Renting A Moving Truck for self move to USA

[AmericanOne 0]

Hi Everyone,

My husband has his interview next week and we are STILL working out moving his goods to the USA. He doesn't have much stuff, essentially a studio apartments worth of stuff, which would all fit in a small moving truck or trailer. We looked into companies like ABF upack etc, but many of them won't deliver to our home in San Antonio TX. So questions: 1. What companies are okay for moving trucks with drop off in the USA? 2. What forms would we need at the border? I know there is the 3299 for the unaccompanied goods, is there one for items that you bring with you?

I have heard from some people that it is just easier to deal with movers rather than the hassle of going through the border with all your stuff and a rental truck etc. Just looking for some imput and suggestions.

Thanks!

[Inky 1,111]

You make up your own list with whats in the truck and boxes. Just a general list of items and make it on word perfect or whatever you use to write documents with.

Uhaul has different drop off points throughout the USA. Uhaul is based out of ARIZONA oddly enough! We we rented our Uhaul truck and drove to Nebraska and dropped it off at 1 of the 3 drop off locations. Had no issues, just make sure you go over the truck really well and check for pre-made scratches etc and not it on the paper work.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

UHAUL is the only company I've been able to find that's letting me rent here in Ottawa and drop off in Wisconsin. It's costing me $600.

From what I understand, there shouldn't be much of a hassle at the border at all. Bring a list of the truck's contents, item by item.

[Colleens 40]

Hi Everyone,

My husband has his interview next week and we are STILL working out moving his goods to the USA. He doesn't have much stuff, essentially a studio apartments worth of stuff, which would all fit in a small moving truck or trailer. We looked into companies like ABF upack etc, but many of them won't deliver to our home in San Antonio TX. So questions: 1. What companies are okay for moving trucks with drop off in the USA? 2. What forms would we need at the border? I know there is the 3299 for the unaccompanied goods, is there one for items that you bring with you?

I have heard from some people that it is just easier to deal with movers rather than the hassle of going through the border with all your stuff and a rental truck etc. Just looking for some imput and suggestions.

Thanks!

Did you just look into the relocubes with ABF? I used them but used an actual trailer instead of a relocube and I had to option for delivery to do with that (their warehouse wasn't that far away so we ended up picking my stuff there to save a bit of money). They drop the trailer off for 3 days, you fill it and they come pick it up and you get 3 days to unload it as well. They will also do storage if required (I had to store my stuff for 4 months and there were no issues. It cost a bit more, but it was way cheaper than keeping my house for that time and making mortgage payments when I wasn't living there!!)

[kdlangfan 1]

We're using U-Haul. It's less than $300 for us to pick up in St. Catharines, ON and drop off in Rochester, NY (which is only 2 hours drive) and we have 48 hours with the truck.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

When I was looking at relocating, U-Haul was the only company that allowed their rental trucks to be driven and left in the US. The others would allow us to drive into the US but the truck had to be returned to Canada - not an option. We ended up not going with a rental truck in the end and just hiring movers because we realized we didn't want the hassle of dealing with a truck possibly breaking down on the way with all of my stuff in it. The extra cost was definitely worth the peace of mind and lack of stress. Crossing with just me, the cats and a van load of personal belongings was stressful enough.

If you do decide to rent from U-Haul, you should also check and see where the closest dealer is that does allow cross-border drop offs. Even though I lived in Chatham, the closest dealer that would allow us to rent in Canada and return in the US was in Windsor - an hour's drive away and back over the route we would have to go anyway so adding another 2 hours driving time to an already long trip.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I used Uhaul. You can get a quote from their website! There are horror stories out their about the serviceability of their trucks! Like with any rental vehicle--INSPECT IT, before you ACCEPT it!! I told the owner of this small Uhaul place--nice guy--that I heard a lot of horror stories. I said I would not accept a vehicle I felt was not mechanically sound. He assured me that would not happen! I checked over the vehicle--fluids all ok. Tire PSI ok. It was dirty inside,lol but i cleaned it up----I like to clean cars, so was a bonus to me,lol So it looked mechanically fine and I accepted it!

I had a very good Uhaul experience! But I was up front on what I expected and I inspected the vehicle!!

