Are you moving to California and want to save thousands of dollars and not have the hassle of driving a truck yourself?

I started out getting quotes from movers and most movers quoted me about US$6,000 for the first 4000 lbs and about $100 per hundred after that. Considering I had a lot of useful but heavy and somewhat low value stuff, that was a non-starter. Sure, they would load and unload but that I could get around.

I thought about getting a 20'freight container, having it parked in my driveway and loading it myself. I called around and found no one had a 20' available for LA. Also, I found that for about $200 more, about $2,000 I could get a 40' container and have it moved there. However there was also a trailer rent charge.

However, the freight forwarder told me that I could get a refrigerated trailer for a lot less. %1500 plus about $150 for load insurance. I found Brad at Freightlink (604-542-0254) very helpful. He told me that there are oftem over 100 refigerated trailers coming to Canada every day from California. They are greatly restricted as to what they can haul other than food but they are allowed clean household goods and furniture. With these rules about 1/2 of the reefer trailers return to California empty.

The deal I got for US$1650 was a 53' trailer with a load limit of over 40,000 pounds. No problem taking those extruded steel rack rails at 100 lbs each. I could have torn down the entire house and taken it with me.

The trailer was dropped off Tueaday morning at 9:00 AM. I hired a small local mover to load it costing $225.00 Canadian. The trailer was picked it up that night. I placed my own lock on the trailer though the drive took a key in case of customs inspection.

We only filled 40' of the trailer about 4' deep. A lifetime's accumulation in one truck load, not even 1/2 full. Sigh.

The freight forwarder gave me a US customs form to fill out declaring unaccompanied personal goods which I gave the driver. This form was titled "DECLARATION FOR FREE ENTRY OF UNACCOMPANIED ARTICLES". Customs form 3299. Sometimes the driver wants you to be there with him when the goods cross in case you are taking your stash with you and the dogs check your stuff. Mine didn't ask and when I offered, declined. By the way, the driver that picks up the trailer may not be the driver who does the long haul and the tractor unit will likely be different as well.

I met the driver at 8AM Friday morning in Anaheim and had a small local mover unload the trailer which cost US$242.50. The trailer had to be unloaded by 10:00 as the driver had to pick up in Bakersfield at 11AM. The unloading crew got everything out of the trailer and then we bothered with the putting away after the trailer left.

If I knew somwone else going, we could have put in another full household and still not hit the weight limit.

If I really wanted, I could have even put my car in and flown down. In this vein, the forwarder told me that if I do put a car in a trailer that I have to get 4 old tires from a wrecker. When you drive the car into the trailer you drive it up onto the 4 old tires which are laying on their sides. If you don't do this, the vibration of the truck makes the car move around a bit and wears flat spots on your tires. These flat spots give you a very noisy ride.

Total layout was C$225 for loading, US$1650 for the truck and load insurance and US$242.50 for unloading and moving in. 40,000 lb. limit vs $6,000 for a moving company with a 4000lb limit. Of course, there was no breakage insurance unless the truck was involved in an accident or a crime. My insurance was for C$20,000.

With this sort of price difference, it is a wonder regular moving companies stay in business.

I suggest you call around to get a reefer or other semi-trailer to take your stuff to California. A bit of organization, a few phone calls and I saved big bucks. Maybe 4 hours of extra work to save thousands. For a few hundred more I could have had the local movers do the packing and unpacking as well.

I found my forwarder in the Yellow Pages. They were a little taken aback at my request but once I explained (and offered to pay in advance) they were great. I paid the day before the loading date.

Dan