<p>I know this has been posted before, but I need some help. Oldest son has some furniture that he needs to move from DC back to Iowa. It is only about three or four pieces. A desk, a couple benches, a chair. Before you all tell me to have him sell them and buy new ones, these are pieces that he designed and built himself in a couple of Furniture Design classes he has taken, so they really are irreplaceable. We have looked at moving companies, but they want a outrageous amount to move just a few things. We have no time table, he is staying in DC for now, but wants to send these things home now. Any ideas?</p>
<p>The only thing I can think of is renting a small u-haul and driving it back himself.</p>
<p>We are looking at that but with the gas and everything even this option is over a thousand dollars. And the stuff would fit in maybe a quarter of Uhaul’s smallest truck. A van would be great but we haven’t been able to find anyone who rents them for one way moves.</p>
<p>rent a truck, go visit, load the truck and drive home…or have him rent a truck, come home to visit, and drive back to dc.</p>
<p>Do you have any neighbors or friends/relatives nearby who’ll be moving their kid to DC for college for the upcoming year (which’ll be in the next few weeks)? Maybe they’ll be bringing back an empty van/SUV/truck and could tote your S’s stuff, or part of it at least, back with them.</p>
<p>If they are “irreplaceable” definitely drive them yourselves. Moving companies may lose or damage them. My parents have driven furniture all over the country for my siblings & myself. It’s just one of those “parental duties”…maybe you can turn it into a vacation?</p>
<p>My first suggestion would be to talk with the moving companies again about the possibility of consolidating them with other moves going in the same direction.</p>
<p>However since they are more in the category of “artwork”, he may want to consider taking them to a “Pack and Ship” business near where he lives, and then sending them via UPS or FedEx. I’ve shipped a couple of sizable things that way. Not cheap of course, but probably cheaper than renting the U-Haul.</p>
<p>Look into “freight shipping.” That’s for items too big to send UPS and too small for a truckload. I did this years ago with a few pieces of furniture, SF to NYC, and it was a reasonable cost. Can’t remember the company, but a google search should turn up quite a few options. Maybe that will work for your situation.</p>
<p>If Yellow freight is still around, they do that sort of thing, I believe.</p>
<p>ABF is a freight shipping company that is a U-Pack type one. I believe it’s had excellent reviews and is cheaper than a moving company would be.</p>
<p>Another option to consider might be using a rental car company but renting a large SUV type vehicle. Certainly would be cheaper on gas. We did that once when we needed to move some furniture items for S from Atlanta to New Orleans. Given the things you’ve mentioned, they may fit in a space like that, depending on how large they are.</p>
<p>I looked into this a few weeks ago. I needed to get an antique round kitchen table from VA to the midwest. It seemed the two best options were to ship it “blanket wrap” or UPS Freight. Blanket wrap is where a moving co. will put the furniture on another load they are taking your way. Seemed to require more flexibility in terms of timing.</p>
<p>UPS Freight was the cheaper, more timely way to go for this item. This was from a small town in VA, so there might be cheaper alternatives from DC. It was going to cost $315. Gas for my round-trip out there would have been more. I did not end up using the service because my aunt was able to bring the table, so can’t comment on their actual delivery.</p>
<p>I have used fed ex freight and cratersandfreighters.com. It can be expensive. I used it for a very expensive item, so it was worth it.</p>
<p>I wanted a piece of my mother’s furniture which was in florida, and I did find some florida shippers who would have put it on a pallet, shrink rap it, and put it in a mixed load north. It was not that expensive, but I never did it because I could not be there for a couple of days just to get the thing picked up by the mover. Since your son is there, maybe he can find this kind of service. I found movers of this type through a google search.</p>
<p>Maybe your son can get the U haul and try to find others who need items shipped to your location, and charge them to cover some of the costs. Business opportunity? ;)</p>
<p>I’ve had bad experiences with UHaul. One van broke down in the middle of the desert. Pay a tiny bit more and get a more reliable vehicle.</p>
