Moving Cross country: How Long Will it Take?

When you are moving long-distance, as in cross country, you spend a lot of time figuring out how to do and where to get started. One unknown in your mind is how long it takes to move long distance. Hiring the right moving company to take you cross country is step #1 and will have the biggest influence on your timeline. But there are other timing factors as well. This article discusses the things that will affect the time you will need to move from one home to another one that is a long distance away.

There are so many things that go into planning a big, long-distance move. It's overwhelming! We often hear from our customers that one of their biggest challenges is how to figure out how long the whole long-stance move will take. They want to know how much time is needed to pack their things, load them on the moving van and unpack at the new home.

Here are a four things to keep top of mind over the next few months as your are moving from your current home to your new home - wherever that may be.

1. What Needs Packing

The dreaded packing. You'll need to decide what you want to pack for yourself and what, if anything, you want the movers to take care of. Once you make that decision, a relocation consultant can help figure out timing for each step in the moving process.

The moving consultant can also give you ideas to help you with your self-packing. For example, did you know the United States Post Office is the best way to ship books? books to pack

Keep in mind, fragile items take the longest to pack. A good home moving company is going to take the time to do the job right and avoid breaking anything. This takes more time to do. However, the alternative is broken home belongings which no one wants.

Packing clothes is a breeze. The moving company can leave them in drawers or on hangers which takes no time at all.

Pictures, photos, TVs and any other items hanging on the wall all affect how long it takes to pack up a moving truck. The more you take off of the walls before the movers arrive, the quicker they can do their job.

2. How Much Household "Stuff" You Have to Move

Moving a lot of things has both positives and negatives.

It takes longer to pack and load up a truck when you have a big house and lots of things. This could result in higher costs - both for the packers and the drivers.

But, for a long-distance move, timing and cost depends on how much of the truck you fill up. So, a home with more things uses up more of the space in the truck. And the more space your things use, the higher priority your belongings have.

3. Distance From Your Current Home to the New Home

If you think about it, this is just common sense.

If I live in Georgia and I'm moving to Virginia, it will take less time for my moving truck to get there. Now if I live in Georgia and I'm moving to Oregon, that's a much longer trip.

And we have to plan for driver breaks and potential traffic jams and detours.

Cross country moves aren't done in one sitting. Even the moving truck's driver needs some sleep! But there are more stops than just 'sleep' stops. There will be stops and drops along the way. And there will be instances when the truck will have to refuel.

All these things will impact the time it takes to move you and your home belongings to the new location.

4. Move-In Date

You want your home moving project to be completed as quickly as possible. You may want to move three weeks from today. But if the new home isn't ready for your arrival, it's not going to happen.

In these instances, work with your moving consultant to find the best solution. It may be best to keep your things in storage for a couple of weeks until your new home is ready. There are going to be many options for you to explore.

The Timeline

As you can see, moving your household from one location to another can take as little as a week, or as long as a few months. It is all about the logistics. Together, you and your moving team can figure out your best move plan.

At Victory Van, we assign a dedicated person to help you every step of the way.

All of your questions will be answered by your Victory move team. They are your support system during this stressful time. Their job is to make the move as least stressful as possible. And everyone one of the Victory employee-owners does their job extremely well!