PODS cost
 

I just got a quote for my move for one POD from Philadelphia area to TV - about $2500.00 Does that sound reasonable?

It's in the ballpark ... you may want to get a second or third quote ...

I don't know much about pods, but it seems that you'd need to get quotes to compare from the number of companys that now deal with pods. Yesterday I did check out Pensky Truck Rentals and got a one-way quote from Upstate NY of about $1200 for their largest moving truck. If you can get someone to drive it for you and fly them back, or if you could drive it yourself and tow you vehicle on a dolly which they rent, you might find you can come hundreds under the pod quote you got. Check them out* if this idea sounds feasible to you at http://www.pensketruckrental.com/.

* Don't forget to factor in the cost of gas and tolls if you look into truck rentals!

You may also want to check ABF Relocubes.......not to be confused with ABF's buying a truck trailer by the foot....which is another option for many.

Frank

I just last week called PODS for a quote and a large POD from Haddonfield NJ was almost $3k with the taxes. I have gone to Budget truck rental and for a 16 ft. truck for 5 days including 11oo miles was only about $800.

I just called the 800 number - are there different venders?

We are about in the same geographical area so your numbers are pretty consistant with mine. The problem is that I also have two cars so I didn't want to drive a truck.

I have called a moving company for a quote, but I've read so many horror stories about poor delivery, additional costs, broken/damaged/missing goods that I'm not sure that's a good option.

Have you gotten any quotes from any of the moving companies recommended by TV? We got two quotes from those companies and we settled on United Moving Lines. We are moving a cape cod style home from MA to a storage unit close to TV that we booked last week. We are paying slightly under $3500.00 for this move although we are packing the boxes ourselves. United will load the truck and unload the truck for us.

Just a thought

Norm and Gisele

Someone told me
 

Someone told me that they used the ABFs buying footage by the foot they packed the front of the trailer put up a wall (I think provided by the company) and then the company fills the rest with freight but that you had to be flexable on time dates organized to load in a short time and they also told me they put big blue tarps on the floor and over the stuff as the truck was dirty with oil. They said it worked ok and was cheaper. Just something someone told me maybe something to check out.

We used ABF relocubes like others have noted. About 800.00 for their smalllest approx 6x7x8 from Mt. Laurel NJ to TV, worked very well, they even stored it for a month near Ocala waiting for our closing. I believe renting a truck is much more expensive but you will need to run the costs for gas, tolls etc. Go to ABF's website you can get an on-line quote, just fill in the details. Let us know how you make out since we will be moving down full time in a year or two and will be bringing more items.

A friend of ours did this. They dropped off a big trailer in their driveway. They packed it in around 3 days. Plywood walls get secured in front of their stuff. Then they came to get the trailer. They paid by the foot of the trailer space...it was not bad. They went from Buffalo NY to West Palm Beach.

I like the smaller Relocube idea. I've read online that many folks are very pleased with them....and they are cheaper then PODS. They are also smaller then PODS, but you can get two for not much more then one.

Our Florida home is already furnished....so we will not be moving much down here, so a relocube should be perfect. Between the Florida style, age/condition of what we might have up north, etc, many things are just not worth the high cost of moving them. I"ve seen too many folks haul a ton of stuff down here, only to get rid of most of it.

Frank

I got a quote from ABF for a move from Baltimore to TV this August. Two cubes were $1757 and if needed, storage for both at $250 per month. 3 cubes were $2297 with storage at $375 per month.

I guess with Philly only about a 100 miles more, those prices should be similar.

Trailer Hitch Moving Experience
 

I was thinking of getting a small trailer that attaches to the back of the car as I will not be bringing much stuff with me.

I looked on the U-Haul site and the cost was $273 for the trailer I would need to have.

Has anyone done this type of moving and what was your experience driving 2,000 miles?