<p>I have a similar situation moving cross country in order to live with my boyfriend and his roommate, and at the same time will be transferring to another community college on the way. it’s a good 1600 or more mile treck, and I’ll be needing to transport a pretty small amount of things: clothing (closet-full!), computer + monitor, Battery backup for computer (heavy, 50lbs?), a desk chair and a metal table/desk with folding legs. (about 3’x5’ surface when folded). the rest will be relatively easy to pack, a lamp, some books and videos/cds, folding shelves, some personal belongings. I’ve been advised to call moving companies and ask if they have any trucks going either direction for my destinations or get a uhaul/tow attachment and drive back, but this would take at least 3 days (no sleeping or motels, alternating driving), or 5+ with stops. So gas would be outrageous and it would take a while. The complication is that aside from the desk chair and table, most of my stuff is easily packable and shippable with maybe the exception of the heavy/valuable computer and accessories. </p>
<p>FYI this is connecticut to Utah, so quite a loooong drive. It’s one way, but I’d like to do it as cheaply and comfortably as possible. I really don’t want to sell the table as it’s an older made-in-usa one that fits all of my computer needs and is good quality, and the office chair was a gift. (but new, so easier to replace with a similar quality item.)</p>
<p>Any tips?</p>
<p>I rented a panel van to move DDinto her first apartment. I don’t know what a one-way rental would cost, but all Fi the major rental car companies have both mini vans and panel vans. You might be able to fit it inan SUV.</p>
<p>A van would fit it all fine, but it’s a long haul. The cost and time and stress of having 3 of us in a van going across the entire continental US would be pretty bad - My boyfriend and his roommate were advocating taking turns at the wheel to avoid staying in motels, but it would still take multiple days (And frankly I’m not sure I’d like to sleep in the van that whole time!. </p>
<p>If at all possible I’d prefer to be able to fly myself and a suitcase or two out and just ship the chair/computer/desk/books separately, but unless I can get a good deal on a moving van or truck someone else is using I have a feeling it wouldn’t be very economical…</p>
<p>I shipped chairs years (decades) ago on a Greyhound bus. It worked, but I have no idea if that is still a service offered. You might also camp across the country.</p>
<p>OP here — after much calling, visits to the Fedex office, etc. we found that wbow had the right idea. H was headed for DC just after Christmas, so he rented a van (got a great one week rental price cause it was Christmas time), drove to DC, did his conference, picked up Son and all his stuff and they drove back together. For the amount of stuff he had this was the cheapest option for us.</p>
<p>For the amount of stuff you have however, if sounds like you should be able to ship it with FedEX ground for not a whole lot – this would have been our next best option. Stop by a FedEx shipping office and get them to work you up a price.</p>
<p>Edited to add; Know the boxed dimensions of the stuff you want to ship before you go to the office and an approximate weight and they will get you a good quote.</p>
<p>I spoke to my boyfriend’s roommate who used to work for interstate moving companies - due to the fragile nature of the computer and UPS battery backup as well as the bulk of the desk (30"deep x 60" long, folded flat.) and extras like chair, shelves, maybe even a dresser, my best bet would be to call interstate moving companies like mayflower or the like, and ask for an estimate for LTT less than truckload of the approximate weight and size of my items, and shove it onto a big moving truck they have going out west. That way I could be there already and have my vital items (toiletries, some clothes, money, documents) unpacked from the plane by the time the shipment arrives. He said they’re relatively cheap and respectful of your belongings.</p>
<p>We considered using the van they own to drive out and back, but from utah to connecticut and back is … a lot of gas. An old chevy van like he has takes 30 gallons of gas and gets horrid MPG, so factoring 10 or so tanks of gas each way, tolls, comfort, food, sleep, etc, it would be over a thousand dollars EASY. </p>
<p>and going LTT affords me the option to pack more furniture or extras like lamps, cd racks, boxes of clothes and drapes or pillows, hangers, etc without worry of incurring too much extra cost or not being able to fit it. Greyhound looked like a good deal too, though, and I will keep it in mind. Might fedex the computer depending on which service would be kinder to fragile goods. I can’t afford to have the computer going through too many bumps, drops, or x-rays though, due to the hard drives and other sensitive hardware. Fedex will surely send it through a couple of xray machines I fear.</p>