Moving SoCal to Seattle: Options?

[MUGATU]

Hey All,

You Seattle mags may recall my previous thread, by this alias, asking about stuff to do while in town for my GFs job interview a few weeks back. Well...the news is quite good, she got the job. Need to move her from LA up in a couple weeks. Stoked for a good roadtrip. Her new job is willing to cover some expense, which is rad, and I'm thinking this:

-she doesn't have much stuff. Basically, all that's coming is a small closet worth of clothes, two dressers, a couple small nightstand things, two bikes, two surfboards, a snowboard bag, and a handful of boxes full of kitchen stuff and etc.

-We'd really rather not drive two vehicles (ie her compact sedan and a uhaul truck) up the coast as we want to make a fun road trip of it. Take a week and hit big sur, SF, Redwoods, etc.

-Thinking a good option would be to ship most everything, then take the bikes, surfboards, and whatever is logical in the car.

-I guess my question is: does anyone have experience with the kind of operation where you pack a shipping container at a shipping yard, and they take it up via whatever to a shipping yard in Seattle where you pick it up? I'm thinking this can't be any more expensive than doing a one-way plus gas on a uhaul truck. Any companies or other alternatives are appreciated. Thanks!

[Greydon Clark]

I’ve moved in this manner. I think it is more expensive but the drive north is much more enjoyable.

[MUGATU]

Found ABF. Seems like one ReloCube (which I think is all she needs) is like $800 terminal to terminal (vs $1300 door to door). The smallest Uhaul box van is right around $1000 not including gas.

[Blinkyjoe]

ABF is a pretty good outfit. Make sure you are crystal clear on insurance, liability and if the fuel surcharge is line itemed and added, or part of the price. You may be able to get a lower rate if you ask them to index the fuel surcharge on the Monday of the week your cube arrives. Check the DOE website, and historicals to see if the price of diesel generally trends up or down on the week of your move, and check the prior 30 day trend. It's a gamble for you and ABF, but you could save some $$$. Here's the formula: total billable miles divided by 5 miles per gallon, multiplied by an amount equal to the DOE U.S. average diesel fuel price, less $2.499 equals the surcharge to apply. All results are truncated, not rounded.
For example, if the DOE average fuel price is $3.999, the fuel surcharge to apply on a shipment moving 750 miles would be calculated as follows: 150 gallons (750 miles divided by 5 miles per gallon) multiplied by $1.50 ($3.999 less $2.499) per gallon would equal an applicable surcharge of $225.00. But if you agree to wait, that could, repeat, COULD decrease.

http://www.abfs.com/resource/fuelsurcharge.asp?bhcp=1

Leave the headache to them. Are you moving as well, or do we hafta take care of the GF between your conjugal visits?

[grrrr]

I did that coming from alaska. It was ungodly expensive, but that's because it was coming from alaska, and it was shit-ton of stuff. Factor in that you will need a uhaul to and from the terminal into your costs. The loading and unloading all has to be done at once, as they will have someone checking your stuff in and out.

[huckster989]

I looked into this after we moved from seattle to LA (kinda funny this is the opposite) the PODs http://www.pods.com/ are kinda spendy I think I checked Long Beach to Seattle once and it was something like $1700 so it depends on how much shes getting for the move as well as how much stuff you have. But I think that's one of the most convenient ways to move. when we moved down we rented a uhaul trailer for abot $250 and towed it behind my jeep grand cherokee, it worked well but have a trailer is never fun (unless its sleds or a boat) congrats on the job and move I'll be back up in a couple years.

[oftpiste]

I know you didn't ask about this but.....I've got an apartment in fremont that might work for ya - pretty cheap, good location.

[bedoe]

Sadly, you probably won’t need the surfboards, I didn’t want to give mine up either but after getting dinged in the garage for a couple of years I sent them back down to a buddy so they could see some use again. Unless of course they are for wind surfing, then you will wish that you were moving closer to the Dalles OR.

[Yonder_River]

Sadly, you probably won’t need the surfboards, I didn’t want to give mine up either but after getting dinged in the garage for a couple of years I sent them back down to a buddy so they could see some use again. Unless of course they are for wind surfing, then you will wish that you were moving closer to the Dalles OR.

Coming from SoCal ya it's not the best, but I have buddies that somehow manage to justify having their surfboards up here.

I'd recommend kitesurfing. There are several locations right around Seattle. I plan on buying a rig soon for those days I can't get to the mountains to ski/kayak.

[PNWbrit]

How about the operations that deliver little packing cubes to your door, PODS? doortodoor?

[puma]

I did this from Australia to the US, and it was spendy. I had little option, and the international\long distance component obviously makes it a different story than your west coast trip, but that was my experience.

[mmmthmtskier]

Did exactly the opposite(SEA-LA) four years ago, hit a lot of breweries on the way back.
PM me if you need some direction...