I have some “stuff” that needs to go from California to Georgia. Household goods, photo albums, toys. About a pickup truck load of boxes. Too small for “PODS” to be cost effective, but very expensive to ship as separate boxes. Does anyone know of a way to containerize such a small shipment and would it be cost effective? Time is of no consequence…anytime in the next several months. Thanks!
What about ABF U-pack?
You might want to compare shipping with U-pack (or similar) with just renting a Budget or Uhaul truck.
If its any help, I recently learned that you can ship stuff on Greyhound for pretty cheap
I think palletized is the way to go. Put the stuff in boxes, arrange it all on a pallet and stretch-wrap it. The cost will ultimately depend on the weight and the freight class; some of the shippers have online quote systems and calculators.
You can box up and palletize your stuff as an “LTL” (Less Than Truckload) shipment to have it sent by truck, but be aware that you’ll be limited to a valuation something like five dollars per hundred pounds in case of loss or damage. Also, there will be lots of booby-trap charges along the way - things like fees for no dock or forklift available, (How do you plan to get that pallet of your stuff on and off the truck if the truck doesn’t have a lift-gate?) residential address surcharges, on-demand delivery, etc.
I have never heard anything good about ABF U-Pack. Lots of problems with damage related to how they sell space by the foot and how they sometimes don’t do a good job of partitioning things so someone else’s anvil collection doesn’t break loose and smash your crystal stemware.
Oddly enough, to go cross country, I found a 16-foot PODS container came out to be substantially cheaper than renting a 20-foot U-Haul truck - the gas for a truck that will get at best 5 MPG really adds up.
I don’t know what your threshold of “expensive” is, but San Francisco to Charlotte, NC was going to be close to $5000 by U-Haul and about $3200 by PODS. You may find that UPS is a viable option.
I checked into all the suggested options and my amount of “stuff” is either too much or too little, depending. I have about a dozen decent sized boxes and I was hoping to find a way to palletize or containerize it and send it as a ride along but I dont think it’s gonna work. PODS and UPack both want $1000.+ and there just isn’t that much stuff. Just enough to cost several hundred by normal shippers (USPS<UPS<FED EX) It’s just my daughters “emotionally attached” stuff that I’m tired of storing now that she’s in GA. Thanks for your help everyone!
Careful with palletizing. If you deliever a shrunk-wrapped pallet to a carrier they will accept it as one piece vs. the total you say are on it. Reason being is that they cannot verify what’s on the pallet, are the pieces packaged properly, labeled properly, etc. I’m in the shipping buisiness and I can’t tell you how often shrunk -wrapped pallets get split opened and pieces lost without any recourse. If you do go this route, keep the pallets on the smaller side.
Have you considered flying out to see your daughter for a weekend? You might be able to take most of the stuff with you, plus get to see your daughter.
If you use the same (or similar) size boxes, you can usually get the (pick-up) driver to count the boxes and sign off on a 1 Pallet containing “X” number of boxes rather the 1 pallet stc (said to contain) x number of boxes. “Do Not Break Stretch Wrap” on all four sides of the pallet AND the BoL (Bill of Lading) goes a long way to to keep the pallet intact… Adding “pallet must be delivered intact” is also a good idea.
You might want to try a shipping broker. I’m not advocating lying, but if you have a legit business name and can really claim that they might have a chance at future business, they might be able to give you a good deal.
Don’t forget to check out alternatives. UPS Package (the brown trucks) have competitors in FedEx Ground and DHL. Both are cheaper, but have limitations.
ABF U-Pack is actually a good service…if you read their faq and guidelines carefully and follow them.
Really, there is no cheap way to send a pallet worth of goods.
I wanted to ship some stuff to Southern California, it included a dining room set and about a dozen good sized boxes. I placed an ad in the Little Nickel want ads (this was pre-internet for me) looking for space on a U-haul truck going somewhere near my SIL’s place. A few days l received a call from a young couple moving to California and would deliver my stuff for the cost of gas for part of their drive. We figured about $200 was fair and they delivered the stuff to my SIL’s doorstep.
Just to add a bit more data: an associate ships a lot of palletized products all over the country from Georgia. To go to California, with his shipper’s discounts (something like 60% off the “rack” rate), he pays about $1.20 a pound. His product can’t be stacked above/below other pallets, so that makes his cost a bit higher than for more durable goods. For that distance, about $130 is probably the bare minimum.
Another possibility I forgot about is to check a national moving company such as Global, S&M Moving, or United (just to mention a few.) A previous employer often used them to move ltl (less then truckload) shipments of high end electronics. A lot of them offer part of a trailer (like ABF U-Pack.) but with more personalized service.