Moving my collection across country
maru
1,450 Posts
As some of you may know, I'm moving from California to Philadelphia in a month. I'm currentyl shopping around for a moving company, but naturally, record collector's paranoia sets in and I begin wondering how my records are going to hold up driving through hot and humid midwest and east coast. Anybody have any experience with this, or have anything reassuring to say?
Comments
Maru - if you haven't picked a mover yet, I'd check movingscam.com for potential carriers first. I've been doing all this research for my own move and they've been a good resource to finding the right company.
It doesn't sound like you've had to do a big move with your records yet and just beware that once you go past 100 miles, the move cost is based on WEIGHT NOT SPACE so watch out for any carrier that's trying to charge you on cubic footage. The sucky thing though is that records, alas, are highly compact and very heavy. My family doesn't have a big apartment in terms of furniture or # of rooms but it weighs about 4.5 TONS, most of which is based on book and record weight.
On the upside, I can now truthfully name a future mix-CD: "My Vinyl Weighs 3 Tons". Take that Peanut Butter Wolf!
is that the truth !!!
interviewed 8 movers for our 200+ mile move
lowest bid was from a slick dood who went by space not weight
went with mayflower, second cheapest
but
they were the one company that didn't stress
how long their movers had been with the company,
experience, etc
&
we found out why
(not too pro, but okay)
all in all, only a couple of the 150 crates spilled or were stacked wrong
but
i did make 3 trips with the wagon loaded
carrying my personal wax & 95% of the 7" stock
the move was $$$$ (loads of books & artwork too)
but it = 1% of the real estate sales price
& getting yer shit to the new spot is key
also
it was funny with
the movers tripping on so many records
In 2001, I made the summer move out of college in NC to Los Angeles. I tried to pack the records towards the middle of the truck (Penske Do-it-yourself) for a better center of gravity and away from the outside heat. I had no problems either.
In August, I'm moving from AZ back to NC. I'm more concerned with getting the records loaded quickly (to avoid the oven-like AZ heat) than the actual drive across country. It's definitely going to be an early morning load before it gets too toasty.
My school's given me $2K for the move which will hardly be enough. I'm gonna check out that movingscam site. I'd love to go with some folks that move it for you, but I have a feeling it's gonna be quite $$$$. I also have to ship an older vehicle that I'm not prepared to get rid of or drive that distance.
For someone who loathes moving, I've done it way too much.
Absolutely. Tough enough not to fall apart and not so big that you can't pick the fuckers up without spinal trauma.
fuck. i didn't know the moving industry was such a shady business. thanks for the heads up though. maybe we should just go with mayflower since i see those trucks all the time.
o-dub, who are you going with? i realize they may not do cross country moves, but if they do i want to check them out.
I'm still waiting to hear from Atlas - if they come in around the same estimate that I've gotten from others, I'll probably go with them since they already contract with my university and paying them would be easier. Otherwise, I'd probably go with Moovers, Inc. (see below).
Here's what I've heard:
People really like Delancy St. Movers. They employ ex-cons (the moving company is part of their rehabiliation), which might worry some, but they've also gotten the highest service marks I've seen from any other mover practically. The problem though is that they don't have a large van fleet so to move you cross country means 1) you're almost certain to be sharing van space with other moves and 2) you'll have to be flexible about your move date.
Moovers, Inc. is also highly regarded. They were also one of the few movers who gave me a binding estimate (meaning that they can't exceed the amount they estimate when they move you). They might have a larger van fleet which could mean more flexibility for when you want to go.
Graebel is a big national firm (the first two were indies) with a solid reputation. Unfortunately, they also quoted me the highest cost even though their weight estimate wasn't that much higher than the rest. I don't plan to use them for this reason but like I said, they have a pretty good rep.
Cor-O-Van is another firm we'd consider going with. Super professional, big firm...they handle all of Apple Computing's move (this info came from my wife) and for whatever reason, I take comfort in knowing this. Their rate was pretty much on par with everything else I got from other carriers and their in-house estimate agent had the most thorough (from what I could see) way to counting up the weight of what the move would be.
Personally, I'd get three estimates (in-house), just to compare. If you want, PM me and I'll tell you what kind of rates I've been quoted.
I'm preparing for an imminent international move, within the next two weeks, still dont have a shipper.
Right now, I'm boxing them up. I have record boxes that are ppretty sturdy, but theres still some space on one side...
What to do to make it tight, or is that half inch negligible?
Anybody ever line their boxes with bubble-wrap, or is that too paranoid?
Peace...
FNM
would anybody recommend shipping boxes of records via ups or dhl? makes me a little nervous but it's just an idea.