Anybody know anything about shipping possessions across the U.S.?

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Looks like I'm gunna try to some of my large things off to Portland instead of trying to get a trailer. Does anybody have any tips on how to do this, like going thru the USPS or Amtrak or something?

I'll need to ship boxes of books, clothes, and possibly my stereo speakers...

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to routinely ship my worldly possessions across Canada via Greyhound.

― Huck, Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

the cheapest way to send books is usps book rate. get some boxes from borders and pack em up.

i haven't done the amtrak thing, but i've heard it works. ups used to have a deal where if you were shipping over 100 lbs in total you got a pretty low rate per lb (though this might have only been in/out of alaska, i'm not sure).

if you're dropping the trailer because of price, i'd suggest shopping around. the rates between u-haul/ryder/hertz-penske/etc vary greatly depending on your locations and the disposition of their fleets.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

well, it's gon' be about $300 to get a trailer thru uhaul and also have a trailer hitch stalled on my pontiac grand prix...

USPS media rate for a 25lb box of books is about 10 bucks, which seems pretty good.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

plus, i REALLY don't wanna fuck up the tranny or engine on my car by lugging a several-hundred-pound trailer of stuff behind me for 2400 miles across the great plains & rockies...

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

you could get a truck and tow your grand prix behind it. slow going in the mountains, but still.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

costs too much. i'm a budget here.

this budget totals about $jack.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

or rather, ON a budget.

i AM a budgie, tho.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Amtrak is by the pound and friggin cheap (tho book rate still might beat it). They also hold yr. shipment at the other end for up to a week or so when it gets in so you can pick it up at an appropriate time.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Err, drop me an email... I did this with all me possessions about two weeks ago.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Thursday, 26 August 2004 06:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I've shipped via UPS, which was pretty expensive in the end- I don't recommend it if you have a lot of large boxes. Since you don't really want to entirely fill any boxes with books (too heavy), maybe fill most of them 1/3 to 1/2 with books & mail it all by book rate? ;-) They honestly don't ask you what's in them- just drop off the boxes and ask for "Media Mail" which is the spiffy new computer age name for it, since you can also use it for CDs/DVDs/etc. I send stuff to my sister using that rate all the time, and it's not that much slower than regular mail across the country.

― lyra (lyra), Thursday, 26 August 2004 12:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I've shipped via UPS too -- great for books and clothes, terrible for things like stereo equipment and computers, no matter how carefully you wrap them. Don't send anything that has a chance of breaking, because it will.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 26 August 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

anything that breaks is coming with me in the car. TV, PC, stereo stuff, guitar/bass, etc

i just hope it fits.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Thursday, 26 August 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

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