Getting the permanent move going

[Jared I]

My wife just got a job at a school a few miles north of Hilo, so its time to get the rest of our household goods over here and move to more permenent housing (we are in a temp rental now). We like Puna but to limit the driving for now we are going to be moiving north into Hilo or maybe even north of that.

I have a few questions about moving. We have our stuff in storage in SoCal right now, we reduced our stuff enough to get it into a 20' container. Our family will load the container in CA, but what about when it gets here... Its just me, the wife and our 5 month old...

Is it best to have the container dropped at the house? Can you get movers to just to unload the container in the front of the house? Any recommendations for movers? How long does it take get a container from Cali to Hilo? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Jared

[Les C]

Our stuff is at-sea coming from the SF Bay Area. We used Movers Pak-Man Hawaii Express. We've contracted with them for door-to-door service. They packed the 20' container (to the gills!). It was picked up in Mtn View, CA on 5/23 and is due to arrive in Hilo on 6/12. I think it shipped from the Oakland/Alameda area (Matson?). It seems to be a bit less than 3 weeks on the ship, and probably 3 weeks including delivery. I'm counting from the probable shipping date of 5/25. Pak-Man claims a total ship time from 3 to 6 weeks. Sorry, I don't know who the contracting mover is on this end. The latino crew of four who packed the container did an excellent, careful job. I bought them lunch and tipped them $20 each, which probably wasn't much, but I did appreciate their conscientiousness.

I'm not sure if having movers deliver only to your front yard saves you much when you consider you and your wife's backs. Personally, I've done more than enough heavy lifting for this move than I cared to do. I'm more than happy to let the pros do their jobs.

Les

Volcano

[Robin C]

Hi.

We did the same as Les.
We used Movers Pac Man.
Our stuff left our house in Oakland May 8 and arrived in Volcano May 30, so just over 3 weeks via Matson.
I think the container was at the port a few days before that, but the un-pack crew had delay from scheduling on their end.

I second what Les said about quality of work.
The un-pack crew was a little less thurough than the packing crew, but still did a great job. Sorry, I don't know who the company was. I'm sure you could call Movers Pac Man and ask. I'm pretty sure you can just hire the un-pack crew on this end.

We shipped some stuff USPS priority mail to get some essentials sooner. That worked well. Those boxes arrived in two days. We're still waiting for the box sent parcel post.

Good luck. Its great to be here!

Robin

[Les C]

I don't want to hijack this topic, but, Robin, did you have a container and is your home easy to access? We are also in Volcano, on a one-lane, unpaved road with a tight turn into the driveway and low wires overhead. I don't think a container will fit under the utility wires, nor will a truck be able to make the turn into our yard. How was the delivery for you?

Les

Volcano

[Robin C]

Hi, Les.

Like many homes in Volcano, we are also on a one lane road, with a VERY narrow driveway and low-hanging power/phone lines.

They backed the 20 foot container as far into the driveway as it would go (not far). The truck driver un-hitched and drove away (I assume to deliver someone elses container). Without the truck part, the container didn't stick out very into the road. The crew carried stuff or used dollies to get our things up the driveway and into the house.

When they reach a certain point, they called the driver and he came back and picked up the container. It took about 5 hours. They take more breaks than the CA crew did.

We would not have been able to get our car out while they unloaded, so if you need to go somewhere that half of the day I suggest you get the car out early. Since the truck isn't there, the container can't move.

[Jared I]

If you unload it yourself were do you get the ramp from in the Hilo area?

Thanks

Jared Ivy

[Les C]

Robin, thanks for the details on the unloading of your container, and the tip about the blocked driveway.

Jared, how do you intend to have the container dropped at your place? If you hire a company to drop bring it, you should ask them if they supply a ramp, too. I don't know if you can rent a ramp from a tool rental place.

Les