When driving to USA, what truck/van service would you use?

[Shadowess 13]

Hey Folks,

I'm starting to get my mind wrapped around moving to the USA, and I've been looking into how to move. I'm in Ontario, and will be moving to California (via a stop in Missouri to visit the soon to be in laws) and I'm trying to figure out how I will be moving my stuff.

I will be towing my car along with me, but my main issue is trying to find a company that allows one way trips from Canada to the USA. Uhaul is the only one I've found thus far.

Does anyone know of another rental truck company that allows you to pack your own truck and drive it one way to the USA and drop off there?

Thanks!!

[Andy&Vanda 8]

We had a great experience moving from Toronto to Florida using PODs. The beauty of it was we got delayed at the consulate so ended up needing an extra month storage which isn't a problem with PODs. We packed it our selves and PODs sent a whole packet of documents for inventory, POA, etc.. The goods always follow, so at our POE we scanned the stamped visas and sent PODs to go ahead and ship. Our stuff was on our driveway a few days after us.

We called Customs at the New York border several times with questions about pets, cars, etc., and they said they love dealing with PODs and hardly ever have issues. True enough, Customs never even opened our POD. They say that Customs can cut your lock off to inspect, in which case PODs charges you for a new one.

All in All it was a very positive experience. I always dealt with good people on the phone and their website is easy and informative. Good luck!

[k_stacky 65]

I'm struggling with something similar to this too, except I don't own my own vehicle, but I really want to drive my things down in a one way trip instead of having them shipped by someone else.

So far I've found the obvious U-Haul option, and the other one I've found is a place called Budget.ca. From what I've gathered they seem to allow one way trips, however whenever I try and get a quote for my drop off location (Ontario to Ocala, FL) it always says that all the dates are booked up for Ocala. I'm actually going to their in person location tomorrow to see if this is just an online error or what, and I will let you know what happens.

Another option someone suggested to me (because I really only have about a mini van worth of things) is to rent a car in my home town, drive it to the border, and pick up another car across the border that is US to leave it at a US location. Personally, I don't think this would be very effective though... especially if you have a lot of things to move, but another way to look at things nonetheless. Another more reasonable option is to have someone you know drive a rental across the US border into Canada (making sure the rental company is okay with it first), picking up you and your belongings, and then crossing back into the US.

You may also consider (depending on how much stuff you have) driving your car and renting a tow behind trailer from U-haul if your car is capable of towing one. This is much cheaper if you don't have a lot of things and you can still do the one way drop off with the trailer.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Uhaul was fine for us (Kitchener ON to VA) - My now husband flew up and drove us back. We packed up my 2 bedroom apartment and split our normal 9 hr drive over 2 days, since we were driving a little slower then usual. We dropped the truck at a location near us in VA.

No issues and all told it was <$800 + gas - did the rental online ahead of time.

In my experience people have 1 bad experience with UHaul and they swear off it forever, for us we've never had a bad experience so I give them an A+

[Flames9_RN 358]

Uhaul...good and bad!! When i moved from NS to VA in 2004..used Uhaul and had no issues at all.......This past summer I moved my dad from Saskatoon to Kamloops with Uhaul and was somewhat of a pain in getting a truck! The place in Saskatoon said there would be no issues in getting a truck and would be located in 1 of the Uhaul location in Saskatoon.....NOT! Had to drive to Melfort (1.5 hrs) to pick it up! Lady there said, people have had to drive a lot further than what we have and that happens a great deal. She gave us another day rental and took a nice amount of $$$ off as well, so it actually worked out very well. When we dropped the Uhaul off in Kamloops, talked with the Uhaul agent there about our experience (she asked) she admitted, that happens quite often! Yes they can get u a truck, but you may have to drive a bit to pick it up. Lady also told us they tend to use the newer trucks for the long haul moves, so thats a good thing, as 1 of the issues was their trucks breaking down!