Moving pods?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Has anyone ever used one of those pod-type moving things for a local move? We are moving soon and it feels like it'd be easier to be able to pack incrementally into those, but I don't know if it's worth the added cost. I'm hoping somebody else has done a thorough comparison of the various pod companies already. :) This would be just to move locally, not to store in between.

Comments

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

I believe beowabbit used one once.

[beowabbit]

Yup, I did! It ended up being pretty expensive only because I was really really lazy about unpacking at the other end and ended up treating the pod as a storage shed for several months. (I think it was something like $200 or $250/mo. in addition to the moving/dropoff/pickup costs.) For a responsible adult, I think it would be pretty reasonable. :-)

[frotz.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to comparative pricing, but I helped some friends pack one up for a move from Somerville to California, and it was cost-effective and more pleasant than with the time pressure of loading a truck.

About the one caveat I'd have is that you shouldn't expect one to have solid walls you can pack things in against; there's framing and then a sturdy outer fabric cover. (They are also, thus, far from secure, but fine for general household foods.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I packed one that was, as described, framing with plasticized fabric sides (think banner-material), and one that looked the same from the outside, but had plywood walls under its fabric sides.

If this difference matters to you, then you'll want to ask that question, too, when comparing prices.

Both times I packed them they were for long-distance, interstate moves where the pricing structure is totally different, so I can't speak for that local-pricing part of it. I can say they hold a *lot* more than it looks like they will, and it's kind of eerie to see so much living reduced to a tiny cube.

[totient]

I've also helped pack into a moving pod on a couple of occasions. They vary in how sturdy their outsides are and some are pretty solid. If you are the kind of person who puts things off to the last minute it's easy to wind up having no more time to load it than you'd have to load a truck. They do neatly solve the "have to move at exactly midnight on August 31" problem though.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

It's especially easy in Cambridge that allows for convenient resident use of reserving street space, but it does cost quite a bit more than uhaul so I haven't done it for any of my moves but have helped others with theirs.

They aren't that big as well--I've had friends living alone who couldn't fit all their stuff too big for a car in them.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

(one move, I rented a uhaul and hired 2 northeastern students @$25/hr to do most of the work--it was still cheaper than just renting a pod)

[msiebler.livejournal.com]

I used PODS once ; it was tricky ; be very careful that you have enough space to drop off and pick up the pod since they require a lot of room; especially if you put it on the street.
What happened to me was ; when they dropped it off on the street; there happened to be noone parking at that time; so it was easy to drop off.
Then ; when I scheduled the pickup; they could not get the room to pick up the box ; then they told me i would have to reschedule in 2 weeks!
At $40 a day for the permit that could have been crazy expensive.