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UHaul Trailer - Any better Option from US to Canada?

piscean5

Star Member
Nov 11, 2009
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Hi All
I am moving from US to Canada. Specifically from New York to Calgary.
Family will be flying but I will be driving my Acura MDX. I am hitching a UHaul trailer (6x12) for my stuff - One way with drop off at calgary.

Any other company which offers trailer service with trailer drop off available in calgary? I couldnt find any so checking.

Thanks in advance

Sidhu
 

cantn

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Jul 20, 2015
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Sidhu, me too in the same boat - same plan. Family flying in, me hitching a uhaul for the lack of better options..
Good luck.
 

volodyalysak

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I moving from Colorado to Vancouver in May, and I'm renting Uhaul truck , selling my cars here, don't feel like importing car , and v6 is pricey with Canadian prices on gas.
 

yodheydhara

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I too plan to do the same - a U Haul trailer or truck. If i get a truck, I will hitch my car behind it.

My wife did find some options for moving, but not sure how reliable they are, they are charging around 4000 USD for moving from MSP to Toronto for a one bed room household.

I can get the name of the movers if anyone is interested.
 

APPNOV2014NY

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Nov 21, 2014
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yodheydhara said:
I too plan to do the same - a U Haul trailer or truck. If i get a truck, I will hitch my car behind it.

My wife did find some options for moving, but not sure how reliable they are, they are charging around 4000 USD for moving from MSP to Toronto for a one bed room household.

I can get the name of the movers if anyone is interested.
Did you check ABF/Upack. It might be easier than towing a trailer and less expensive than Vanlines mover.
 

piscean5

Star Member
Nov 11, 2009
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I did check ABF. It is expensive compared to towing a trailer.
I am anyway driving my MDX, towing a UHAUL small trailer along with it is costing me $700 bucks for one way and drop off at calgary. Big trailer is costing 1600. Will leave/sell stuff here if decided to take small trailer.

If i get something in the same price range, I can consider it because I have never driven towing a trailer and its a 3 day drive. But hopefully should be ok.
 

TealTokki

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Mar 31, 2017
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piscean5 said:
I did check ABF. It is expensive compared to towing a trailer.
I am anyway driving my MDX, towing a UHAUL small trailer along with it is costing me $700 bucks for one way and drop off at calgary. Big trailer is costing 1600. Will leave/sell stuff here if decided to take small trailer.

If i get something in the same price range, I can consider it because I have never driven towing a trailer and its a 3 day drive. But hopefully should be ok.
I have personally used ABF to move stuff from Canada to US and US to Canada. They are expensive compared to the price of a Uhaul. But most people forget that the Uhaul "cost" also includes gas, food, hotel and other travel costs included in long-distance travel.

It also depends on how much stuff you are moving and the distance between location. My situation included moving a full one bedroom apartment between Maryland and British Columbia. So obviously my costs could be a lot higher compared to other situations.

I found in my research that, compared to the other business like them, that will move stuff between the US and Canada (because not all similar business do) they are more reasonably priced and are the most flexible in terms of options.

One bonus, especially for those just arriving, is they offer storage. If you pack some of their "relocubes" and haven't found a place to live yet they will store them for free for a time and then charge a monthly storage fee after that. (Storage arrangements for when you "rent" footage in one of their trailers is a bit different). I found this very helpful. I arrived in Canada and was sleeping in a friends couch while I hunted for apartments and jobs. I didn't have to worry about how my belongings were getting to Canada and after they arrived I was glad to know my belongings were safe at their facility and that I didn't have to worry about not having a place to take my stuff.

Also I believe that clearing my stuff with Canadian customs may have been easier because I was using a well know shipper. *This is purely my personal opinion*

All of my experience with ABF has been great. They are efficient and helpful. I would feel very comfortable recommending them to anyone. I will also be using them again once I get PR and am able to return to Canada again, permanently.
 

piscean5

Star Member
Nov 11, 2009
65
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All that is true but in my case I am driving my car anyway so fuel cost will increase a little as I will be towing a trailer but not by much. Hotel and stay cost were already there in my case.
So in my case UHAUL seems to be the best (and only?) option for towing a trailer which i can drop off in canada.
 

TealTokki

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Mar 31, 2017
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piscean5 said:
All that is true but in my case I am driving my car anyway so fuel cost will increase a little as I will be towing a trailer but not by much. Hotel and stay cost were already there in my case.
So in my case UHAUL seems to be the best (and only?) option for towing a trailer which i can drop off in canada.
Most likley, yes. One problem seems to be lack of services that provide for crossing boarders. Uhaul is so ubiquitous. Even though I used a different type of moving, my largest problem was weeding out companies that don't "do" outside of the US. That was frustrating.

I could have gone with another company that only allows within the US and gotten my stuff from Maryland to Washington state but the hassle to then get it the rest of the way wasn't worth it compared to cost savings.

Regardless of method of move I am an advocate for choosing the option that will get you from point A to point B with with least hassle even if it increases cost.

Good luck and be safe on the drive.
 

volodyalysak

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Jul 6, 2016
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I'we researched everything and i'm taking Uhaul for sure. Upack is another best bet.

Price for Uhaul will be 1400$ plus gas
Upack is around 1100 Terminal to Terminal, and i would have to carry stuff 70 miles to drop it in terminal. Door to door is well over 2.5K, plus 600$ for Airplane tickets
PODS- they are super expensive - close to 3.5K plus airplane tickets

Another good option was to Rent Suburban from Avis for about 1450, but had to get rid of lots of stuff.


I spent 2 days on the phone with every company mentioned and seems like Uhaul is cheapest option and tons of storage, plus you get 1 month of free storage in Canada.
 

cantn

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Jul 20, 2015
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Do we need to do an AES filing to the US customs for personal goods going in the uhaul trailer?