I wonder if timing has something to do with the prices quoted. If certain times of the year are higher, etc.
I also wonder if you tell them you do not need your stuff that quickly if the cost is better. My Florida home is fully furnished, so if they want to take a month or so to get the stuff down here that would not be an issue. Just wondering.

Frank

We are not that far away, only about 400+. Our plan is to purchase a furnished pre-owned. I will sale my car, rent a U-Haul truck with a car dolly and tow my wife's car. As stated on other threads about moving, the biggest suggestion is downsize (i.e. dejunk), downsize, downsize. Unless you are buying a home in TV that is the same size as your current home, you will more than likely have too much "stuff". Therefore, you have paid for more POD space or other portable moving modules, just to donate a lot of stuff once you get to TV.

We are still about 18 months from making the move, so have not done any pricing. So, my suggestion for Taylor (original post) would be will you really need two cars? Is the size of your home in TV the same? Our TV home will be much smaller than our current one, so we don't want to get into trying to decide here which furniture would fit where down there. I'm selling my car because my car in TV will be a golf cart!!:clap2: Any trips will be in my wife's car. When you look at the expense of driving two cars at $4.00 a gallon, plus the fact you and your wife will be driving separately. You both will be wore slap out from driving and then have to deal with unpacking and all the other headaches of a move.

We all have different moving needs and priorities. Ours is to bring a change of "shorts" and our golf clubs, plus a few keepsakes, which I should be able to get into a small or medium size U-Haul!!

Good luck to everyone making the "big" move! It is a challenge.

Just finished packing 2 Relocubes. Had them for a week and want them at the house next Friday. Cost was $1350 if you only used one and $1850 for 2 from Ma. to TV. Decided not to pack everything into one, but tied everything down in both. I was happy with the price, but found the actual packing to be nerve racking. If I ever did it again (hopefully not in this lifetime), I would probably use on site packers and save my back.

When my wife and i moved from long Island to Southern California we used a moving truck company. Worst experience of my life. They come to your home and give you an estimate then on the way from one state to another they actually get the exact weight and then call you before delivery and hold your stuff for ransom when they tell you the actual weight was much more than estimated and rip you off for extra thousands. The bottom line was we should of sold off all the furniture and could have bought new for close to what we spent moving. If I recall correctly the bill was over $7,000 at that time. When we come to TV everything will be sold first or given away.:blahblahblah::clap2:

We rented the 6'x12' cargo trailer from u haul and drove over 1450 miles. Your not supposed to exceed 55 mph, which was a bummer with all the 18 wheelers passing you on 95. I remember praying alot. LOL We did it over a 2 day period, because it being a fairly heavy load. Sure was happy when we hit our driveway and got it unloaded.

I have used U-haul to furnish 3 homes in TV. One 17 foot and one 14 foot and one 10 foot trailer. Plus about 4 pick-up loads that looked like the Beverly Hillbillys. We are about 850 miles away. One thing I noticed about pricing U-Haul was that it really depended on timing. I would keep checking the web site and reserving another when the price was lower then canceling the last one reserved. There prices change depending on where there inventory is located. When an area gets more trucks and trailers then they need, the price drops. When I first reserved the first 17 foot truck, it was around $1200. By the time I picked it up a couple months later, I had it down to $650. I was able to pack our first home, 3 bedroom, 1900 sq ft in that first 17 foot truck. Took some planning, lots of pads, and some load adjusting, but it all fit.

Driving with a trailer
 

When I used, I'm sure a much smaller trailer driving my daughter to school, ( home of the NCAA BB champs, she was there for their 1st) it was a slow go. 50- 55 MPH tops but you can try to go quicker. You'll have lot's of time to figure it out!

good luck!

Being seasonal we travel down each fall. The first two years I towed a 5’ by 8’ UHAUL trailer with a Nissan Pathfinder. You should not go as fast as without a trailer and you will notice the trailer in the hills of Virginia if you take route 81, but overall it was not much different than the 1300 mile trip from MA normally is. Load per instructions and get your tongue weight correct. There were some very funny moments at the beginning for my wife watching me learn to back the trailer up at our home in MA. I would highly recommend a few minutes of practice in a safe place before your real trip. You do not want the first time you back up a trailer to be in a busy or tight situation.

