Greetings,

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

I'm renting from Penske, any feedback on them?

I've done a couple of semi-long distance (several hundred miles)
moves, one time I rented Ryder (truck was ok, but they don't do
personal rentals anymore), and one time U-Haul (the truck was a bit
marginal). But several hundred miles is small potatoes compared to
this planned move (2700 miles according to Google Maps).

I'm thinking the driving can be done in four days... is this reasonable?

Thanks in advance!

-jav

"Javier Henderson" wrote in message
...
Greetings,

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

I'm renting from Penske, any feedback on them?

I've done a couple of semi-long distance (several hundred miles)
moves, one time I rented Ryder (truck was ok, but they don't do
personal rentals anymore), and one time U-Haul (the truck was a bit
marginal). But several hundred miles is small potatoes compared to
this planned move (2700 miles according to Google Maps).

I'm thinking the driving can be done in four days... is this reasonable?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Jav!

We drove a 26 foot moving truck (pulling a car carrier) from Boston to
Central Florida (about 2000 miles) in 2000. We did it in about 40 hours
straight. I have the following recommendations:

1) Don't drive 2000 miles straight without stopping. We did it because
we'd read/heard/been told that moving trucks parked at motels overnight are
prime targets for break ins. I have no idea if this is true or not, but if
it is, a better answer than driving straight through would be to drive at
night and sleep during the day.

2) Your truck will most likely not have adequate stereo equipment. Keep
the boombox out and park it on the seat next to you if you find you are
facing 2000 miles with an am radio.

3) Books on tape are GREAT. Get the unabridged ones.

4) Mapquest will give you an estimate of how many driving hours the trip
will take. I find them fairly accurate for short haul estimates. I can't
tell you if four days is a reasonable estimate.

5) It is really difficult to manoeuvre a 26 foot truck if you are not used
to it. Think about how you are going to get out of the gas
station/motel/mini-mart before you park. When I drove, if I couldn't drive
in and out without needing to back it up, I didn't park it. Life was
too short.

That's all I can think of. Hope some if it is helpful.

Best wishes,

Donna

In article ,
Javier Henderson wrote:

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

The other posting with tips are all good to keep in mind.
Here are a few more. I did a few 1200 mile moves a decade
back.

1) Make sure you have a good truck. A powerful engine,
hopefully Diesel and not gas powered. One that has a
loose front end that wanders is going to be a nightmare.
A/C is a must that time of the year.

2) Getting fuel at truck stops is somewhat of an ordeal,
so be prepared to spend some time. Most times you have
to fill out a big tax form with all kinds of information
when you pay for gas.

3) Don't speed or make yourself a pull-over target. If
you get pulled over, you may end up in a hassle about
having a license to drive a truck. A trooper once wanted
to pull all my stuff out of the back to make sure I wasn't
hauling other people's stuff, which would have made me a
commercial driver.

4) A 1000 miles a day over relatively good terrain was
all I could do. You are hitting desert and two pretty
good mountain ranges, so plan to take it easy.

5) Use a good lock on the truck. I had people try to
break in each night it was parked. Try to arrange to
park the truck where you can see it from your motel room.
Or back up next to some bushes or a building such that
people cannot easily get to the back.

6) Having someone else to ride along would be great.

7) Having a chase car to go along with you would also
be great. That way, you can park in easy spots, then
use the chase car to drive to the eating places, stores,
and other attractions as needed. It would also be a
big help in the event of any problems.

8) Think carefully about how you load the truck. Get
the heavy stuff in first, up front, and in the middle.
Don't get it unbalanced side to side.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

"John A. Weeks III" writes:

In article ,
Javier Henderson wrote:

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year,

I did a Chicago - Los Angeles move 8 years ago.

Make sure you really need the 26' truck: we thought we needed it,
but when all of our stuff was loaded into it, it was essentially
a single layer of medium-sized boxes on the floor. We could have
rented a 16' truck instead, and would have saved significantly
(both on the rent and the gas).

1) Make sure you have a good truck. A powerful engine,
hopefully Diesel and not gas powered.

