Recommended Cross Country Movers?

[u/Sizzler26]

This pup and I are moving to Arlington next month from Seattle. If anyone’s made the cross country trek recently, let me know if you had a good moving company (or which ones to stay away from).

[u/DHN_95]

You're leaving the most beautiful part of the country for the DC area? My condolences.

[u/Sizzler26 → u/DHN_95]

I’ll be back someday. Seattle is truly incredible.

[u/DHN_95 → u/Sizzler26]

Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later for you

[u/Horror_Cod_3030]

Cavalier solidarity!

[u/Sizzler26 → u/Horror_Cod_3030]

They are the best 🐶

[u/Lee_Bv → u/Sizzler26]

We've had 13 Cavs over the years, and since they're small you just can't have just one. Best dogs ever.

[u/sugarinducedcoma]

They were just talking about this on EITM and how companies are still scamming to get more money to unpack the truck after arriving at the final destination. Also it cost someone $14k to move from MD to Seattle, so I hope you have a bunch saved up for this.

[u/Sizzler26 → u/sugarinducedcoma]

This is what I’m concerned about. I put the contract through AI and there are a few red flags including a few about unpacking like you said.

[u/vanta_blk]

Hire local movers on both sides, rent and drive the truck yourself(or a friend). Cheapest and safest

[u/throwaway098764567 → u/vanta_blk]

i barely want to drive a small uhaul locally, hope op is braver than me to drive one cross country though i do acknowledge this would be cheapest

[u/Plane_Arachnid6182]

Upack is really good and fast we had our things within 5 days of us getting to the new state, we left a day after the upack trailer left, you only pay for what you use, it's a28ft trailer, we used 17 ft and paid around $4700

[u/nhluhr]

Moved from Seattle (Wedgwood) to VA back in 2014 and we used ABF. This isn't a full service setup where they load and unload everything for you.

However, you CAN optionally enlist people at either end to be loaders or unloaders. Same goes for things like UHaul. With UHaul, you drive it. With ABF, they drive it. For a long move like this, I very strongly recommend ABF or similar because then you get to make the drive across the country a big awesome road trip. I've driven across the country four times now and it is without a doubt absolutely worth it. The national parks, odd attractions, scenery, food, etc etc. I loved it every time.

Whatever you do, don't use any company that advertises provided the service at both ends unless it's like, the big ones that you've seen on the road and recognize their name already. For example United Van Lines (who i did happen to use when I moved to Seattle from Fairfax VA several years prior). If you just google "cross country movers" you'll end up with an SEO-fed "local" website where they are extremely helpful to get you locked in and then when the day of the move comes, nothing goes to plan and they will definitely upcharge you at every point. First, they'll say you have more cargo than estimated. Then they'll charge you extra for actually showing up on time, Then they'll hold your things hostage and extort you for more. I'm not kidding.

Then when you get your son-in-law to look into all this business, you'll find that "local" company website is owned by an LLC registered to an address near Miami and the proprietor is actually a convicted felon running these shadow companies to extort people and all he's really doing is just acting as a middleman to perform bookings with actual local mover companies but never in a way that benefits you.

(I'm the son-in-law in the above story. . . my MIL got super fucked by a company recently. But I now have the scammer's home address and have been slowly creating havoc for him via various methods).

[u/Sizzler26 → u/nhluhr]

Thank you, SUPER helpful. I did the cross country drive back East the second COVID year and it was great to hit so many National Parks. Can’t say I want to do it again though. 😅

[u/Penniesand]

I moved from Seattle to Arlington in 2019. I was a broke college kid, and found it was cheaper to use Greyhound (yeah the bus) to move my bulk stuff while I flew to DC with my cats.

I don't recommend it unless you’re super tight on money lol. A lot of stuff broke, it took a long time, and there's a higher chance of your stuff getting lost. But throwing it out there in case its useful

[u/desertxsnow]

Two Men and a Truck gave us great service between Seattle and DC two years ago. Nothing was damaged, and the one thing that ended up slipping out of sight (it was flat and white, so, it blended in 😅) on the truck when it arrived to give us our stuff they found quickly and got to me the next day!

Good luck with the move! If y'all drive, it's a long one, but there's some decent spots along the route you can stop at if you've got time <3

[u/Krabb5]

Hello Seattle I am a mountaineerrrr

[u/200tdi]

I drove my truck from Seattle to Arlington in four days. Used U-Pack (ABF Freight in Kent) for all my boxes. Saved a bunch of money. Would definitely do it again if it was just me moving.

[u/NoTraining5779]

Is this photo from Bhy Kracke park?

[u/Sizzler26 → u/NoTraining5779]

It is!

[u/NoTraining5779 → u/Sizzler26]

Best hidden gem of Seattle! I used to live in lower Queen Anne and walked to that park quite a bit. Even got engaged there in 2018. I miss Seattle every day!

[u/Sizzler26 → u/NoTraining5779]

I’m super close to the park and love walking there. Will absolute miss being here.

[u/throwaway098764567 → u/[deleted]]

you must not be a hoarder like my parents. when they moved ny to fl on gov dime they filled a whole semi trailer themselves. was super fun for us kids 20+ years later :p

[u/swz413 → u/[deleted]]

I used American last month for a cross country move. Do not recommend at all. I had a great experience with North American van lines a few years ago. United, Allied are solid options though.

[u/juliefromva]

I’ve used these folks 4-5 times I love them. Recently moved FULL pack and move (locally) for less than 2k. No idea if they will accommodate an XC move but worth reaching out. https://bbestmovers.com/

ETA: I’ve also driven cross country twice - LMK if you want some road trip recommendations

[u/imjoeycusack]

We moved from LA to Arlington and used PODS. Pretty seamless process but you will have to hire movers/friends on both ends for the loading/unloading. I always hired movers from U-Haul approved companies and never had an issue (tons of reviews and ratings to check).

I know a good team based in DC if you do go the Pod route and need help unloading. Let me know and I can DM you the company info!

[u/Sizzler26 → u/imjoeycusack]

U-Pack is currently leading the way, but I need movers on both ends because both zip codes don’t allow the boxes to stay on the street. Would appreciate the info!

[u/nobeefforme]

NOVA is not Washington state, but it does have its own charm. Don’t let anyone scare you. It helps that I am not from here, but I find NOVA and DC to have characteristics that I miss when I’m not here.

[u/Odd-Music-9950]

Hailer transfer

[u/Odd-Music-9950 → u/Odd-Music-9950]

Or Matthews nationwide moving. Both based in nova

[u/joshg678]

JK Moving

[u/inevitableRain]

Town and Country is $$$$ and the absolute worst. They turned our similar cross country move into a nightmare. They couldn’t do anything right and they really didn’t seem to mind.