ABF: Moving Made Easier

I have moved across the country twice, and ABF has been quite helpful, and relatively inexpensive. Many people think that there is nothing to choose between moving yourself and having a full service mover. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is, in fact, an in between option. Packing everything up on your own and having someone else drive it. This process costs considerably less than hiring full service movers to take care of your things. And if you don’t have a ton of stuff, it can actually cost less than renting a U-Haul and doing it yourself.

We priced out getting a U-Haul large enough to move our stuff across the country. We found that it cost a little bit more (not much, though) to get the size of truck that we needed. And on top of that, you have to add in the intangibles like the aggravation of trying to maneuver it hotel parking lots and the daunting task of taking it through the Rocky Mountains. Plus, such a truck is rather uncomfortable to ride in, and nobody wants to drive it alone while the rest of the family is together in the car. You can put the car on a trailer, but that would add another $300 and another annoyance.

The company I went with both times is called ABF. You can find them at upack.com. They offer helpful hints on how much space you will likely need in the trailer, and a straightforward explanation of pricing. It is extremely helpful when trying to decide how much space you will need. However, if you go under, the company will charge you less. Of course, if you go over, you will be charged more. We had such a good experience with ABF the first time, that we didn’t even shop around the second time we had to move cross country. And I doubt we’ll shop around again in the future.

Here’s how it works: ABF drops off a trailer. You pack in your stuff, the way you want it, and then use the provided divider to keep it from shifting, and to separate it from the other people’s things. ABF schedules two to three clients in one trailer, and does it according to location. Our stuff was always the first on the trailer and the last off, since we had the farthest to go. Some of the dividers are made from cardboard-stiffened wire, and that is one of the drawbacks of ABF. The first time we used them, our divider was a sturdy piece of plywood. The second time the barrier was more flimsy. However, all dividers are from floor almost to ceiling, and they do the job. Pack your stuff in well, and it will only shift minimally. We didn’t have any problems with things breaking.

The main drawback is that when other people drive your things, you don’t have them with you when you arrive. ABF took only three days for one of our trips and five for the second. Really, though, that isn’t too bad. Just keep a suitcase of clothes with you and essentials like the computer and hygiene items. We have an air mattress that we brought in the car along with a set of sheets. We were able to make out just fine for the two days we were at the house without our things (the first trip, the trailer actually arrived before we even made it to New York).

ABF offers a generous storage policy. They allow you to leave your things there for two days for free, and charge $50 per day thereafter. For some circumstances (like the fact that ABF was there much sooner than the estimate we were given), they will even hold it longer for free. ABF didn’t try to rip us off. Before the trailer was hauled away, the driver measured the amount of space we took up and let us know how much it was so that they couldn’t fudge the numbers later. And even though we were a couple of inches over, they didn’t charge us for an extra foot.

I highly recommend ABF for your long distance move.