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Cheap One Way Moves: U-Haul vs. Budget Truck vs. Penske

My wife and I (and our little dog Rudy) live a very unique life. We travel every few years to a new place, usually near a metropolitan area. We like to live this way as a cheap alternative to visiting another place and really explore what it’s all about. After a few years, we move again. So far, we have lived in San Francisco (Redwood Shores), Las Vegas, New York, Miami and Boca Raton. We are planning to move to Washington, DC in a little bit, where there are a lot of things to see and do.

Every time we venture to a new place, I need to pack up all of our stuff and find the cheapest way to get there. Fortunately over the years, we have learned to be minimalists. We only take what we use, and we usually giveaway the rest. So I have become a little bit of an expert on “One Way Moves.”

When it comes to moving, there are many options to choose from.

Option 1: Have someone move it for you – Mayflower, Allied, Bekins, United Van, Atlas, etc.

Advantages: the easy way, much less work and some companies even offer insurance on items

Disadvantages: very expensive. Costs can escalate from $4,000 to $10,000 or more on a full service truck to help.

Years ago when I was moving to Vegas, I went with a full service no name mover to save some money. I was very proud of myself when I was able to get the moving company to move me out to Vegas for $1500. Unfortunately, no one told the driver when he dropped of the stuff. He wouldn’t let it off the truck until he got his $1500. Needless to say, I was stuck paying double duty. So be careful about getting a low price from a non-branded truck. At the very least, get a written quote for both unloading and offloading of your items when you sign a contract with them. Also, get the driver’s full name, truck DOT (Department of Transportation) number and get the license at both ends (most times, they are not the same people).

Option 2: Containers – Door to Door and Pods

Advantages: This is not a bad idea, especially if you don’t know what date or what address you are going move to. You can also fill it at your leisure. And when you get to your destination and if there is a problem, container companies can store it as long as you like.

Disadvantages: Prices for storage containers are not as cheap as you think. They can also nickel and dime you every step of the way with storage fees and loading fees. So if you need more time, they will make more money.

Option 3: U-pack, they ship – this happens when you pack and put it on the truck. All they do is drive it for you, including companies such as ABF and Flat Rate.

Advantages: Cheaper than the above options because you pack it and you put it on the truck. They also give you a flat rate. So you know what to expect.

Disadvantages: You pack it and you need to load it on the truck within one day, else they will charge for additional time. Some carriers will want an approximate weight to determine the price, and may charge you for “excess load.”

Option 4: U-pack, you ship

Advantages – this is, with a little negotiation, my preferred method. Although I have been able to negotiate the “U-pack, they ship” people to a little lower price, I have 2 cars to ship and often am stuck needing to figure out a way to drive them myself. The “U-pack, they ship” will charge close to $1000 to ship your car, which is a lot more than a car dolly. Besides, I have total control of my move and my stuff doing it myself.

Disadvantages - Can we say “hernia”??? It may be easier on the wallet, but my back takes a beating. Fortunately, there are some cheaper alternatives. Another downside is that you also must pay for gas. Ah, gas! But this may not be as bad as you thing with a few realistic calculations. I will later show you how to calculate true cost so you can make a real side by side comparison.

Overcoming the hernia disadvantage! There are several ways to overcome the hernia disadvantage

You can hire out day labor from Manpower, Labor Finders, Labor for Hire or Labor Ready. You can get cheap labor for moving your items for around $15/hour with a 4 hour minimum. Temp agencies also insure their laborers making it more appealing in case accidents do happen. You may be covered, but ask first.
Or, you can post on Craigslist. But, be careful to properly screen the person.
Finally, you can also try posting a help wanted sign in your neighborhood or at the local high school or college. If personal safety becomes an issue, you may want to reconsider moving on your own.

