What moving company did you use to get you from the US to Canada?

[WaterDad]

We have been married for over five years, have two kids, two cars, and have to pack up a three bedroom townhouse.

Goes without saying, our B4 is crazy.

Anyway, we can't just "downsize" furniture and throw it in the car. Plus, kinda hard to strap two car seats in a moving truck.

In the lead is all of us driving up, importing car, and then me flying back and driving up a u-haul. Which amounts too, less airplane ticket, about $3500-$4000 USD with gas and hotels.


Got any better ideas??? :-\

 

[steaky]

I once saw a RV towing a car and a car with a trailer. Probably they can save money in sleeping and dining in the RV during their trip from US to Canada.

 

[jaime]

We used ABF-upack. They drop off a trailer at your front door. You fill it up, then they pick it up and drop it off at your destination. They give you a couple of days to load/unload.
The only thing I didn't like is I paid them $400/month in storage fees for 10 months and they stored it outside, not even climate controlled at that price. How do I know? There was a small leak in the trailer and it ruined some treasured books and a couple of mattresses.
If you won't be needing storage then they're pretty comparable to Uhaul prices, if you include food, gas and lodging. Hope this helps. Jaime

 

[stevelo]

I once saw a RV towing a car and a car with a trailer. Probably they can save money in sleeping and dining in the RV during their trip from US to Canada.

I rented Penske with a car trailer (just one). If you do it yourself, I suggest Penske since they actually use relatively new trucks (old ones get sold off the fleet) whereas with Uhaul you don't know what you might get. Also once you place an order with Uhaul you might still not find it in your pickup location. Also call different companies and bargain for a price, as the cost is not set.

A key thing though is if you rent something big you need to be sure there is a place to park it (google map every hotel). Also the car trailer -- never unhook it unless you are experienced enough to line that thing up again.

 

[lunas]

I have nightmares about the actual move. I want to start selling my stuff and move with my car and a few things but I'm so attached to my furniture. I am still debating if I should even bother about taking my car or sell it.

 

[WaterDad]

I rented Penske with a car trailer (just one). If you do it yourself, I suggest Penske since they actually use relatively new trucks (old ones get sold off the fleet) whereas with Uhaul you don't know what you might get. Also once you place an order with Uhaul you might still not find it in your pickup location. Also call different companies and bargain for a price, as the cost is not set.

A key thing though is if you rent something big you need to be sure there is a place to park it (google map every hotel). Also the car trailer -- never unhook it unless you are experienced enough to line that thing up again.

Penske doesn't seem to provide one way service from US to Canada. :/

Currently having to movers ( Atlas Van Lines & Rainer Overseas) to come and give us in home quotes to see what the damage is going to be.

 

[stevelo]

Penske doesn't seem to provide one way service from US to Canada. :/

Currently having to movers ( Atlas Van Lines & Rainer Overseas) to come and give us in home quotes to see what the damage is going to be.

True. Since I was moving just past the border, I could drop off at a self-storage, drive back across the border, return the truck at a returning station, unload my car, drive back through the border and register car for export to Canada. Penske actually has a few returning stations right at the border for that purpose.

The truck rental costed about 1k, with gas and hotel 2k... transporting one car in itself was quoted for me to be at least 1k (and then you have to see which carriers are good/reliable); the moving company itself was between 4-6k (we were moving from a remote location). So in our case it worked out.

It's a lot of extra hassle, and I swear I wouldn't move with a truck+trailer again. But there is no denying a cost savings.

Also I believe there is an additional charge if you want to cross the border with Uhaul.

 

[GetUsHome]

We we landed last month and plan to move the end of February. We have been pricing how to do things and it looks like so far the U-Haul U-pods are the way to go for us.

Anyone had any experience with them?

 

[lunas]

We we landed last month and plan to move the end of February. We have been pricing how to do things and it looks like so far the U-Haul U-pods are the way to go for us.

Anyone had any experience with them?

No but I got a quote online and it's about 1,500 bucks for the cheapest one which is a room and a half. I guess it's better than doing the drive yourself ???