What is the cheapest way to move storage unit items cross-country? (Fort Myers: truck rental, apartment)

[movingbackupnorth]

Hi all, I'm in a bit of a pickle here and was wondering if someone could help me out. I currently have the contents of a one bedroom efficiency sitting in a 5x5 storage unit in fort myers that I need to have moved (inexpensively as possible) back to my primary residence in Ohio. I had rented the apartment seasonally for the past few years, and amassed a bunch of stuff that I ended up sticking in the unit after each season.



Well, it doesn't appear that I going to be going back down again for the foreseeable future, and hate to have the stuff sitting in there indefinitely. So does anyone know the cheapest way to move my storage unit items back up here? I looked into those POD things, but they looked a bit pricey, and same goes for u-hauling once you factor in gas and the 17 drive I'd prefer not to do. I figure long-distance moving might be a rather common thing there with so many seasonal residents. Any suggestions??

[cfbs2691]

Sorry but cheapest way will be you coming down and moving it yourself in a rental truck.

[FLKitties]

You may want to consider ABF/U-Pack. If you could find cheap flights to/from in order to load the trailer yourself (or with hired help), it might be your best option. They charge based on the amount of trailer space you fill. We've used them a few times for cross-country moves.

[movingbackupnorth]

Originally Posted by FLKitties

You may want to consider ABF/U-Pack. If you could find cheap flights to/from in order to load the trailer yourself (or with hired help), it might be your best option. They charge based on the amount of trailer space you fill. We've used them a few times for cross-country moves.

Thanks for your reply, I will look into that. Do you happen to remember about how much it cost?


I should have also mentioned that I don't have a time-table of having the items shipped back me. If it takes several weeks or over a month or taking several stops along the way, that's absolutely no problem if it means saving a little money.

[cfbs2691]

Is there someone you trust down here that could pack the unbreakable items and ship them to you UPS?

[movingbackupnorth]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

Is there someone you trust down here that could pack the unbreakable items and ship them to you UPS?

Unfortunately no one that would be able to, especially since I have the keys with me up here, so I will have to go down anyway. Loading up a truck, shipment container, or what have you, myself is no issue, I'd just prefer to have to load up a truck and drive all the stuff back.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by movingbackupnorth

Thanks for your reply, I will look into that. Do you happen to remember about how much it cost?

Get this done before school's out for the summer (or wait til fall).
I know moving costs go up drastically then, since that's when movers get extremely busy.

You can also go on uhaul.com and hire guys to load the truck for you, you drive the truck, and you can hire guys to help you unload it.
(You can access various companies that provide this service on the uhaul website and don't have to rent one of their trucks.)

[FLKitties]

Originally Posted by movingbackupnorth

Thanks for your reply, I will look into that. Do you happen to remember about how much it cost?


I should have also mentioned that I don't have a time-table of having the items shipped back me. If it takes several weeks or over a month or taking several stops along the way, that's absolutely no problem if it means saving a little money.

Your cost would be significantly less than what we paid as we filled a whole trailer both times. WI to AR and then AR to CA. Even with a full trailer I want to say it was only a couple thousand so with what you're talking it would be far less. I want to say that they charged by the linear foot and for those taking less than a full trailer what they do is have you put up this board/sheet that essentially blocks your stuff from whatever else is on there and you put a padlock on to secure your stuff from the rest of the load. With ABF/U-Pack they can give you a free quote and tell you more about timelines which might offer additional discounts if you don't need it right away. When we used them it took less than a week but again we were utilizing the whole trailer so our situation was a little different as we were getting an empty trailer that we loaded over multiple days, not one that already had stuff on it.

You may also want to reach out to your local moving company that handles out-of-state moves as you might be able to get a good deal on a back-haul as you have so many people moving to FL on any given day and transport companies don't want to go back with an empty trailer so they're looking to take anything back up that they can along the way. I know Walmart does this, too, but I don't think they do it for individual parties but I could be wrong. With a local company they would be able to give you a good timeline of when they're going to be in the Fort Myers area next which could give you some lead time on getting a flight. Don't forget that you can find good deals on Frontier, Spirit, etc. to RSW and Allegiant to PGD in Punta Gorda if you don't want to spend a lot on a short-notice flight or have to use miles.

[movingbackupnorth]

Hi all, thanks for all the helpful advice. After tons or research, it turned out a one-way Budget 12 Foot Truck Rental was the cheapest route to go. At $400 for the rental and a couple hundred for gas, a cheap $30 Frontier Airlines flight into RSW to get down there (what a steal!), and couple nights in hotels on the way back, that will be A LOT cheaper than the ABF/Freight option that wanted over $1600. Wasn't planning to go road-tripping, but now's a better time than any I suppose!

[FLKitties]

Glad you found something that worked out for you.