Mover Chosen!

COUNTDOWN 19 DAYS

The fairytale idea of my girlfriend and I driving a Penske truck towing my convertible came to a swift end when I realized that a 26-foot truck would be needed when I agreed to include my dear friend's stuff who is moving to Los Angeles. With gas prices as high as they are, sharing moving costs just makes sense.

I investigated other alternatives, such as PODS and by train. In the end, just having a good old fashioned moving company handle it, turned out to be the best option.

From my days in corporate, I felt it important to get three estimates. I'm glad I did because they varied greatly from $12,000 to $8,000. However, in reading the fine print, there were a lot more ways they varied:
-- one only offered .60 to the pound if anything was damaged. Just about anything that weighs a pound costs more than sixty cents. I can't even buy produce that cheap right now!
-- one gave me delivery dates spanning from June 30 to July 15. How crazy is that!?
-- one of the prices wasn't "bound" which means they could add as much as they wanted to to the estimate--double it even!--and they'd be within their rights.

In the end, the company I choose was United Van Lines through their agent Suddath Relocation. They were the mid-range estimate (and it was "bound"), but they didn't have weird, crazy terms and gave me a four day delivery window, so at least I know I'll have my stuff before I need to be in full swing of work again on July 7.

For those of you excited to witness the road trip--no worries! Jeannie and I will still be making the trek across the US. Stay tuned for our new driving plan!