Giving my 2 weeks and UHAUL to move?

[mrskent 11]

So my husband and I decided, we need to move back a little sooner than anticipated because it's really hard to secure a job when you are miles away in Canada.

I have two questions!

How did you guys word your 2 weeks notice? My boss always wanted me to give 2-3 months notice (not going to happen) and I want to be clear that I am moving due to my husband's relocation to the US. By the time I give my 2 weeks, I am confident he will have a letter of employment offer.

Also, has anyone else moved their stuff with a Uhaul? We are going to drive 12-14 hours from New Brunswick Canada to New Jersey and might stop half way in Portland Maine. I was hoping to move in the small cargo van, but the only trucks available are the 10' and 15' trucks. Did those cause any clearance issues for anyone?

Would love to know anyone's tips on their move!

[zilchfox 296]

Mine was worded due to relocation abroad. And I actually packed up everything I own into 4 bags and will be flying down Friday.

[Shadowess 13]

I did an Ontario - Missouri in a 10' Uhaul (crossed the border at Port Huron). No problems, the first guy took my fiance's and I passports then told us to drive forward and pull over at the inspection station. Parked the Uhaul and followed directions into the secondary office. Handed over various paperwork, they asked me to open up the Uhaul. The border guys looked into one box (of course it was the one with my deer antler in it! LOL), then after about an hour of waiting (I was also importing a car and activating my K1 visa) we were free to go.

As a precaution, when I packed things I numbered the boxes and created an inventory list of what was packed. I didn't need to use it, but I figured that if they wanted to look at the list they were welcome and if something was fishy then I could direct them to the specific box opposed to having to opened up everything.

Overall it was a super easy process, just make sure to budget time at the border. Our process took about an hour once we parked at secondary.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

No issues for me from Ontario to Virginia in a 14" Uhaul (or whatever is largest that a normal license can drive). I only had a 2 bedroom apartment and could barely stuff everything in...a word of warning depending on how much 'stuff' you have.

Same experience as the folks above at the border, no troubles - have a packing list, be prepared.

[wowswift 3]

We did newfoundland to california with a uhaul trailer. Whatever the biggest one they have, we towed. No problems. Had a list, but they didn't even bother with it.

[mrskent 11]

Thank you so much for everyone's replies and experiences!

I was able to give my 2 weeks on Tuesday, my husband secured employment on Monday (yay!!!).

His tentative start date is November 7th, so there's so much to do in so little time!

We are waiting to hear back from the application we placed for an apartment and I have booked a 10' UHaul as I am only moving the things we absolutely need - the other things I will simply re-purchase (couch/dining set/bed). So exciting and stressful all at once

[NikLR 13,220]

Uhaul often "free upgrades" the 10' since they're rare in Canada. Just an fyi. Even if your roe says quit, you can get ei.

[lilsweetie 30]

I drove a 14 ft Uhaul across the WA border with no issues at all. Just keep an itemized list of what is in the back so it is easy for them to look at it. I wrote a list of the major things - furniture, electronics, and showed it to the officer and he didn't even ask to see inside the truck! He just skimmed the list and let us through. Be sure that they know everything in the truck belongs to you and none of it for commercial purposes, just relocation.

[brentos 53]

I drove a 20' Uhaul towing a car trailer from Montreal to Texas. We crossed in Thousand Islands in Ontario. Only mistake we made was there was a sign that said "Trucks" and we followed that because my Dad was sure it due to some size problem. The sign should really say commercial trucks...so that caused a little bit of an issue. But we got to go through an X-ray machine. Then had a hard time parking (we had to do a U-Turn in a 20 foot truck with another 15-20 feed of trailer behind). But after that it took like an hour and no issues with the truck or importing the car. They didn't ask for an inventory list (which I had) or to see in the truck (they didn't look while we were gone inside either as it was locked) but that might be because we went through the X-Ray machine...who knows...haha.

Only thing I can recommend with a U-Haul is if you need to stay anywhere overnight with it, buy a lock. As otherwise the back is really easy to open and take your stuff. You can bring your own lock, don't need to buy one at U-Haul.

Good luck!

[NikLR 13,220]

Its good to have a lock on them no matter what. That way you can go to the washroom or get food without as much worry.