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[lost wheel]

speaking of UHaul.....I literally just arrived at my moving destination today.
We had rented a UHaul trailer.  This morning, we pulled into a gas station to fill up and my husband looked in his mirror to see the tire of the trailer rolling away.  No joke.  The tire was not flat, rather the bearings on the trailer went out and the entire wheel came out.  I strongly recommend having a company move for you if it is over 300 miles.  It isn't much more expensive than a UHaul (after you factor in gas) and gives you a little more peace of mind.

[Sofia]

One more thing about UHaul -- during the summer months they have been known to seriously overbook.   Do NOT make your reservation online.  Go in person to a UHaul center and make your reservation there.  One summer I made a reservation online, was all packed and ready to go and there was no truck for me.  I only got one by calling every UHaul in town (and we're talking one of the largest metro areas in the US) and being on the line when an unexpected return came in (and crying a little bit too).

[bizprof]

Yes, and watch out if you are going to some remote location.  When I took my first academic job, a one-year visiting position in Canada, they failed to warn me that the truck would sit at the border for months waiting for other people's stuff going to the same location to complete the shipment.  I had to wait two months for my things to arrive (the secretary took pity on me and brought me a mattress, a pot, a plate, and a set of cutlery to use in the interim)!

[schoolmarm]

I like the "Two Men and a Truck" option.  I think that this is the actual name of a company, but the concept is great.  You get a truck with two (or three) guys to load it and drive the stuff to your new home.  You can caravan with them if you are nervous.  I found that I had to drive quickly to get the closing finished so they could unload. They use smaller trucks (21 foot, etc.) so you have just your things and you move on your schedule.

I've moved with the majors three times.  Twice there were other peoples' things in the van and a delay of about 5 days.  Once it was so bad, that I had to have my parents supervise the unloading of the truck as I was on a plane to Europe for a research trip.  The last move, I had the whole truck and only had to wait 12 hours for the truck to meet up with me.

[Hugh Fullerton]

Many state institutions are prohibited from assisting with moves, either by policy or state law.  That's a copout, but it's true.  It's insulting that professionals with Ph.D.'s should have to beg for a few hundred dollars to help with a move, then do the packing themselves.  Yet you're lucky if you get the few hundred.   AAUP and other professonal organizations should make this a public issue.  Universities hire good faculty, often from out of state, then treat them badly before they even reach campus.  It's a scandal.  It would never happen with people of our status and education in the private sector.

[new tt biology]

I was offered a tt position at a small private college in NC this spring.  I was able to negotiate $2500 in moving expenses.  Not great as I will still have to shell out about $1500 to hire movers, but it certainly helps.

[Andrew]

"One more thing about UHaul -- during the summer months they have been known to seriously overbook. Do NOT make your reservation online. Go in person to a UHaul center and make your reservation there. One summer I made a reservation online, was all packed and ready to go and there was no truck for me."

That is excellent advice. By dumb luck, I stopped by a U-Haul outlet (after making a few phone calls first to other movers) on my way home. I got a quote and made my reservation in person. Six weeks later, I got a truck on my moving day while a half-dozen angry people were being told that their on-line "reservations" weren't really reservations.

[bad experiences]

Andrew wrote:

> "One more thing about UHaul -- during the summer months they
> have been known to seriously overbook. Do NOT make your
> reservation online. Go in person to a UHaul center and make
> your reservation there. One summer I made a reservation online,
> was all packed and ready to go and there was no truck for me."
>
> That is excellent advice. By dumb luck, I stopped by a U-Haul
> outlet (after making a few phone calls first to other movers)
> on my way home. I got a quote and made my reservation in
> person. Six weeks later, I got a truck on my moving day while a
> half-dozen angry people were being told that their on-line
> "reservations" weren't really reservations.

I reserved a U-Haul truck that was supposed to hold the contents of a two-bedroom apartment.  Then on the day of the move, there were none available, so I had to take a smaller truck, cram stuff into my car and my parents' car (my folks had come down so Dad could drive the truck), and literally just throw some of my things away or leave them with friends at the last minute.  It was horrible.  And THEN we get part of the way down the road and realize the truck basically has no shocks -- it rocked back and forth the whole two-day drive, which wound up damaging all my stuff.  And about halfway into the trip, every dial on the dash stopped working -- spedometer, temp gauge, everything.  It was a trauma I never, ever want to relive.  

Then again, my last move had professional loaders and drivers and my things came at night on  the final day of the "window" of time agreed on for delivery, which meant I was without them for a LONG time and was technically breaking a city law by blocking my one-way street after 6 pm with a gigantic truck (it had had many other people's things on it and been many places before getting to me), and after the rushed unloading, I discovered quite a few damaged pieces of furniture.  And TWO other new faculty who used professional movers had expensive items stolen out of their moving load that same summer.

