Today while I was looking around on the web, I ran across a question someone who is moving from Nevada to Wisconsin posted on a website. I think questioning the best way to move is a legitimate concern, so it prompted me to write this post about alternatives to one way truck rental. Here's what I read:


http://www.cat.menswatchusa.com/cats-for-sale/were-moving-to-nevada-from-wisconsin-help-2
We're Moving to Nevada From Wisconsin...Help?!?
Ok, so heres the story. My fiance's mom is going to be putting her house up for sale and is interested in moving to Neveda (Henderson area). My fiance's sister lives there, and we've been there a few times and agreed we'd go with his mom to keep her company. We are going to be living in the same house, along with my fiance's best friend (long story how he got involved too).
Anyway as of now, we're looking to move around august/september 2010. Well his mom is for sure going to fly down. She doesnt plan on bring much, mostly buying new furniture once we're there. The plan is, her & I will go down there, get the house and everything set up for the most part and everything. But then there's the 2 boys, a dog and 2 cats. We also have 2 vehicles for sure going.
Would it be a good idea to get the 26' uhaul (2 whole bedroom sets are going, plus lots of boxes, appliances) and a tow behind for the truck (One of the vehicles for sure going)? Then I fly back and drive the car down following the boys? (A friend already said she'll ride with me and fly back).
Also, with pulling a vehicle behind, can you put boxes and such in that vehicle as well? Sorry if it got confusing! Please help!


Forget One Way Truck Rental
Wow! Does reading this make you as tired as it makes me? If they do what they're talking about - driving a one way truck rental from Wisconsin to Nevada while towing a vehicle, flying back to Wisconsin then making the drive again in their personal vehicle - they've got a lot of work ahead of them. Not to mention a huge expense. If I were able to talk to her, I would suggest she forget the one way truck rental plan and instead chose an option where the moving company drives the moving truck so she can drive one of her vehicles on the first trip out and the "boys" (as she calls them) can drive the other car to Nevada when they're ready.

The One Way Truck Rental Alternative
If they were to opt for a service like U-Pack, instead of one way truck rental, ABF would deliver a moving trailer to their home, they would load it, and then ABF would drive it to Nevada. The transit time from Wisconsin to Nevada with ABF is about 4 business days, which would give them plenty of time to make the trip in their own vehicle and maybe even give them time to get the new home ready to start moving stuff in. Once the shipment arrives in Nevada, ABF would deliver the moving trailer to their home and allow up to three business days to unload. And, the cost is similar (sometimes even better) than one way truck rental.

How much does one way truck rental cost - really?
On the other-hand, if they choose the one way truck rental route, they'll pay the base cost for the rental truck - let's just say it costs somewhere around $1500.  Then, when you consider that this is about a 1700 mile move and a one way truck rental usually gets about 10 miles per gallon, they can expect to add about $650 to the one way truck rental price (check out the fuel cost calculator if you need to figure fuel cost for your own move). They also have to add the cost of airline tickets which will probably be somewhere between $200 and $500 (double that if her friend flies back with her).  And, since the top speed for a one way truck rental is normally around 50 mph, the time it takes to drive the 1700 miles will exceed what it takes in a personal car, so they can likely expect to add an extra night hotel stay, adding another $100 or so to the price.  Then, of course they'll need to figure in sales tax and insurance on the truck rental. So total, they would probably end up spending somewhere around $2500 to $3000 - and with a lot of work and time involved to boot. 

So, after all of this, my advice to those considering one way truck rental for a long distance move is to get moving quotes from services like U-Pack. I think you'll find that it's much more convenient and costs just about the same.