You finished college or got promoted to your job and you need to move to another state? Or you are moving from your parent’s place (finally!) to start a new life as a college student? You meet a huge problem on your way… How to move all items (lovely chair or your beautiful skin couch where you watched Superbowl with your friends) across the country.
I’ll cover a few options you have and as an example, I’m going to talk about a small moving from Boston to Chicago.
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Renting a Van (cheap)
There are few companies that can give in a rent a moving truck and you can simply drive around 15 hours (Boston to Chicago distance is 982.5 mi). All you have to do is pack all your stuff into boxes and wrap your furniture (wrapping materials you can buy and rent even in the same facilities where you rent a truck), call a couple of friends to help you load everything and you are ready to move out!
Price can be different depending on the size of your apartment, which will determine how big is the truck supposed to be. Let’s say it’s a 1 bedroom apartment with an average amount of items (living room, bedroom some kitchen table and etc. with an average of 20 medium boxes) then you are gonna need a 16 feet truck.
Price: For moving 16 feet truck from Boston to Chicago you are gonna need at least $1k. it includes truck rental (including mileage), gas, tolls, and maybe a couple of snacks.
Such a kind of move will be exhausting. You’ll have to drive 15 hours and after you need to unload a truck, and it’s better to drive with someone you know to help you or hire some helpers. -
Moving with Van Lines (cheapest)
Van Lines are moving companies that provide with moving across the country in large trailers and is the cheapest way to move interstate. Usually, these companies have local partners that can pick up your stuff and move it into the storage facility where, after some time, they will be loaded into the trailer with other’s items. After the trailer is full it will go on the trip around a few places and finally will get to your place or maybe you are lucky and you will be the first, you never know…
The price will be between $600-$900.
Such a move is not going to be expensive but you will have to wait between 2 weeks up to a month for your items to be delivered. -
Moving with your local Moving Company (expensive)
This option is also the fastest. But remember we are talking about a move about 1000 mi and for larger moves it can be different.
So, you call your moving company and book a move for the desired day. On a moving day, these guys come to your place, wrap all your furniture and load it into the truck. The truck stays half a day, and usually, in the early morning, it starts the move. They have 2 drivers, so they stop only for gas and such a move takes 1 day. After the day they were driving in the morning movers unload all your stuff. Make sure this company is Licensed and Insured.
The price for such a move will be around $2k.
This way of moving is expensive but saves you a lot of energy and time.
Conclusion: what way to choose is up to you, but the cheapest is not always the best!
