabin over an hour outside the city. When he arrived in Vancouver, they told him to drop the truck at a location that ended up being closed. They gave him the address for another drop point, but didn't tell him that he needed to go to 12345 Main street in NORTH Vancouver, instead of 12345 Main street Vancouver proper. It took three hours of driving around to drop the fracking thing off.

They were never apologetic or even kind, just consistenly snarky and rude. Hate hate hate.

[efagerho]

As an international, I am really worried about the move. Hopefully, I am able to get graduate housing by Penn... My biggest problem is getting all my books with me which weigh around 200lbs total. I have no idea what an international freight would cost me, but it's probably a lot less than the price of the books. Clothes are so much cheaper in the US, so I'm planning just to buy everything and only take some jackets and two tailor made suits with me.

[LingGrad2009]

They were never apologetic or even kind, just consistenly snarky and rude. Hate hate hate.

Wow, okay. never mind I withdraw my statement. Maybe I just got lucky with a couple decent franchises.

[jasper.milvain]

I think the problem with UHaul is that there's not much control or consistency across different franchises. There are some great ones, and some horrible ones, and you never know which one you're going to get. I had a great experience with the head office, but the franchise owners... aiyayai.

[SocViv]

As an international, I am really worried about the move. Hopefully, I am able to get graduate housing by Penn... My biggest problem is getting all my books with me which weigh around 200lbs total. I have no idea what an international freight would cost me, but it's probably a lot less than the price of the books. Clothes are so much cheaper in the US, so I'm planning just to buy everything and only take some jackets and two tailor made suits with me.

I have no idea where you're coming from, but if you have the time, it may be worth looking into taking a cruise. I know it sounds crazy, but if you run the numbers, it can be much cheaper this way. Plus, the economy is so bad cruise rates are way down.

My husband and I did this moving back to the US after his graduate program in England, and it was WAY cheaper than flying and shipping stuff. It was kind of a pain getting that much luggage to the ship (we had to use a train then a taxi), but for just under $1000 each we got an 11 day trans-Atlantic cruise (including meals), transportation between the UK and the US and all of his books and our belongings across the ocean. Plus, airlines have weight limits on luggage, and they won't take luggage over a certain weight no matter what you are willing to pay for it. Had we shipped the books and enough of our stuff so it was appropriate airline weight, it would have cost well over $1000, plus the price of one-way flights which, at the time, were about $1000 each.

[efagerho]

Hmm... that's interesting. My spouse is currently studying at LSE and I will be doing a bunch of flights between London and Finland where I'm from, so I could probably use those flights to transfer all my stuff into her apartment in London. Never even came to think about the option. I still need to get the stuff from London to wherever the cruise ship leaves, but it would probably fit in a taxi. Thanks for the tip!

EDIT: Noticed that it costs around

[kahlan_amnell]

Hmm... that's interesting. My spouse is currently studying at LSE and I will be doing a bunch of flights between London and Finland where I'm from, so I could probably use those flights to transfer all my stuff into her apartment in London. Never even came to think about the option. I still need to get the stuff from London to wherever the cruise ship leaves, but it would probably fit in a taxi. Thanks for the tip!

EDIT: Noticed that it costs around

[efagerho]

I meant buying a return ticket instead of a one-way as the return ticket costs usually about a half of just the one-way ticket. So I would buy a London - Philly - London ticket and only fly London to Philly and just not show up on the return flight. Doing this you save

[mochi7]

Hi Mochi,

The service is called auto driveaway. You'll find a large number of companies that offer it. You can also probably find people on craigslist who will do it cheaper, but that's a real crapshoot. The companies are pretty rigorous about vetting criminal and driving records before turning your keys over. The most responsible drivers are also pretty rigorous about searching EVERY square inch of your car before driving it a foot, because if there's so much as an ounce of pot in it, they'll be the ones doing federal time for trafficking (once you cross a state line, the amount is irrelevant). With a driveaway, though, you turn the car over and then fly. You wouldn't be driving with them. That'd be a rideshare, which you can also find on craigslist and through most universities. I've had some bad experiences ridesharing (nothing criminal mind you, just unpleasant people, ones who didn't have the gas money they promised, or just outright no-shows). As you might have gathered from my last post, I get pretty focused on the haul and don't have time to dither with tourists and partiers. My dad's a trucker and I must get it from him.

[doctoraldude]

I meant buying a return ticket instead of a one-way as the return ticket costs usually about a half of just the one-way ticket. So I would buy a London - Philly - London ticket and only fly London to Philly and just not show up on the return flight. Doing this you save

[efagerho]

Well that's one way to put it assuming you care to inform the airline that you won't be flying.

[engguy]

i want to remind everyone, if no one has already, to save all your receipts if you're moving a considerable distance for school and you have a TA position (in other words, you are "moving for work). i got reamed last summer by outrageous gas prices for my rental truck, managed to claim it all on this year's taxes and saved a bundle. it's a simple form and does not count as an itemized deduction.

[mochi7]

Has anyone had their car shipped before? If so, what company do you (or not) recommend? I'm looking to ship my car from the Midwest to Southern California in the end of July.

If anyone has any thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it!

[psi*psi]

Has anyone had their car shipped before? If so, what company do you (or not) recommend? I'm looking to ship my car from the Midwest to Southern California in the end of July.

If anyone has any thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it!

Wouldn't it probably be a lot easier and cheaper just to drive it? I'm moving from central KY to southern CA, and taking the scenic route. The trip is 3500 miles--so factoring in an estimated 15 mpg (will likely get more; car is 30 hwy when empty) and an estimated $4/gallon for gas, that's still under $1000! (At 20 mpg and $2.50/gal, which I think is more reasonable, that works out to less than $500.) Your trip will probably be much shorter than mine. As far as lodging goes, you can get a room at a decent hotel in a very small town for $30-$40/night, or reserve a campsite for around $20 in a lot of places.

Alternatively, if you're renting a moving truck, you can just rent a car trailer...

[mochi7]

psi*psi:

well, i've got about a 2,000 mile drive that needs to be accomplished in about four days.....and my car is a lease...so adding the extra miles=more money...

if it was just me, than I would definetly drive, but as the situation is different, i would prefer not to drive...

[jeffm2009]

I have heard lots of horror stories about renting a U-Haul. Some people hitch their car to the back of the U-Haul truck but that could make for some pretty stressful driving I think. If you're going a couple thousand miles it may make the most sense to hire some long distance movers. They can take care of car shipping too, usually. Someone mentioned earlier that when she moved from the West Coast to Madison it was around $3300, compared to her friend who moved herself for around $1000 less. That's a considerable price difference but also with professional movers you probably have more piece of mind, and you can fit more stuff in their truck so you don't have to get rid of your furniture if you're attached to it. Make sure to factor in all the costs of moving, you might find that hiring long distance movers actually works out to be fairly close to the cost of doing it yourself, depending on various factors. Just something to think about...