[Penny Lane 8,159]

If you do decide to rent from U-Haul, you should also check and see where the closest dealer is that does allow cross-border drop offs.

Ack, well now I'm worried! I was never told that only certain locations accept cross border drop offs.

[Inky 1,111]

Ack, well now I'm worried! I was never told that only certain locations accept cross border drop offs.

From my experience they do not let you rent Uhaul trucks unless there is a drop off location near where you are driving to. We had to confirm this with the place we rented at.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

From my experience they do not let you rent Uhaul trucks unless there is a drop off location near where you are driving to. We had to confirm this with the place we rented at.

Thanks! I'm gonna have my fiance call around this weekend to the various locations near our home to make sure we can drop it off at one of them.

I have the truck reserved, but they don't have the exact address we'll be returning it to yet.

[skr 0]

Hi Everyone,

My husband has his interview next week and we are STILL working out moving his goods to the USA. He doesn't have much stuff, essentially a studio apartments worth of stuff, which would all fit in a small moving truck or trailer. We looked into companies like ABF upack etc, but many of them won't deliver to our home in San Antonio TX. So questions: 1. What companies are okay for moving trucks with drop off in the USA? 2. What forms would we need at the border? I know there is the 3299 for the unaccompanied goods, is there one for items that you bring with you?

I have heard from some people that it is just easier to deal with movers rather than the hassle of going through the border with all your stuff and a rental truck etc. Just looking for some imput and suggestions.

Thanks!

I found a company in Ottawa that is moving me to Houston. Very experienced moving Canadians to the US. The guy sent me all the forms that are needed, reviewed them after I filled them in and has been very helpful. Might be a bit expensive when compared to "do it yourself" but for me, it will be money well spent.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Hopefully this is not too late for you, but I am using Penske from the US. It depends on how close to the border you are, and if the American fiance plans to come up and get you, as is my case. An American is allowed to drive a US rental vehicle across the border into Canada and back to the US, not the other way around.. We found that having my fiance fly into Buffalo and pick up a truck to drive across the border (for a small additional insurance fee) Drive to Kitchener, load up and drive back to Missouri, costs less than having him fly to Toronto and rent from Uhaul. In fact, the Penske trucks are kept in better condition, AND get better mileage, so win win. We found that we'll be saving over 600$ doing it this way, for the added hassle of a few hours drive. They also let you have unlimited mileage, and rent for a week. You can also rent passenger vehicles the same way, if you plan to use a box company to move the bulk of your items....

[canada_socks 97]

My fiance and I are just loading up his mom's Kia Rondo. I am a little worried about fitting everything in there but worse case scenario, I can bring the rest back in the spring when I come back to visit. I am not moving any furniture, just stuff (which I have a lot of apparently lol!).

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Hopefully this is not too late for you, but I am using Penske from the US. It depends on how close to the border you are, and if the American fiance plans to come up and get you, as is my case. An American is allowed to drive a US rental vehicle across the border into Canada and back to the US, not the other way around.. We found that having my fiance fly into Buffalo and pick up a truck to drive across the border (for a small additional insurance fee) Drive to Kitchener, load up and drive back to Missouri, costs less than having him fly to Toronto and rent from Uhaul. In fact, the Penske trucks are kept in better condition, AND get better mileage, so win win. We found that we'll be saving over 600$ doing it this way, for the added hassle of a few hours drive. They also let you have unlimited mileage, and rent for a week. You can also rent passenger vehicles the same way, if you plan to use a box company to move the bulk of your items....

We did this with a passenger van. My now husband flew into Detroit, rented the van at the airport and drove into Canada. We loaded up the van with items not going by the movers (including 6 cats, houseplants, jewelry, wedding dress, important documents and enough personal items for the cats and me to manage until the moving van arrived) and drove across the border the next day then on down to Georgia. We just returned it to the local outlet for that rental agency. It was definitely the way to go for us.

(cute story - I've told it before but I'll tell it again - when my fiance pulled up at the Canadian border the border guard asked him where he was going. He said 'Chatham'. The guard then asked 'why was he going there" and my fiance said 'to pick up my fiancee, drive her back to Georgia and get married'. The border guard laughed, waved his arm in the air and said 'Drive on, brother! Drive on - far be it from me to stand in the way of another man's misery!" )

Edited September 24, 2011 by Kathryn41