Packing for My Move to Pennsylvania

Cats locked in sun room while movers pack

I finally arrived in Pennsylvania four days ago. All cats are present.

Last week I was busy packing up the last of my belongings, deciding what to take and what to leave behind. What I didn’t post earlier is that after the auction closed without a winning bid, a company in the UK bought some books, and I then sold the rest to my friend Tom for more than the ending eBay bid. The money wasn’t enough to pay off the IRS, but it was enough to make a huge dent and satisfy my collections agent. The rest will be paid in low monthly payments for a few years.

I rented one 26-foot trailer and 9 feet of another trailer. Books are just about the heaviest personal items to ship, so I weighed each box after packing it, and ended up with 25,000+ pounds of books. The moving company (Estes Pack & Ride) couldn’t give me a clear answer on how much weight I could ship in one trailer. First they said 30,000 pounds when they gave me the price quote. When I pushed the issue the sales rep came back with 19,000 to 23,000 pounds. Well, which is it?

When the first trailer was delivered, the driver told me to go light in the front and load only 1,000 per foot, which is what my movers did. But that would mean 26,000 was a light load! I called Estes again and was told I could get by with 26,000. Then I called them later and was told to go with what the sales rep told me. Not very knowledgeable about their own trailers, I’d say.

The agreement we had was that they would take the trailer to the weigh station two miles away, and if it was over limit, they would return it to me to fix. I got a call later in the day that the trailer was 1,600 pounds overweight on the front axle. I could either have my movers redistribute the load at the terminal or Estes could do it. “How much will it cost for Estes to do it?” “I don’t know. I’ll find out and call you back in 15 minutes.” I didn’t get a call, naturally. I called an hour later and was told that they had already redistributed the load and they were charging me only $225. Lucky me! For $225, my movers could have redistributed the load and had lunch and dinner on me for two days.

Great Movers in Eugene–Sunseri

When I moved my business from Roseburg to Veneta, I hired a moving company called A Sunseri Pack and Load. I found them on Craigslist, and they were licensed and bonded. Tony and his son Sconchin (not sure on the spelling) are hard workers, excellent packers, and personable people. They have their own van and trailer, and it took about six trips to move my business from Roseburg to Veneta.

I’ve dealt with a lot of businesses in my day, and as a business owner myself I expect businesses to be ethical, treat customers with respect and provide an honest service for an honest agreed-upon price. Most often than not I am disappointed as companies appear motivated by greed and resort to whining and blame shifting when they receive complaints. I was so very pleased with Sunseri’s ethics and hard work, so when it came time to load 30,000 pounds onto two trailers I called them.

Sconchin (middle) and Tony (right). (Forgot name of man on left.)

The moving company dropped the first trailer on Wednesday morning and Tony and Sconchin (Sunseri) and another man they brought had it packed that day. The moving company picked it up Thursday and dropped another trailer.

Nine feet of trailer

I was so worn out by this time and so sick of packing that I paid Tony and Sconchin to pack the rest of my personal belongings. That took a couple of hours and then most of the day was spent loading 12 feet of belongings into 9 feet of trailer. And Tony did a great job. So if you live in Oregon near Eugene and need a mover, give A Sunseri Pack & Load a call. Tell them Joanne the book woman sent you.

The business computers, desks, chairs, shelving, supplies, etc., also had to go, so I ended up dumping a few thousand pounds of books that I wanted to take. I also donated about 20,000 pounds of books to a nonprofit in Veneta. I left behind and gave away a lot of stuff. And I have some dear friends who sold some of my stuff for me after I left.

In the next post I’ll write about moving ten cats across country.