Long story short is I have some experience in this area. It's ultimately up to the border agent as to whether they will allow goods to cross the border without both spouses being present. I looked into a moving company and thought about sending our stuff down before I got my IR-1. The moving company said don't do it. A lot of times they will just impound your stuff until the person gets the visa. The way it was explained was they don't want to help facilitate a possible illegal immigration situation (if the visa gets denied) and the goods may not be duty free for the non PR.
However, on our first attempt driving down a U-haul to the border the agent said my spouse, son and stuff could go but not me. So it might depend on who you get. I've met quite a few Canadians in Vegas who showed up at the border with a truck full of stuff and no visa, told the border what they were doing and had no problem getting through. I honestly think it just depends on what border agent you get.
Once I got my IR-1 we drove down a U-haul. I labeled every single box with a white sheet and short description (dishes, fan, bedding, etc). I gave the dossier when I checked in. They said they really appreciated it and it makes things go a lot smoother. The agent took a look at the list and asked about my spouses large tools to make sure we weren't trying to sell them. It felt like so much went wrong through our immigration process. However, we drove across and I kid you not the whole process less than 20 minutes.
I don't think border agents are concerned with whether your stuff is accompanying you the first time the PR enters. The main thing is the PR does get around to moving. I've heard of people delaying their move for 6 months and then have PR stripped due to lack of domicile.