The Impact of Gas Prices on Your Plan to Move Yourself
Guest post provided by Kevin Hagan of Transit Systems.
If you have always thought it’s cheaper to make a long distance move yourself, think again. Two things get most consumers in trouble with renting a truck or trailer: One, they don’t pack or pad their furniture and belongings well enough, and end up with disastrous results. And two, they don’t account for gas charges in estimating their total move budget.
Concentrating on the latter of those, you’ll soon realize that you’re responsible for fueling a full truck during long distance moving trips. And that can be a costly adventure with gas prices across the country currently soaring.
The chart below projects the cost of a 2,000 mile, four-day move using four different-sized truck rentals. While there is a several hundred dollar difference in the fixed costs based on the size of the truck you select (the rental charge itself, mileage charges, ancillary equipment like a dolly, furniture pads and truck insurance) , you’ll see that the biggest cost increase is, in fact, fuel costs.
In this illustration the smallest truck gets 15 miles per gallon while the largest rental gets only 7 miles to a gallon. That is the difference between $533 and $1144 in your out-of-pocket fuel costs alone!
So, before you break your back loading and driving it yourself – only to find out you didn’t save any money – get a few estimates from long distance movers or shippers and compare your costs. You might be surprised by the amount you’re able to save just from the gas costs alone!
Author Bio: This guest post was provided by Kevin Hagan of Transit Systems, one of the nation’s leading residential and commercial freight companies. TSI specializes in small moves, and can provide you with quality and professional shipping services. For more information about TSI, visit their website or follow TSI on Twitter @TransitSystems.
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