Which moving company should I use?

[Oneof2]

There was a thread on this earlier but I have no clue where to find it...

Does anyone know which moving companies are the best?  Or which do-it yourself truck rental places are the least expensive?

[georgialax]

JET movers out of FLA

[HippieLawChick]

For something this important, I would have to check out the cost myself and then ask the individual companies for references.  I wouldn't trust an anonymous person on a message board to provide me with a co. that possibly can ruin everything I own.

[lyrarain]

I am in the same boat: I have to move from Oregon to Charlottesville sometime in July.

I just bumped all the threads I could find (for reading on my lunch break). You can see them in my recent posts under my profile.

[cascagrossa]

www.movingscam.com is a good resource.

[texas1]

I recently moved a lot of stuff out to WA from TX and then 9 months later moved it all back.
MoveEx was who I used - both times they were the best priced by far.
They drop off the trailer - you load it up, and they charge you by how much space you use - so the better you pack, the less you spend. Pods is the same idea, only they uses smaller containers and charge twice as much.
Also on the unload, it's pretty cheap to go through a local company like Starving Students or some such: I hired two laborers for the 2 hour minimum (we were done in 1 hour as I helped quite a bit). But on the load in, try and use friends so you are not as pressed for time, and can really pack the truck well.

Note - not all moving companies have air cushioned trailers (MoveEx did not), so you have to take that into consideration when you are packing certain items (a friend of mine used them and had a dressor crack that had two much weight on top...plus my TV now has a vibration when the volume is turned up too much) - just things to be aware of.

[jacy85]

I was originally going to use movex, but got freaked out by the stories I started to find about them.

They dont' move your stuff.  They're like a broker, they hook you up with whatever company they have in the area that's available for your move.  There's no guarantee that you won't get some sketchy fly-by-night company that movex found.

Not saying people don't have good experiences with them, but just realize going in that "Movex" is NOT moving your things.  They're basically arranging someone else to do it for them, and this third party may or may not be someone you'd want to trust moving your stuff.  Realize and know the risks you're facing going into it.

[texas1]

I was originally going to use movex, but got freaked out by the stories I started to find about them.

They dont' move your stuff.  They're like a broker, they hook you up with whatever company they have in the area that's available for your move.  There's no guarantee that you won't get some sketchy fly-by-night company that movex found.

Not saying people don't have good experiences with them, but just realize going in that "Movex" is NOT moving your things.  They're basically arranging someone else to do it for them, and this third party may or may not be someone you'd want to trust moving your stuff.  Realize and know the risks you're facing going into it.

That is true to a point...They are simply hiring a company with a driver in the area to drop off the trailer, and then pick it up and take it to its final destination: in other words they aren't movers, they are shippers. That's probably why the cost is so low - they have fewer employees and thus less overhead...
They may not be the safest (see previous note about no air-ride suspension) or the most professional, but if you are just moving stuff across the country for school - they should be the cheapest...plus even at my age (35) I plan on replacing a lot of the stuff that I'm taking to school with nicer stuff after graduation...