Moving Cross-Country: A Consideration of Options That All Suck.
As someone who has moved twenty billion times in the last two months, I have some advice that perhaps you will find useful. A cross-country move is a big money hole, but perhaps you can save a few bucks by reading this article that you are reading right now. There is a secret super-saver tip at the end that no one knows about that could save you up to a thousand dollars or maybe not but no one knows about it but I can't say anything about right now because then you won't read the rest of this article, it's about a little-known package delivery service run by the government subsidized by you, the American taxpayer unless you are foreign.
If you're moving out of an apartment, remember this simple mnemonic: Your Landlord Will Destroy You (YLWDY). The "return" of your security deposit is dependent on your ability to avoid psychological landmines the landlord has had years to hone to a razor-sharp edge even though with a landmine you really don't need to sharpen it, it pretty much has the same killing power as a non-sharpened or "dull" landmine unless there's spikes or the like on the outside, then those could be sharpened, I guess. During our last move, the landlord approached us all buddy-buddy like, and indicated that we should just leave stuff in the apartment that might "come in handy" for her cousin who was moving into her first apartment. But then, on the last day, suddenly the tune has changed and there will be substantial penalties if we leave anything in the apartment (parenthetical tip: to get rid of stuff fast, take photos of it and post it in the laundry room or set it on fire). The landlord's itemized list of charges represented bold new avenues in fiction -- the lowest charge being twenty dollars for an "inoperative" keycard that had been used faithfully every day for years. To sum up: give yourself massive breathing space for moving and cleaning your apartment. Take photos for the ensuing small claims court visit. Landlords in Arizona (at the very least) save you the hassle of trying to rescue your deposit by creating the magical "non-refundable" deposit oxymoron. You may have the unique opportunity to kiss $100+ goodbye when you move into your new AZ apartment. It's like Japan's "key money" that is paid at the same time, but at least the Japanese don't call a sleazy payoff a "deposit.".
Now that everything has been moved out of your apartment AND YOU CLEANED IT AND DON'T FORGET TO USE TOOTHPASTE AS SPACKLING BECAUSE THE ROACHES LIKE TOOTHPASTE THAT WILL SHOW THEM -- SHOW THEM ALL!!!!, how are you going to get your stuff to your new home? Well, I can tell you about several ways that you probably already know about, and one AMAZING way that works if you don't have furniture. STAY TUNED!
U-Haul
You could rent a moving truck. U-Haul offers many fine trucks that are not. Fine. From my experiences with U-Haul trucks, I give those suckers a wide berth when I see one in traffic and I weep silently for the driver. Also, a friend rented one, I helped move the stuff and for some reason bees really liked the truck and when we returned the truck the owner wanted to charge my friend for the orange juice that had been spilled in the back of the truck by the previous renter because we totally didn't have orange juice -- remember, we were puzzled by the bees. Their customer service is also atrocious, you can wait a half-hour just to buy boxes. This is all that U-Haul is good for -- buying boxes. They have a wide selection if you can't get free ones. If you do eventually decide that my mewling isn't going to stop you from U-Haulin', let me quickly mention that the gas gauge indicator on many U-Haul trucks is upside-down. Empty is at the top, Full is at the bottom. One of my friends was fooled by this incident so he ended up paying to completely fill up an empty tank that was reported near "full" when he checked out the truck. I almost fell for the same scam a year earlier. When I caught it, the guy said "oh." That's what they teach them to say in the U-Haul Academy when their bullshit is discovered. "Oh." Do you understand the implications of this? They're scamming you through spurious graphic design. That's how desperate this company is, the scamming is in their hardware. GOD. That should be their logo, the upside-down fuel gauge. [Send me photos of this if you're unlucky enough to get a chance, I'd appreciate it.] Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.
Budget
You want your truck at 9am. You made a reservation. You show up at 9am. "We don't know where the truck is." They have lost contact with the truck, which was supposed to be returned to them the day before. Finally at noon they have the truck, but it will take two hours for them to "clean and inspect" the truck and they will call you and then it's 3:30pm and you call them and they say the truck was ready at 1:30pm and they couldn't call because it was so busy. The truck is given to you without a back license plate -- this is apparently not part of the inspection. The full ashtrays are apparently not part of the cleaning (you are charged if you leave the ashtrays full on returning the truck). The truck also has something called an "exhaust brake" which is in the same spot as the windshield wipers on the steering column stalk and if you activate that (say, when it starts raining) and the exhaust brake is unhappy (most likely) it will try to warn you by emitting a hair-raising beeping sound that fills the cab. Normally a warning light goes on at the same time so you can figure out what the screeching is all about. Normally. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.
Cheap-ass movers
Tricky price breaks -- reasonable for n pounds, ridiculously high for n+50 pounds. Do you know how much all your stuff weighs? I sure don't, and I'm not even you. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.