I got a Budget diesel truck with auto transmission, and was towing
a car as well. The truck was seriously underpowered in the mountains.

If you can drive stick-shift and can find a stick-shift truck,
you'll probably save a lot on fuel as well.

2) Getting fuel at truck stops is somewhat of an ordeal,
so be prepared to spend some time. Most times you have
to fill out a big tax form with all kinds of information
when you pay for gas.

That's a surprize to me. I never had to do any such thing: just
pull through, swipe CC, fill up and go.

3) Don't speed or make yourself a pull-over target. If

The truck I had had a top-speed of 60mph. That's on a flat road with
"pedal to the metal". The slightest incline made the top speed drop
to 30mph. I didn't worry too much about speeding -- the speed limit
is 65m/h in most of the western states.

4) A 1000 miles a day over relatively good terrain was
all I could do.

We did about 700 miles a day. That's with my (ex)wife and 10-year
old in the cabin. My wife was at first scared to drive the truck,
but it's really not a big deal on the freeways, and she soon got
the hang of it.

5) Use a good lock on the truck. I had people try to
break in each night it was parked.

This is also a surprize: we've never had this happen.
We spent nights in motels along the freeway, and most have
lighted parking lots and security cameras.

6) Having someone else to ride along would be great.

Or better yet share the driving.

7) Having a chase car to go along with you would also
be great.

Having a choice of 2drivers/2cars vs. 2drivers in the truck+tow,
I would prefer the latter. Most places along the freeways have huge
parking lots, and finding a pull-through parking space was never
a problem.

use the chase car to drive to the eating places, stores,
and other attractions as needed. It would also be a
big help in the event of any problems.

Getting a towed car off the tow dolly takes about 15 minutes,
and can be easily done in the event of any problems.

8) Think carefully about how you load the truck. Get
the heavy stuff in first, up front, and in the middle.
Don't get it unbalanced side to side.

Also make sure everything is tied down. Our truck liked to go into
resonance with the concrete plates on the road surface, and some
"loose" furniture was bouncing around and got damaged.

Before this experience, I never understood why big rigs sometimes
drive (for long stretches) with all right wheels on the shoulder.
Now I do: in my truck it dampened the resonance significantly.

Cheers,
--
In order to understand recursion you must first understand recursion.
Remove /-nsp/ for email.

On 23 Jul 2005 00:23:41 -0700, Javier Henderson wrote:

Greetings,

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

I'm renting from Penske, any feedback on them?

I've done a couple of semi-long distance (several hundred miles)
moves, one time I rented Ryder (truck was ok, but they don't do
personal rentals anymore), and one time U-Haul (the truck was a bit
marginal). But several hundred miles is small potatoes compared to
this planned move (2700 miles according to Google Maps).

I'm thinking the driving can be done in four days... is this reasonable?

Thanks in advance!

-jav

You don't say where you are in CA so this might not help you. When my
daughter and SOL had to move from Bakersfield to Ohio they saved over $1000
in rental fees by getting the truck & car carrier in Las Vegas. So many
people are moving TO Las Vegas the truck rental places are swamped with
extra vehicle and offer very cheap rates to get them to other parts of the
country.

Good luck with your move!

Been there, done that, three times.

Advice: Take your time. Takes breaks when you need it, don't push further
than you feel comfortable. Don't keep a schedule. Four days is doable, but
if you need it, take the fifth.

I did trip from NY to OR in September.... with a cat. Ran into high glare
in the evening and one horrendous bug storm. I thought I was taking
afternoon long breaks for the cat, but it was great for me, too. Ended up
more relaxed upon arrival, then I felt before leaving.

The trip from Chicago to OR and back in three days was misable. Never again
will I rush a long trip.

Sorry, I have no recent opinion of truck rentals to give you.

"Javier Henderson" wrote in message
...
Greetings,

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

I'm renting from Penske, any feedback on them?

I've done a couple of semi-long distance (several hundred miles)
moves, one time I rented Ryder (truck was ok, but they don't do
personal rentals anymore), and one time U-Haul (the truck was a bit
marginal). But several hundred miles is small potatoes compared to
this planned move (2700 miles according to Google Maps).

