moving - PODS vs truck vs other (1 Viewer)

guidomerkinsrules

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probably moving (cross town) sept/oct so i'm doing some very preliminary research
does anyone have any first hand knowledge about the comparative costs of renting a truck vs using pods or the pods-like services?

also who wants to help me move my foldout piano?
 
I've moved cross country several times now. Once I decided not to do the move and paid a company to do it. They came in and wrapped up the packed containers I had ready, wrapped the furniture and everything else. The day they were suppose to arrive, they gave me a 3 hour or so window and arrived within 20 minutes of the first hour. They had everything unloaded and were gone with no problems at all. So a few years later when I decided to do the trip again, I hired the same company. They didn't break anything before, so why would I need the extra insurance? I get a phone call the day they're suppose to arrive to drop my stuff off. The truck had been in an accident, caught fire, and the whole thing had burned. Since I hadn't purchased any extra insurance, had no renters insurance or anything like that, they paid $1 to the pound for everything I had. Go look in your closet at your clothes, that $70 dress shirt that doesn't even come close to weighing a pound. Your suit, a jewelry box, memorabilia. I even had a brand new leather couch and love seat, along with a new queen sized bed that was only a few weeks old. All that stuff that when added up in weight to $ ratio is about $2500-$5000. The morale of this story is that if you let someone else do the move, even if its in town, check on the insurance. Check your home owners/renters insurance on their policy for covering you while moving yourself or having someone else do it.

As a side note to actually answer the question, PODS I thought were designed for long distance, not in town. Seems kind of silly to pay the extra for it just to move it to the other side of town.
 
As a side note to actually answer the question, PODS I thought were designed for long distance, not in town. Seems kind of silly to pay the extra for it just to move it to the other side of town.

sorry for your story - that bites
as for the Pods in town - the thing that i like is that you can take time loading and unloading - since i'll be doing a lot of it myself (still haven't gotten any takers for my foldout piano) i'd like the time, but not if it's tons more than a truck
 
We used PODS last year when we moved across town to a new home. I found the company extremely easy to deal with. The POD was placed in our driveway where we loaded it for about 2-3 weeks, then moved to our new home where it sat (thanks to the grace of the prior owner) for another month while some unexpected foundation work was completed.

There is a drop-off fee, a transportfee, and final pick-up fee which are all explained on the website. In addition, there is a monthly storage fee. I paid a total of about 350.00 in comparison to the 2400.00 we paid the moving company for the large stuff, and considered it money well spent.

One caveat--if you go over your monthly expiration date, you'll get charged for an entire month--no pro-rate, though they will give you a couple days grace.
 
I've moved cross country several times now. Once I decided not to do the move and paid a company to do it. They came in and wrapped up the packed containers I had ready, wrapped the furniture and everything else. The day they were suppose to arrive, they gave me a 3 hour or so window and arrived within 20 minutes of the first hour. They had everything unloaded and were gone with no problems at all. So a few years later when I decided to do the trip again, I hired the same company. They didn't break anything before, so why would I need the extra insurance? I get a phone call the day they're suppose to arrive to drop my stuff off. The truck had been in an accident, caught fire, and the whole thing had burned. Since I hadn't purchased any extra insurance, had no renters insurance or anything like that, they paid $1 to the pound for everything I had. Go look in your closet at your clothes, that $70 dress shirt that doesn't even come close to weighing a pound. Your suit, a jewelry box, memorabilia. I even had a brand new leather couch and love seat, along with a new queen sized bed that was only a few weeks old. All that stuff that when added up in weight to $ ratio is about $2500-$5000. The morale of this story is that if you let someone else do the move, even if its in town, check on the insurance. Check your home owners/renters insurance on their policy for covering you while moving yourself or having someone else do it.

As a side note to actually answer the question, PODS I thought were designed for long distance, not in town. Seems kind of silly to pay the extra for it just to move it to the other side of town.

sorry for your story - that bites
as for the Pods in town - the thing that i like is that you can take time loading and unloading - since i'll be doing a lot of it myself (still haven't gotten any takers for my foldout piano) i'd like the time, but not if it's tons more than a truck

The advantage of the POD is the ability to store it, either on your property or at one of their facilities, while the move is completed. In our case, we stayed in a friend's unoccupied house for 3 weeks while our new home had about $12,000 in foundation work. Luckily for us, this went on the prior owner's tab.

As guido said, you can take your time loading and unloading. All in all, a good deal.

We had a treadmill to move and I was more than happy to pay the regular movers to do it. My father-in-law and I hossed it up the stairs 5 years prior and I wasn't about to repeat the effort :)
 
Ah well, if you are unloading and loading it all by yourself, then I suppose the POD isn't all that silly.
 
I used a self pack ABF trailer for cross country last year without any problems. They were cheaper than a POD or ReloCube (ABF pod version) for the amount of space, but a short move probably changes that equation. Penske trucks were the cheapest option. I'd get quotes from all before deciding. I think the biggest POD/RC advantage is lack of a loading ramp for larger items.

I suggest spending your time packing securely and getting help to load/unload quickly. A couple hours of Craigslist labor is cheap if you want to save your back and friendships. I found the cheapest moving boxes at Lowes/HD, blankets and ratchet straps at Harbor Freight/TSC, and stretch/bubble/foam wrap online (esupplystore.com via eBay).
 
I just priced everything out for my move back to new orleans next month and a truck is a ton cheaper. I was able to hire guys to load the truck in Austin and Unload it in NOLA and still came out cheaper than doing it all myself with a pod.
 
I just priced everything out for my move back to new orleans next month and a truck is a ton cheaper. I was able to hire guys to load the truck in Austin and Unload it in NOLA and still came out cheaper than doing it all myself with a pod.

...and you don't have a sore back :hihi:
 
I used a self pack ABF trailer for cross country last year without any problems. They were cheaper than a POD or ReloCube (ABF pod version) for the amount of space, but a short move probably changes that equation. Penske trucks were the cheapest option. I'd get quotes from all before deciding. I think the biggest POD/RC advantage is lack of a loading ramp for larger items.

I suggest spending your time packing securely and getting help to load/unload quickly. A couple hours of Craigslist labor is cheap if you want to save your back and friendships. I found the cheapest moving boxes at Lowes/HD, blankets and ratchet straps at Harbor Freight/TSC, and stretch/bubble/foam wrap online (esupplystore.com via eBay).

Do yourself a favor and get bonded labor. I've had several friends who hired form the local LaborReady outlet only to find the "laborers" cased their house, found out they had not yet moved in, and cleaned them out the following weekend.

That, or hire a couple college kids :)
 
Pods definitely costs more, but was very good when I used them about 6 years ago. The availability of longer load/unload and possible storage is nice, but at any rate they were reliable and everything made it there safely and at the promised times.

BTW, most local moving companies will hire out guys for a minimum of an hour or two for packing or unloading the big items. I did this too for the loading end big items only, and I think it was something around 80-100.
 

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