Rent-A-Semitruck
I don't know what they call this -- there are several companies that do this -- you pack your stuff in a shipping crate, then it's loaded onto a semi, then the semi goes and picks up some other shipping crates, then it spends a month in New York City on vacation or something, then there's the threatened lawsuit, then your stuff is finally delivered. True story. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.
UPS
God, why does anyone use this company? The last time I had something delivered, the driver dropped it from waist-high onto the metal step and we both watched the foam peanuts dribbling out of the package or at least one of us did. You know, just try to at least create the illusion of a company that actually isn't brain-damaged. The last time I moved, I was able to push some computer equipment through them during a strike just before the new insanely-padded "shipping wall" requirements, and only one thing was trashed ... a new record! Instead of paying their drivers and throwers a decent wage or even slowing down the line, their profit margin depends on airborne packages, crammed packages, and you have to pay more for their incompetence. What's their slogan again? "The Big Brown?" SYSTEMIC FAILURE.
Free candy in the office: no.
Fed Ex Ground
Haven't had a problem with these folks, though they need to get their invoicing system fixed. First you get the bottom copy, then they put a sticker on that, then another sticker, then a sticker on top of that, then a separate receipt, then stapled to another form, and then a cup of coffee is taped to that and then everything is attached to your muffler with a coat hanger. This service might be a good way to move your lighter items that can't be used as packing material, like for example large airy three-dimensional confectionery statues. Shaped like an Emmy®? It is your choice, you are the artist! [throws up hands in air]
Free candy in the office: no.
United States Postal Service
Packages are delayed. Packages are lost. Do they have a package destruction service? I do not know -- I shipped a 78rpm record through the mail with the message/address written on it using a cow-marking pen and they were nice enough to deliver it to the addressee after (A) putting the pieces back together momentarily to suss out the address (B) throwing everything in a bag with an apology. Puzzles for all my government friends! Also, the Jeeps are cute ... someone should make an independent documentary film about the planning that goes into the purchasing of a USPS Jeep followed by the actual purchasing of said Jeep. I mean, another movie. Anyway, I used to have a P.O. Box that one or more of the postal workers used to pick through to find free CDs and other promo crap, so you know I'm tight with these idiots. You probably have your own USPS horror story, so I'll let you ruminate on that. Ruminate.
Free candy in the office: no.
Amtrak Express
This is it, my friends, the real, actual reason I sat down to write about moving cross-country in the first place. You can ship packages by train and the cost is very attractive. To ship thirty-three 10-ream paper boxes 2500 miles, it cost me $285 (1998 dollar figures; as a comparison, I shipped four boxes directly to my new house via UPS using the "maximize delay/damage" rate and this cost $134 -- these packages had insurance on them, I don't know why I bothered, trying beating a claim out of UPS sometime). I dropped all of the boxes off at the Dearborn Michigan station, and I arranged for a local shipping company, Cal-Pack, to pick up the boxes in Oakland California and deliver them twenty miles South right into the garage (an additional $40 or so). In Dearborn, they wrapped all of my packages together to form one big pallet -- you might want to see if you can be there during the palletization so you can take advantage of the insulative properties of the pallet's "core."
Recently, Amtrak has cut the number of stations that feature this service, so you'll have to call them to see if your move is feasible (800 377 6914). They're not anxious to ship entire houses through this system (there's only so much room on their baggage cars), but if you're determined, you can do it over time. You will definitely want to chat them up if you have a lot of stuff to move -- there is "regular express" (REX) stations which can accept packages up to 75lbs and "heavy express" (HEX) stations which can accept packages up to 100lbs and pallets/skids up to 1000lbs (for dimensions and weights, check the weights and measures page).
Though this probably won't happen to you, one of the less-informed members of the Dearborn station handed me a pamphlet with guidelines on what could be packed in checked baggage, which is not the same as Amtrak Express packages.
The 800 number indicates that they do not ship "automobiles, furniture, engines, appliances, artwork, motorized vehicles" but that they do ship "books, clothing, musical instruments, bicycles, motorcycles, and mopeds."
If you're really smooth, you'll somehow paste multiple copies of the waybill onto your packages along with your contact information so someone doesn't remove the only copy on your pallet.
Someone recently broke down the price of Amtrak Express and found it comparable to Fed Ex Home. You should probably do the same, because I'm too lazy. Lastly, remember, this is a government service, so it has the potential to be 20% less efficient than anything else. Except UPS. Check it, yo: Amtrak Package Express
Free candy in the office: no.
If you're going to rent anything from anyone, take tons of digital photos of every little ding and discoloration, distant shots, close-up shots, arty shots with gauze draped over the vehicle, "boudoir" photography, etc. Whatever keeps your ass away from their infinite little scamfests. Prediction: The guy who sends you on your way is sweetness and light personified, the guy who receives you miles/days later will be a gruff turd. Be ready, do your homework, search for your chosen rental company with the words "[rental company] sucks" on your favorite search engine, etc. Good luck, and I ain't helping you move, I don't care how much pizza you're offering.
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