Well I did this move last summer. 2000 mi from Toronto to north-central
Manitoba. I used a 17' UHaul and an 8' enclosed trailer. It cost me about
Can$2500 for rental and fuel. That didn't include other incidental costs.
I researched the move for options, fairly extensively, and the UHaul choice
was the cheapest option available to me. In the US there might be other
choices. In Toronto Ryder would only rent one-way long-distance if you were
a company. Budget wouldn't do one-way at all. Shared load costs were
prohibitive. I considered buying a truck and selling it at the other end but the
outlay would have been too much for my budget.
I got the truck at 4pm Fri. and loaded alone until 9pm when my son finished
work. We loaded until about 8am Sat when it became obvious that the truck
wouldn't fit it all. I had reserved an auto transporter trailer to tote my car with
and they allowed me to change that to the 8'foot trailer. After picking up the
trailer we crashed for about 3 hrs. and finished at around 10pm that evening.
The loading time was long because we were moving it out of a basement
apartment with narrow doors and of the necessity of jamming all the stuff in
yet having it protected. And as a one-time roadie and before that an express
truck loader I am able to get 10lbs of Sh-- into a 5 lb box.
I arranged to leave my car for later pick-up.
I wanted to get out of Toronto at night before sleeping so I would avoid the
long weekend (July 1) traffic, and left right away. The first instance of what
was to come happened when I entered the expressway and a dip in the
road caused the truck to go into a booga-loo and I thought it was going to
turn over. I think the only reason it didn't was because of the weight of the
trailer. I had to almost stop before it ceased. It continued to do that the whole
trip, only I got better at avoiding dips and controlling the sway. Needless to
say I had no chance to admire the scenery. It was exhausting.
Lesson 1. Don't use the mother's pantry above the cab for heavy objects,
such as a record collection or books, no matter how convenient it seems.
Since I was alone and with the lack of space in the jammed truck and trailer
unloading and redistributing wasn't an option.
I arrived at the other end Mon nite and after a good nites sleep had a
comparatively easy main floor unload using a 2 wheeler and the built in ramp.
A tailgate lift would have taken twice as long. Good 2 and 4 wheel dollies are
a must. I have loaded pianos using a ramp and lots of manpower.
I returned the Uhauls Wed., took a bus back to Toronto and then drove the
car back. All in all a promethian task. Took me a week to recover.
If you go the UHaul route make sure they allow you plenty of time for
loading, unloading, and travel. Consider a motel for at least one night midway,
a good nights sleep in a bed does wonders to regain your strength.
Add a bit of space in your estimates, awkward shapes and fragile goods
take more room.
When loading leave the least valued till last. You might have to abandon
some of it. I still regret having to leave the Supermac monitor but not the
old clones.
If you're moving the next few months remember that late winter snow storms
can happen in the mountains and on the prairies. It's no picnic driving a
heavily loaded truck on icy roads when you aren't used to it.
Good luck
Lawrence
>
> We're now in the planning phases for moving Jim Willing's Computer Garage
> from Oregon to Kansas. We're currently looking for the best equipment
> option for moving.
>
> Jim says he probably needs a 24 foot truck. He's currently looking at
> U-Haul, which is always a cheap solution, but he's stuck right now
> hassling with them over some issues from a prior moves where the trucks
> broke down (U-Haul trucks are deathtraps on wheels).
>
> There are a few other truck rental places we're going to try to get quotes
> from (Ryder is asking around $1,500, we haven't checked Budget or Penske
> yet), but I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions?
>
> Jim's original plan was to load the Computer Garage contents into the
> truck and then tow his Suburban from the truck. I am suggesting that he
> rent or even buy a big trailer and use the Suburban to haul the trailer.
> Jim is going to ask some of these places if they will rent trailers one
> way (I don't see why not). I think my suggestion to buy a trailer would
> be cool if he can't since it may be cheaper than renting a truck, and he
> can always use it for other stuff, or sell it when he gets back to Kansas.
>
> Any suggestions are appreciated.
>
> --
>
> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
>
> * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
>
>
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he goes to his death and in death is made wise.
Robert Graves
Received on Wed Mar 06 2002 - 02:18:45 GMT