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Moving across the country, 2000 miles. I have an F-350 diesel. 3400 payload since that’s always asked. :-)
It’s $1900 to rent a 26’ Penske truck - no mileage fees. I can actually fly 1 way for free.
Any thoughts on comparing the truck rental to buying a used cargo trailer and reselling? Either way, I have to pay for fuel. Obviously I would have wear on my truck. I generally don’t put too many miles on the truck, so I’m not worried about it being high mileage for the year.
Not it sure how much stuff we’ll have yet, but we’ve been aggressively downsizing. 2 trips at the most.
If if I go the trailer route, any recommendation on what size/type is good for resale?
Price out trailers at the point of origination and then trailers at the destination. I would use Craig's List just to get some idea. Then factor in sales tax, registration and maybe some new tires. The nice thing about going the trailer route is that you're not pressed for time or worried about the number of miles should you plan a detour.
If you buy a trailer would you have to tow back, cross country, one-way, empty? That's more expense.
That said; you can buy an empty 10K 24'x8.5' car hauler (with a ramp door for easy loading) for under $5K off ebay, brand new. It would likely cost a lot less to buy a new trailer, make the trip, and then sell the trailer for nearly what you paid for it. Should be the cheaper option by enough to make it worth while.
I bought a brand new 8.5x24, with 5200 lbs axles and LED lights last September from Maxx Cargo. This is exactly the trailer (on their website) except mine is white. Its a 2018 model.
I am very happy with the trailer. I put cabinets, tire racks and a rubber floor mat in mine over the winter. Tows great. We are planning to move into a new home we are having built this summer and plan to use this instead of renting a truck.
30 seconds on ebay and this came up. Lots of people use them as mobile storage.
FYI, I do agree with all of the above as good options to look at. I can say this from personal experience, on long distance moves, the cost is almost a break even on having professional movers versus do-it-yourself because it's a flat mileage rate. Penske rental trucks & trailers (car trailer specific) are excellent!!!! Clean, ready and well maintained!
I'm still on the fence, probably leaning toward the Penske truck just because I can fly 1-way for free (work travel). If I end up needing the trailer for anything else, I'll probably go that route.
moving.... downsizing... old....
used enclosed trailers here in Ohio are crazy money...
but I do not fly... and it will cost. and my F250 also needs to go...
so one way.. trailer....
I have not checked Penske.. I need to... can a Penske truck tow a F 250 ?
U-haul.. trailers are to small.. and there trucks are not allowed to tow a F 250... flat or trailer-ed ( so I have been told by U-Haul dealer )
Check the Penske site or just stop by a dealer and ask them. I would think that a 24/26' diesel penske could tow the truck if it fits on the trailer or dolly.
Used enclosed trailers are crazy money most everywhere. I buy a new trailer every couple of years. I can typically get back what I paid for the trailer. When I figure I'll have to spend $600 on tires soon, its cheaper to sell and buy another. And I always have a minty fresh trailer.
When I moved from CT to NC 3 years ago I had 3 cars to move but I had a car trailer and something to pull it.
Now you ask how did I get the house stuff down to NC?
I loaded everything into 3 large PODS. I only had room for 1 at a time in CT. I would fill it call them to bring another and store the first one.
PODS stored all 3 till I told them when & where to move them to in NC.
The big items we had movers load into a PODS and off load in NC.
When all 3 PODS were empty I called them and they picked them up.
It worked great or us, I loaded & unloaded when I wanted to so took my time.
You might want to look into PODS and drive your truck out with things you don't want to ship.
Dave - - - -
I can add from my experience ...two or three months ago i bought a used 7x14 carry-on trailer. True there are good deals out there..I paid $2,700 for a 2015 that had very little use. But there is no way youre going to hook up to it and start towing cross country back and forth without going through everything on a used trailer. I have pulled all four hubs to check bearings and brakes. Replaced whatever was needed. Installed a new break-away set up and checked all wiring connections. Checked the frame for cracks. Checked the suspension for anything that could become a problem.
I tow everyday.
Being military, I've rented Penske's 5 or 6 times to move. I've managed to put over 13,000 lbs in the back of a Penske and tow a Jeep behind them once or twice. Be sure you get the diesel variant. I believe most of their 26' trucks are diesel, but a few years ago, they were using 8.1 gas engines. I've hit the scales at over 33K (truck and trailer) but the writing on the door said 26,000 gross. Ooops... However, they rent that same truck to commercial companies but have 40,000 gross on the door so they can handle the extra weight. Most of my moves have been back and forth across the country and I've had only minor problems once and Penske was really good about knocking a few dollars off the rental fee.
Penske does not want you pulling anything behind it other than Penske trailers, but I pulled a smaller TT once with no issues. I had to wire up my own pig tail, but it that was easy enough to do. I have looked at trailers as well, but based on my household weight, nobody makes a reasonably priced trailer that will hold over 10,000 lbs of cargo. Even a 10,400 GVW trailer will only hold around 6-7,000 lbs of cargo, more or less.
04-26-2018, 04:32 PM
