U-Pack Moving

We were moving from Suffolk to the Seattle area and I was looking to reduce our moving costs since relo wasn’t part of the new job. Full service movers came in about 11k. Doing a rental truck and driving it ourselves was another option but Upack ended up being about $ 1k more and then we weren’t driving a heavy truck across the country, so worth the money. We went over our estimated space and ended up at $ 5100 for a cross country move.
You rent the truck space… no weight limits. It’s a super tall truck and they have online estimates for the space you will need. Had I sold that darn treadmill I would have been almost on my estimated length. No big deal in the grand scheme of things. The phone call to the national number was excellent every time. I only waited once over many calls to speak to someone. You reserve a date and can change it anytime or multiple times. If you cancel there is a fee if too close to the move date.
So we were in a condo community but the driver arrived on time and parked it so it wasn’t an issue. The ramp is 12 feet long and super grippy. You have to pack high to the top to avoid damage AND you need a ton of furniture pads and tie down rope. It’s not their fault furniture rubs and gets damaged. Invest a little money in the packing materials. Don’t get cheap boxes… they cave in. Get good quality moving boxes. We got a lot for free at Uhaul store nearby that are left after other moves and I bought boxes for what else I needed. Our damage was minimal b/​c we put some money into our moving supplies.
Once loaded I called for pickup and they were able to squeeze me in the same day. The driver was courteous and helpful. I couldn’t get the bulkhead door bottom bar to fit and he brought wood to put across for support. The diver on the other end removed that before drop off so we didn’t have to deal with it. He also set up the ramp for me and moved the truck twice to make sure we had clearance walking off toward the house.
We have moved a lot in the 15 years. If I could have afforded the full service move I would have. The damage we did incur was due to running out of furniture pads and being at the end of the space… figuring out how to deal with the last minute weird awkward stuff. Only other damage was stupid packing I didn’t oversee when it was loaded. Friends are helpful but in this case I should have been watching the upper levels myself. I wouldn’t have packed some things the way they did. So be diligent. Keep heavy stuff to the bottom, boxes in the back, and then furniture.
Upack is a great alternative for long distance moving and is a fair price. We used a trailer that was dropped off at our place and driven to our new destination and my review is for that service. We had an excellent experience on both ends and I highly recommend this process if you can not afford the full service companies.