Has anyone ever used one of those professional moving companies? Are they expensive? Safe? Did they break all your fragiles? I don’t have a lot of stuff, just the basics of my room, and maybe one or two other things. And I’d be travelling from Massachusetts to Florida, about 1500 miles or so. I could jusr rent a UHaul, but I don’t know how to drive them, and also I’d have to get my car down there, assuming I decide to move back this summer. I figure a moving company would be easier than trying to recruit a friend to drive it for me. Any thoughts on them would be muy appreciated!!
I moved from Iceland to China with the assistance of a moving company and it went without incident. They were highly professional and extremely quick (they were paid by the hour!).
I can’t speak for them all of course, so pick wisely. The one I used only operates in Iceland so I guess it’s of no help 
— G. Raven
I’ve usually done my moving myself, but I’ve used professional movers twice. In both cases we packed our own stuff up in advance.
The first time they moved my stuff from Salt Lake City to Massachusetts. My only complaint was that they lost one box – for a week.
The second time they moved us from one town in Massachusetts to our house in the next town. They were SIX (!) (!!!) hours late. They didn’t even call or anything! It turns out they got held up at an ealier job (where they HADN’T packed). Why I should suffer for this I don’t know. They moved things well once they got there.
We’ve used movers twice. Prices vary widely and some of the major companies aren’t all that interested in doing small loads (you’ll know they aren’t interested because they’ll tell you or give an estimate way over the normal range.) You can have someone from the moving company come to your place and give you an estimate at no cost. There are some companies that specialize in smaller moves.
The last move we did we indulged in a professional packer. I don’t know how most of them are, but the one we got was great–very fast and efficient. Nothing got broken or damaged.
If you have a lot of books, you might want to mail them at book rate. For some reason movers don’t like to move them in large quantities–maybe it’s because they are so heavy for their size.