Car Shipping/Household Good Moving: AK to RI

Noquar

My wife has accepted a job offer in Rhode Island. We currently live in Anchorage, AK.

Does anyone here have experience with shippers over such a long distance? We are currently debating the pros/cons and prices of getting a Uhaul and towing the car to shipping the car part or all the way, and having a moving company take our household goods. There is also a motorcycle involved in this which could influence the cost quite a bit depending on method.

I have quotes from the Uhaul site, and it isn't pretty. The prices range from 3200 to 4500 just for rental from AK to RI.

I also have moving quotes in to Mayflower and Atlas International.

Any other ideas, major movers, suggestions?

Iceman.USAF

I think a bit more info is needed. What kind of car(s) are you debating driving? Whats the total distance in mileage? Are you making any stops to see family etc along the way?

If one of your cars can tow another, it might make it worthwhile. Is the company your wife is going to offering any type of relocation perks?

strebalicious

I used DAS when I shipped my El Camino from Washington to Georgia. Basically, they have two options: You can drop-off/pick-up your car off at a terminal location, or you can have them come pick it up/drop it off for you (or any combination of either). The cost for me to drop it off in Tacoma and pick it up in Atlanta was a hair under $700 if I remember.

They have a simliar option for household goods called U-Pack. I did it when I originally had to move a bunch of stuff from Georgia to Washington, but it was so long ago I don't remember much about it. They charged for 5' increments of how much trailer space we used, but they have the option to drop off trailers/containers for you to pack. Don't know how much stuff you have, but if it's a lot then this idea is probably not the best.

Noquar

Iceman.USAF wrote: »

I think a bit more info is needed. What kind of car(s) are you debating driving? Whats the total distance in mileage? Are you making any stops to see family etc along the way?

If one of your cars can tow another, it might make it worthwhile. Is the company your wife is going to offering any type of relocation perks?

A Chevrolet Malibu. The starting point for driving is Tacoma, or Anchorage if we don't ship it. The total distance from Anchorage would be around 5000 miles, from Tacoma, 3000. We(I) would not be stopping along the way for visits.

The only towing option is towing it behind a Uhaul, we are selling the other car. We have 8month old twins, a cat, and a dog. So my wife and the kids and pets are going to be flying. The driving would be left to myself and her father, or myself and one of her cousins.

Scrublet

When we moved, my dad drove the car from Anchorage to Indiana. I don't remember what was done with all the stuff though (I was 6).

mts

first off see if you can rent a penske truck if you go that route. way mroe reliable and usually cheaper than uhaul.

i have shipped and towed. towing is fine. it makes things more of a pain since you probably need a large truck and then add on teh car and dolly makes it long so that makes parking a bitch.

Shipping is definitely easier. and it would probably work out to be roughly the same price as towing when you factor in dolly rental and wear and tear . but you get less hassle.

see if you can get a moving package from the new job. if someone else is paying ship the car and pay for a mover.

personally if it was me i would ship the car, sell anything unnecessary and get a upack/pod then fly with your wife.