Hiring Movers vs Driving Rental Truck

[st7480]

Hi ,

While our Canadaian PR is still in process, my husband's company has sponsored his work permit for Canada, and we are planning to relocate to Canada (from US) in December. We just got a quote from a Moving Co. yesterday for $4000 to move a 2bed/2bath apartment. It would be completely insane to spend this huge amount on Moving espy since his company is not paying for relocation.

My question is, has anyone attempted to drive a truck from US to Canada (Toronto) and if yes, what are the issues you faced at customs? Also, are there rental companies that allow you to drive across the border? We live in the midwest and it is only about a 13 hrs drive for us and it would be awesome if we could pull this off ourselves instead of paying $4000 to the moving company. For all those wondering why we wouldn't just consider selling all our furniture and buying new stuff in Canada - we've lived in the US for 12 years, so even if we sold off all our furniture, we would still have things to carry back to Canada that wouldn't just fit in our car. Looking forward to some feedback....THANKS!!!

 

[laxmikanthms]

Temporarily keep in Public Storage and once you get the PR identify what you need to bring and bring only those and sell off rest...for now bring all mandatory items ......

some peope have sentiments on furnitures too...so bring those now in UHAUL ....you can drive across border but may need to declare at customs..since its used items believe there shouln't be any problem...

seniors please advice

 

[tasmac]

work permits are a diff ball game.. and moving things should be easier without hassle in customs .. it is easier on work permit ..as it technically says it is a temporary move and you are allowed to bring your things over...even cars are easy to bring over through customs as you are on a work permit and need not be imported by federal ....however your province might have specific rules as in Ontario.. you cannot have a car/license registered outside (US) if it is more than 60 days stay.. unless of course you can do a u-turn at the border every 60 days . That way your car can still have us registration and insurance ...

reg rental.. one way rentals ... enterprise/uhaul allows them but as in any oneway you will be paying more for the oneway couple of hundred dollars more ..

eg detorit to toronto - medium car @ 160$ drop off fee. call them and find out the charges before hand

 

[shuhash]

hi,

do u own a car .. in my case im planning on driving my car (once my process is done -- lol) ..

uhaul --
Truck - about 900-1100 from houston - toronto
Trailer - 200-400 approx..

if you have a car .. u might be better off with trailer ( check the hitch rating) .. u can take lot of furnitures and save alot of money as well...

Also storage is farily cheap as well .. so you can have enough time to look for a place ..

 

[jes_ON]

Another option - in-between full-service moving and U-Haul... you do the packing and loading, someone else does the driving... I used these guys, they provide the forms & paperwork for customs, you have to do the customs clearance, and you can decide whether to pick up your possessions there or have the truck delivered to your door (you do the unloading, too). It was a little less than $2000 for me, the distance was almost 2x as far as your move...

http://www.upack.com/

Oh, and don't forget - you have to ditch the mattresses. Unless you want to have them professionally fumigated and sealed.

 

[st7480]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate all your feedback!