I'm thinking the driving can be done in four days... is this reasonable?

Thanks in advance!

-jav

On 07/23/05 07:18 am Donna tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it (or those who have a first cousin
married to someone who had a next door neighbor who did it... you get
the idea...)

I'm renting from Penske, any feedback on them?

I've done a couple of semi-long distance (several hundred miles)
moves, one time I rented Ryder (truck was ok, but they don't do
personal rentals anymore), and one time U-Haul (the truck was a bit
marginal). But several hundred miles is small potatoes compared to
this planned move (2700 miles according to Google Maps).

I'm thinking the driving can be done in four days... is this reasonable?

We drove a 26 foot moving truck (pulling a car carrier) from Boston to
Central Florida (about 2000 miles) in 2000. We did it in about 40 hours
straight. I have the following recommendations:

1) Don't drive 2000 miles straight without stopping. We did it because
we'd read/heard/been told that moving trucks parked at motels overnight are
prime targets for break ins. I have no idea if this is true or not, but if
it is, a better answer than driving straight through would be to drive at
night and sleep during the day.

Yes. Friends of ours had their moving van (not Penske) stolen many years
ago. I'm not sure that it was ever proved, but there was certainly a
suspicion that the thieves had "inside information" -- from somebody at
the point where the truck was rented.

Perce

Javier Henderson writes:

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year, and I'm looking for thoughts and
comments from those who've done it

One more advice: post offices have a MoversGuide with helpful check
lists, discount coupons, change of address forms, etc.

Cheers,
--
In order to understand recursion you must first understand recursion.
Remove /-nsp/ for email.

Javier Henderson wrote:
Greetings,

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina in late August this year,


Thank you. Take a couple of million of your friends and neighbors with
you please.

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 07:59:02 -0500, someone wrote:


5) Use a good lock on the truck. I had people try to
break in each night it was parked.

Hmm yes and according to "Percival" who posted in this thread, that
would be a sign that somebody at the rental office gave an inside tip
as to where the truck would be each and every night. Rather than of
course just demonstrating that when local thieves in each town see a
moving type truck outside a motel, they figure it might be full of
stealable stuff!!!


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

On 23 Jul 2005 00:23:41 -0700, someone wrote:

I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina...

Consider the fuel mileage vs the tank size. A friend went NY to AZ,
this was admittedly a few years age, the truck would only go 60 mph
with roaring engine due to low gearing. It had a 20 gallon tank and
got 5 miles to the gallon. On long interstate stretches he would
start to worry about where to fuel up after only an hour on the road.

I hope that nowadays you will get a better truck from them, then those
old U-Haul "local trucks".


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

I just made 3 400 mile trips. Does that count as long
distance? In any case, you should stay from away from
U-Haul. You don't know what kind of truck you will get,
if you will get it or where you will pick it up. Their
reservation system is almost nonexistent. Stay far away.

We rented twice from U-Haul. Good experience the first time.
New truck and pickup not too far away. 2nd time- nightmare.
Old diesel truck (1986), horn not working, leak in passenger area
and leaks in cargo area also. Extremely loud in passenger
area - enough so that we had to shout at each other and
listening to the radio was impossible. Our cargo was wet
by the time we arrived and U-Haul at least did compensate
us for it after we filed an insurance claim.

3rd rental was a penske. Great truck. Nice folks to deal with.
Reservation system is great. Truck was where they said it would
be when they said it would be there. No jumping around from location
to location. I think Penske uses only newer trucks. Check their web
site.

My 2cents. Hope this helps you.

Dale
v wrote:
On 23 Jul 2005 00:23:41 -0700, someone wrote:


I'm looking at driving a 26' moving truck from California to North
Carolina...


Consider the fuel mileage vs the tank size. A friend went NY to AZ,
this was admittedly a few years age, the truck would only go 60 mph
with roaring engine due to low gearing. It had a 20 gallon tank and
got 5 miles to the gallon. On long interstate stretches he would
start to worry about where to fuel up after only an hour on the road.

I hope that nowadays you will get a better truck from them, then those
old U-Haul "local trucks".


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.