Considerations for One Way Moves:

How big is the place you are moving (1 -2 bedrooms or 4 bedrooms)? Is it possible to get rid of some stuff? This is a great excuse to have a garage sale.
Do you have cars and how are you going to get them there? This option quickly eliminated Option 3 for me. The customer service representative suggested I would save $$$ on gas. I ask how much it would cost to ship the car. She replied $1000, which as you will see is twice as much as the total cost for my gas.
How much is gas for the trip? – This is actually a simple calculation, but you need to know 3 things.

1) Total Miles - From Boca Raton (where I live) to DC (where I will live) is 1050 miles – use MapQuest or Google Maps or Yahoo Maps to get your estimated distance

2) Miles per Gallon - The truck I rented gets 8 miles a gallon – ask them and they will tell you on the phone

3) The price of gas is $3.60 – estimated (www.gaspricewatch.com)

1050 total miles / 8 miles per gallon = 131.25 gallons of gas to be used

131.25 gallons of gas x $3.60 = $472.50 total (which is much less than having the car shipped)

Do you have family and pets, and how will they get there? You must add in the cost of flying for your peeps and pets.
Do you plan to have a short term storage facility when you get there or do you already have a place to live in mind? Sometimes by having a short term storage facility, you can move in at a very relaxed pace, and put the items and furniture where you want when you want.
Did you also make a list of stuff to cover during the move, such as changing utilities, bills and forwarding mail?
Did you print out a list of hotels in the area in case you can’t stay in the new place because of an unforeseen hiccup? It’s always nice to have a backup.

Once you have completed you total cost calculations, also consider the emotional side. Is this option that you choose something that will work with others or will it cause headaches? Is it worth the savings? Is there a work around? You’ll have to ask my wife about this one.

My system: Divide the responsibilities. My wife handles the inside packing of small items. I move the big stuff and put everything on the truck. By doing this, we stay out of each other’s way.

Option 4: Looking at U-Haul, Penske, and Budget Truck Rentals

These are the three moving truck companies most common for making the move yourself.

My initial considerations: I have a two bedroom apartment and I know that I am going to be towing my car, so I need a car dolly. I also need to take my dog, Rudy. If you fly a dog instead of taking the dog with you, remember to factor that into your total cost equation. It will also take me 2 days to get there, meaning I need to stay somewhere in between. Any volunteers?

The Process:

Step 1: I called all three truck rentals companies saying I need a truck rental. You can also go online. At this point, my objective is just to get a quote for the size I needed (a 16 foot truck) and car carrier.

Budget Truck Rental 1-800-462-8343

Penske 1-888-996-5415

U-Haul 1-800-468-4285

I get the quoted price. After my initial calls, I like Penske because they give me an extra day and they happen to be the lowest price.

Step 2: Let the coupons rip. Once you have all three of them on a quoted price, you can now get coupons for additional discounts. You can search online using the name of the truck rental service and add the word “discount” or “coupon.” Penske also offers an online discount if you are a “Triple AAA” member.

Go back to your quotes and apply necessary coupons. When I was doing this, all three were willing to give at least 15% off of the initial quoted price.

Make sure you include the taxes, as some truck rental companies won’t. This could be a difference in a hundred dollars or so. As such, you may have to estimate your own taxes, and include this number so you can compare apples to apples.

Step 3: Now comes the fun part – negotiate! Call the highest quoted price up and say, “I like using you [insert truck rental company name here], but I was given a better quote by [insert lowest quoted truck rental company name here]. Can you give me a better price?”

When negotiating, you always want to be nice and polite. If you start out angry and challenging, then they’ll hang up. You can always go from nice and polite, to challenging at anytime, but it’s hard to go back to nice and polite after being a pain in the butt. Keep your emotions in check.

If they say “no” or are unwilling, you thank them and try to negotiate with the 2^nd highest price carrier. You keep going back and forth until you get a great price. You may be able to save more than 20% off the initial quoted price. And this is very important, as this negotiation has actually saved me enough to pay for gas!

Prices may change. But in the end if you are able to perform a little due diligence, you too can save enough money to offset the price gas, making your whole trip less of a headache.