Movers Aren’t Needed In All Moves
If my parents were to move, they would probably need movers. Their house is full of things I wouldn’t want to carry: oversized couches, a 40 inch CRT television that weighs 250 pounds, double-door refrigerator and a grand piano, to name just a few. Some people might be fine with carrying those, but they’re a bit beyond my limits. However, as a student, my belonging don’t get much heavier than a computer and my flat screen TV. Why would I pay moving companies to carry my stuff, when I could carry it out to a ReloCube in a few hours myself?
“Wait a minute,” you say, “what’s a Relo-Cube? Why aren’t you just renting a cube van?” Both good questions. A Relo-Cube is a container from a company called ABF U-Pack (www.upack.com) that’s used to ship your belongings. It’s compact (6 feet x 7 feet by 8 feet) and will easily fit in a standard sized parking space. There are several advantages to using a Relo-Cube for students, or those in an apartment. First and foremost, this method is much cheaper than moving companies. You supply the manpower, but U-Pack worries about delivering the container (or a full-sized trailer if you have a great deal of stuff to move) for you to fill up, then picks it up and delivers it to your new address. If you overestimated your needs and ordered two containers but only used one, you only pay for the one you used. If you’re worried about being rushed, there’s no need: when the Relo-Cube is dropped off, you have three business days to empty it. That should give you plenty of time to round up a few buddies to act as movers!
Students have long been one of the biggest customer segments for the companies that rent out cube vans, small trucks and small trailers. From my perspective, why bother? You might save money compared to using moving companies, at least on the upfront costs, but then you have to deal with driving the truck. Ever tried to back one of those things into a student housing complex? No thanks! Besides, when the rental companies start tacking on the charges for insurance and mileage, and you add up how much you have to fork out for gas, any savings can be eaten up pretty quickly -you’d almost be better off with the movers. Or better yet, with U-Pack.
After realizing how much money he and other college students spent on Movers every year Craig Lang published a series of articles outlining the options for cutting this expense. While there have been similar guides written in the past, Craig’s differed in that he assumed that most people don’t enjoy driving large cube vans, the frequent recommendation for students. While recognizing that Moving Companies are usually too expensive, he advocates an alternative that allows for the concession of self-moving but leaves the transportation to the experts.