[clean]

When I graduated with my Ph.D. In 98, I was given no moving money.  The Dean said that they dont pay moving expenses for new Ph.D.s . Even when they do allow relocating expenses, it was in the $750 range.

When I left there and moved to Texas, I was allowed what my current Dean called a "contribution toward your moving expense".  They do however have a number of benefits in the A&M system that include a moving broker.  Through the broker my move from South Carolina to Texas was only about $4000, when it would have been $7500 had I tried to do it on my own.  

Another friend moved to an A&M system school this year and they gave him the same 'contribution', but they have delayed paying it until this summer.  Further, they are calling it a 'research grant' or something, but it becomes taxable income.  When he grumbled about it to the dean, the dean's remark  surprised me.  "You want us to PAY you BEFORE you start working here?".  Fortunately for that dean, I was not the candidate, because my reply would likely have been "Do you want me to move there?"  (You can say those things when you have a job).

For those concerned about the tax issues, there are IRS publications available online. Pulication 17 (the Big Book on Taxes) outlines nearly all deductions. Essentially, the moving allowance reduces the ability to deduct moving expenses.  You are allowed to reduce your income by the amount of your allowable, non-reimbursed moving expenses.  For instance, hotel bills while you are looking for a house are not deductable.  IF you tried to use the university's money to pay for those bills (the university will want an itemized list of bills before they will reimburse you), they will have to consider that 'income' and deduct taxes and such.  

For what it is worth!,

clean

[Tax man]

You subtract moving expenses under the adjustments to income portion of the tax return.  You do not need to itemize your deductions to claim this because it is not part of schedule A.  If your moving expenses should have been claimed during one of the previous three tax years you can file an ammended tax return and claim your income deduction for that tax year.  It could be fairly significant depending on the amount of your expenses and your marginal tax rate for that year.

[soon to be aggie]

What do you think of the moving brokers that A+M provides other than cost?  Did you use the movers they suggested and did it all turn out ok?

I'm wondering because there's a company where I am right now that is expensive but it has an excellent reputation for being the best and safest movers in this part of the country.  But it might be worth the money to go with who A+M uses.

[Viola]

My institution couldn't pay moving expenses (state school, constrained by stingy legislature), so my husband and I hired a "professional" moving company.  We made a BIG mistake that everyone moving with a company should be aware of.  After terrible time constraints that involved all-nighters, on Moving Day we were too tired to think well.  We didn't fully understand the details of the forms  that the movers kept thrusting under our nodding noses as they loaded our things.  They used a complicated code of symbols that they never explained to us, and they pressured us-- hard--to hurry through the forms, saying that they were on deadline and couldn't wait around.  Exhausted, we let them go without demanding an explanation of the symbols and checking what they had cyphered on the hundreds of lines on the forms.  BIG MISTAKE!!  After delivery, we learned that they had written up all of our (undamaged) furniture as "seriously damaged."  After they almost delivered our belongings to a different  town a hundred miles from where we now lived, and after they transferred our things unnecessarily FIVE times, they did indeed damage most of our furniture and possessions, some quite seriously, including antiques of sentimental if not much financial value.  We are convinced that they also stole over a thousand dollars worth of my handyman husband's tools.  However, because we had initialed all those forms, we could not even file a complaint against the company, let alone go after them for damages.  So, all you folks about to move, be absolutely sure to check everything as it is loaded into the van, and don't sign or even initial anything unless you're dead sure you know what it all means--and don't let them rush you.

[clean]

soon to be aggie :

I was very happy with the movers that were provided by the moving brokers.  I had packed most things,  but they packed the rest.  they arranged to have helpers on both ends to ease the loading process.  they arrived when they said that they would.  

As I understand the process, the broker first sent someone out to my house in SC to estimate the size of the job, and then submitted it for bids.  After that, they negotiated a deal, and all i had to do was set  the dates.  It was a very smooth transaction.  I am glad i went through them.

clean

[Negotiator]

Two tips that I have found worthwhile:

1.  Negotiate the moving allowance before you accept the job.  Call around to estimate moving expenses and go to your prospective Dean/Provost with the amount you have been quoted.  I moved to an institution which was limited to paying 5 percent of my salary for moving expenses.  I demanded and got the rest in "settling in" allowance.  Few places will lose a prospective faculty member over moving expenses.

2. Get a moving company from the town you are moving to -- Not from the town you are moving from.  Sometimes the college/university can recommend the mover they use to move their bigwigs.

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