Shipping household goods across Canada

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Apr 3rd, 2016 3:11 pm

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Apr 1st, 2016 1:24 pm

Chemist [OP]: Jr. Member; Dec 5, 2007; 175 posts; 9 upvotes

Apr 1st, 2016 1:24 pm

Shipping household goods across Canada

My Brother and I are moving from Calgary to Toronto and looking for shipping options. We will be driving (2 cars) and have a bit more than a two car's worth of stuff (mostly clothing, books, misc.). There's no furniture, and the largest item is a 50" TV.

We could probably manage to squeeze everything into our cars but I'd rather not have my car fully loaded up and I don't want to have all my stuff exposed in my car when staying at hotels over the few day drive.

I thought Fedex freight would be a good option where I could load up a pallet and ship everything (estimate was $250) but when I called them they said it's only for commercial goods. I could ship a few boxes with clothing, books but it's over $50 a box so it adds up. I know greyhound shipping is a cheap alternative but I have read a lot of bad reviews and don't really trust them with my stuff...

Does anyone have advice/suggestions for shipping stuff across Canada?

Thanks

5 replies

Apr 1st, 2016 1:59 pm

SkinnyMilk: Newbie; Mar 3, 2016; 53 posts; 23 upvotes

Apr 1st, 2016 1:59 pm

Have you considered renting a small UHaul truck? There's an option you can get to tow your car behind the truck. I suspect it might be more than you're willing to spend, though.

If mailing boxes, stick to just the clothes. Books add a ridiculous amount of weight. Perhaps you can just stuff your car with the heavy items?

+1

Apr 1st, 2016 2:27 pm

Chemist [OP]: Jr. Member; Dec 5, 2007; 175 posts; 9 upvotes

Apr 1st, 2016 2:27 pm

UHaul is unnecessary and expensive for the little amount of stuff I'm moving. I was really hoping the fedex freight would work since I could package everything onto a pallet and pick it up at the Fedex facility in Toronto. Since I could do the move with just the vehicles I was wondering if there was an option to ship everything for $500 or less range.

Apr 2nd, 2016 1:46 pm

starchoice: Deal Addict; Oct 13, 2007; 4794 posts; 3720 upvotes; Edmonton

Apr 2nd, 2016 1:46 pm

Your best option is Greyhound:

http://www.shipgreyhound.ca/c/pages/Home.aspx

Edit: Noticed you preferred not to use Greyhound. Have you looked at shipping by train?

Apr 2nd, 2016 4:23 pm

coilz: Deal Fanatic; Jul 26, 2004; 5321 posts; 2316 upvotes

Apr 2nd, 2016 4:23 pm

I've shipped household goods/ clothing cross country before when I was moving from Boston back to Edmonton. At that point I used UPS to ship a few boxes of things. If you're going with Fedex or any courier service, don't pack anything remotely breakable in there. If you have to pack any breakable items, pack them like how they ship it to stores. Or else they will break/crack anything that can be broken. Don't use "moving" boxes if you value your stuff, use commercial grade box. UPS beat up my stuff pretty bad.

If the pallet option works, that'll solve alot of the breakage issue since they can't throw that around.

Maybe just don't stay at the cheapest motel you find so you can pack all your stuff in your car. Spend the money on a hotel with more " secure" parking lot so you'll feel safe about having your stuff in your car.

Apr 3rd, 2016 3:11 pm

Scrounger888: Newbie; May 19, 2013; 92 posts; 16 upvotes; Nova Scotia

Apr 3rd, 2016 3:11 pm

Do you have a trailer hitch on one of your vehicles? A uHaul small tow behind isn't that expensive usually.

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