Shipping

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My son is transferring schools. He was going to a school in Tennessee and it is a 12 hour drive from Florida. That is a fun couple of day road trip with a small tow behind U-haul.

He is going to Yuma Arizona next year. That is a little more than a fun tow behind u-haul type of trip.

How does one ship all his living stuff basically across the country??  Any suggestions.

If we took him it would be a solid week back and forth and the cost of gas, food hotels etc. it would be pricey,a fun trip but pricey.

Pods or one of the copycats.

Or maybe Pods is the copycat.

How do you get the pod there?

If I don't have to drive it I am willing to get it shipped?

Con-Way freight seems to have yards everywhere.  Don't know  how competitive they are.

I've done all from the tow-behind U-Haul trailers through 28-foot Penske truck. More chore than fun; you can't just jet into the National park & camp, and you're always worrying about thieves robbing all your stuff while you sleep.

So much easier to load a container and have someone else haul it.

Oops, 

Con-Way got bought out by XPO Logistics. Still a major LTL (less-than-truckload) carrier

Just for fun I looked up 700 lbs. of stuff from   Tampa to Yuma w/ "residential" surcharge.

About 2000 with fuel and tax.  Seems like if the kid is heading to the other side of the country, what a hassle to haul a bunch of furniture & junk. You just really need clothes, books, computer & stereo when in College. Stuff like TV's can be had free or cheap.

Google Maps calls it about 2300 miles and 31 hours driving time. So at 20 MPG about 230 gallons of fuel r/t, call that 600 bucks. I don't like to do more than 700 miles per day, but with two drivers you could do 3 x (ten hour / 800 mile days). If I were going alone 4 x (600 mile) days would be my pick.

My big question: is Yuma better than Tennessee ?  Has he been out for a visit?  Looks sort of remote, rez on one side & wilderness area the other.

POD/mini freight container is a nice option if he’s dragging furniture, but overkill otherwise.

They sit the POD on your driveway for a month and let you pack it at your own pace. Neighbors love it.

I see there’s a POD in Port St. Lucie.

If he has that much material possessions while still in College, I'd recommend he Drops Out, Backpacks across America, and Finds Himself.

Disco Stu KNOWS

The place H.Dave cites has their version of Pod (6'x7'x 8' tall) priced about a Grand from Tampa ⇒ Yuma. That will hold some stuff !

Looking at that route, it would be an interesting trip across the South in August-September. I've never gone that way, right through the middle of Texas.

How come he can't drive a car with him towing a mini uhaul, turn the uhaul in on his end. As a sophomore he should be able to have a car on campus?

 

Does he own a car, if not maybe but him a used f150 or something that he can load up and then use to drive around. 

 

Lastly it might be cheaper to pay a friend of his who didn't go to college or is not working to drive out and back;

Buy stuff there.

>>>>>>> buy him a used f150 or something that he can load up and then use to drive around. 

Next thing he'll be buying those Nipper bottles of sugary Chick liquors & tossing the empties out the window like all the other pickup driving 20 somethings . . .

Have him cram as much of his shit in the car as he can fit. Prioritize.

Then fill the tank and point him west. Problem solved.

 

I made about ten 2000-mile road trips with my car loaded down. It took me a couple of years to complete the move.

Fly an airline like  Southwest that offers free baggage - you can each bring  2 very full duffle bags - leave most of the stuff that's not important at home if the kid is flying solo, and he can bring more stuff on his next trip.

Thank you for a lot of suggestions. He has a normal college students amount of stuff to move. He and his Mother are flying out and they will take 2 check-in bags and we will have 2 or 3 other boxes we will UPS to him.

All his clothes, blankets and pillows will go in the vacuum pack bags to save room. All his necessary items will be bought out there.

 

You can also look into the USPS' "library rates."   Its their slowest, cheapest delivery rate and I used that to ship stuff when I spent a summer in Denver.