PS. Sorry taylor, hope you do not mind the slight hijack.

We used a trailer from ABF in Sept 2010 after getting estimates from UHaul, United, Allied and Ryder and PODS. The problem with the moving companies was they wouldn't give us a date when they would arrive in FL. It was anywhere between 3-12 days. If it was 8-12 days or more it was ok with us but if it was less we wouldn't be here yet or have closed on the house and TV would not let them unload before we owned (understandable). PODS and ABF had the most flexibility. ABF dropped off the trailer, we (and nephews and neighbors kids) loaded it under the supervision of my husband. We had 3 days to load. They drove it down and held it for free for 3 days in Ocala then delivered it to our driveway between 1&3PM on the day we took ownership of the house and we had 3 days to unload. We hired 2 Charter School high school boys to unload (recommended here on TOTV) and they emptied that thing in 3 hours and placed contents in rooms under our supervision. They were amazing especially in 95+ heat. We called ABF and they picked up the next day 2 days earlier than we originally thought. Very pleased with the move. Also, United quoted us double the price Allied quoted which was weird.

I am getting information on PODS and Relocubes and ABF's linear foot deal in larger (pup) trailer too.

If...everything goes well and we are soon homeless...:wave: we may need storage for our stuff when we get there and POD offers climate controlled storage and that lock you lock on the end. Relocubes hold about a room of furniture. AND the use of their pup trailers are not as precise as to pick up and delivery.

I think it will cost us about 8K to get our stuff there and store it for a couple three months using PODS.

If we can get all this accomplished, and become homeless can the three of us and our kitties sleep on your lanai for awhile? We are no trouble.

We have already picked out our shopping cart for our day to day belongings.

I have made 3 trips from Ohio to TV with a 15 ft. trailer. It takes an extra tank of gas towing the trailer. The trip is 1000 miles. I tow with a GMC Yukon XL which is a good sized SUV. I have no problem and feel safe traveling the posted speed limits. If your car is big enough to tow the trailer you need I would say go for it.

Bob

We used ABF Relocubes for our move from Allentown, PA to TV the end of March. We used 3 and the cost was less than $1,800; we were very pleased with the service. We had them in Allentown ~1 week and then they delivered them to the Village Pack and Storage for us.

Used PODS last July from Lower NYS cost was about $1500, when I spoke with them I did mention my quote from ABF for two of their cubes at that price, which PODS matched.

ABF has fewer depots than PODS so check and see if they will drop and pickup at starting point.

Wonder why my figures are so much higher.? I would guess that Cincy is about the same distance as NYC to TV...

We used ABF relo cubes and found them to be a grand cheaper than the pods.
We moved from Ma.

We are going to have to store all of our belongings for about three months while we find something. Maybe that is the difference and the fact we are bringing all of our furniture.

Take a look at unitedmayflower dot com. They have cubes, too, and you can get an online quote.

do not use internet moving companies
 

Last year, we almost used a company I found on the Internet. The rep was so friendly, their website looked wonderful, and the price was great. Luckily, I checked with someone from the Commerce Commission...oooboy, the horror stories they had to tell. We had already sent them a deposit. I called them and said our home sale had fallen through. I didn't want to get into what I heard about them. Just be careful. Luckily we sold most of our "stuff" which made the cost much lower. Good luck

Just to give you an update - I eventually went with a moving company. I didn't feel that I could accurately gauge whether I could manage with only one pod and two pods was going to be at least as much (if not more) than a mover.

My experience with the mover couldn't have been better. Although I packed a lot myself it would have been a nightmare packing everything. Since my major goal was to make this move as stressless as possible, I was willing to pay more. As it turns out I actually got some money back.

Good for you, taylor. Glad it worked out well for you!

Bill :)