the Cost of Long Distance Movers

We recently were faced with the task of moving my stepson from his one bedroom apartment in Little Rock to another small apartment near Moile, Alabama. We could've done the moving ourselves, but it was less hassle for us to let someone else move his belongings.

We called a month before my stepsons' departure date and compared prices and specifics before settling on one particular mover. This mover required us to pack everything ourselves and mark boxes that had special handling instructions. We also took out a special insurance policy in case anything became lost or damaged along the way, just in case.

The movers were a little rougher loading the items than I would've liked, but amazingly, only a bowl and a set of glasses was damaged. As these were by no means "top of the line" items, I didn't bother using the insurance to cover the cost.

We packed everything up on a Tuesday morning and then we drove down as well, following the movers as far as Louisiana before we took a driving break for an early lunch (they had the address and specific instructions on where to deliver in case they beat us down there). Somehow we got to the new apartment about 30 before the movers arrived so we had a few minutes to relax before attempting to unload the truck.

We were exhausted, but we were able to unload the entire truck by about 10 pm, although we did not even begin to unpack. In the end, everything was left boxed up until the next day while we went to a nearby motel for some much needed sleep.

If your moving company offers an insurance plan against breaking and lost items, consider using it. We accepted it because of my stepson's affinity for electronics (desktop and laptop computers, PlayStation 3, etc.). Although it was cheaper for us to box the items ourselves, and to only pay for one day's use of the service, I believe next time I would take the two day option. If we'd gotten held up for any reason on the road (a wreck, broken down vehicle, etc.) we wouldn't have gotten done within the one day time frame anyway, and we were exhausted after all the hustling we did!