We’ve used several different moving companies. Here is an example of the services and expenses for a hypothetical move from Ft. Collins, CO to Ames, IA- moving a 3+bedroom house in a 22, 24 or 26 ft. truck. All prices reflect you loading and unloading the truck yourself. The first three, Budget, Penske, and U-Haul are more typical choices if you want to drive the truck yourself and pull a vehicle. The fourth option is for U-Pack and it’s the company we actually used for our recent move from Ft. Collins, CO to Ames, IA. This is a great option if you don’t want to drive an enormous truck, but you’d like to save money by doing the packing/loading work yourself.
After reading many reviews on each company, I would have to say that none of them are perfect, but building a day or two of flexibility into your schedule will definitely help you cope with this physical and logistic challenge!
Budget
They suggest renting the truck for four days, but you can reserve it longer for an extra fee. This scenario requires you to pick up the truck in the city you’re leaving and drop off the truck in the city you’re moving to.
$549.55 for unlimited miles in a 24 foot moving truck, a car dolly, and a hand truck (dolly)
This is ideal for people who don’t mind driving a huge vehicle and don’t need to accommodate children with car seats.
Penske
Like Budget, this arrangement is for those movers who are able to drive their own truck. Penske requires you to pick up the truck in the city you’re leaving and drop off the truck in the city you’re moving to.
$928.72 for a 22′ truck, hand truck (dolly), and minimal personal and towing insurance ($65.22).
U-Haul
U-Haul also suggests renting the truck for four days, but you can reserve it longer for an extra fee. U-Haul requires you to pick up the truck in the city you’re leaving and drop off the truck in the city you’re moving to.
$1084.00 for the distance from Ft. Collins, CO to Ames, IA with a 26 ft. truck (they didn’t have a 24 ft. option), a car dolly, a hand truck (dolly), and a damage coverage fee. I selected the minimum damage coverage for both the truck and car dolly.
What I love about the U-Haul option is they provide a listing of local companies at both your departure and arrival locations during the reservation process, in case you want to hire extra help loading/unloading on either end. One negative I’ve experienced with U-Haul, and I’ve heard from other DIY movers as well, is that sometimes the truck you reserved is not available at the time you reserved it. This can add a lot of stress to your moving process! I’ve heard from others who have also experienced this.
ABF U-Pack
Youtube on how U-Pack works
Unlike Budget and U-Haul, ABF U-Pack delivers the trailer to the home you’re leaving and drives it to your new address. They suggest a 17 ft. truck for a 3 bedroom home and unlike U-Haul and Budget, the price includes gas, and a driver. The down-side of going with U-Pack is that you have to call a few days before you want the trailer delivered to the home you’re moving from to confirm, and again call to confirm a few days before you want it delivered to the house you’re moving into. We went with this option when we moved from Colorado to Iowa and they didn’t get the trailer to us the night we requested it, even though we had confirmed ahead of time. Thankfully the trailer was delivered to the house we moved into the day we requested and the local movers we hired were able to unload it as scheduled.
The following paragraph is taken from U-Pack’s website. These trailers are taller than the typical moving truck.
Compare ABF’s trailer space to a rental truck
“The amount of loading space in the full 28′ trailer is
equivalent in size to a 26′ rental truck plus another 10′ rental
truck with some room left over.
Need less space? Just subtract $47 per foot from your 17′ quote,
subject to a 5′ minimum. Need more? Just add $47 per foot,
subject to a $1,938 maximum.”
$1,155.00 for trailer delivery to departure house, driving the trailer to arrival house, and gas. This price does not include a car dolly or a hand truck (dolly). We drove our own car and worked a little vacation in between packing and unpacking – it was wonderful! However, if you want to ship your car instead of drive it, this is a much more expensive option. With U-Pack, shipping a car from Ft. Collins, CO to Ames, IA costs $1023.50! That is several times the gas money to drive it or the cost of a car dolly you could use with another moving company.
Also, if U-Pack is the option that works best for you, wrap your fragile items extra well with lots of bubble wrap. These trucks are not built like other moving trucks and do not have an air lift/hydraulic system.
Another nice feature of U-Pack is that they give you wiggle room in the estimation of how much space you’ll need. They’ll schedule a bigger truck and only charge for as many feet as you use.
For those of you moving to or from a big city, having an enormous trailer parked in front of your home for days at a time may not be ideal. One reviewer of U-Pack mentioned needing to obtain a special parking permit. Here’s the quote, “They drop off a 28 foot trailer at your place, which is sort of a pain in the *** to park in both the Washington metro area and Chicago. I had to obtain parking permits from Arlington, VA ($34) and the city of Chicago (the most horrendous, bureaucratic process imaginable).”
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