Self-loading 40 sq ft container. How much time?
Posted by revb92@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 21 comments
My husband, toddler, and I are moving from west coast US to NL, Europe. We have a 1800 sq ft household and one sedan that will be loaded into a 40 sq ft container and my husband believes that he can do it alone in 2 hours. I think he’s out of his mind (just moving across town into this house with not nearly 1/3 of what we have in belongings took him longer). How long did it take you? We get 2 hours included in our moving price, $105/hr beyond that. Would love to hear your experience.
J963S@reddit
Yeah that's not going to happen, and if he loads it you may not qualify for marine insurance for the contents.
Offloading our 40' (and half of that was a vehicle) took 3 hours with professional movers, and offloading does not account for the amount of Tetris involved in loading the contents, Building the bulkhead to secure the Household goods from the vehicle, or Bracing the vehicle securely in the container.
Depending on what you're taking, (keep in mind you need to inventory everything for customs) it may not fit in a 40'. a vehicle will take 1/2 of the container, so that leaves you essentially a 20' container to load your items.
Unless this is his day job, I would leave it to professionals, as there is a way to load items to avoid shifting and things being damaged.
revb92@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
OperationEast365@reddit
He is probably wrong, but why does it matter? Just let him be wrong. When he tries (and likely fails), who cares?
revb92@reddit (OP)
I’ll be the one paying for the cost of the extra time..
ArbaAndDakarba@reddit
It took 4 guys all afternoon to load ours. At least 5 hours times 4 which is 20 hours for one man who's not good at it. I reckon 3 days minimum. Hire a crew.
bebok77@reddit
I moved a 1800 sqft flat back to home country and it took one full day for packing and a 10ft container prep for a crew of 6.
Loading itself would have taken more than 2 hr.
There was no car (can't figure out why a standard car has to be shipped but well).
spottedbastard@reddit
How is he planning to load and secure the sedan? When we moved from Australia to NZ, the movers had to build a rack around our car and it had to be securely strapped in a specific way to avoid it shifting in transit. We still ended up with the windscreen getting cracked.
Just strapping the car in took almost 1/2 hour on its own and they were professionals
revb92@reddit (OP)
Pretty sure he doesn’t have a plan for any of it yet, let alone the car. They didn’t even mention strapping, but makes sense we’d need to. So sorry to hear about your windshield.
okayteenay@reddit
Have you got your living arrangements in NL sorted out? Have you researched importing your car?
revb92@reddit (OP)
Yeah I have that figured out.
henare@reddit
he's bonkers.
Brynns1mom@reddit
Feliz cake day! 🎂
revb92@reddit (OP)
Right?! Happy cake day!
SmokedUpDruidLyon@reddit
I would plan on minimum 4. Stuff always takes longer than you expect.
texas_asic@reddit
Assuming everything is packed and boxed, I'd think at least 3 hours, assuming you have 2 professional movers. Doing it single-handedly, I expect it'll take more than 4 hours.
revb92@reddit (OP)
Agreed.
Babysfirstbazooka@reddit
It took 3 movers 3 hours to pack my small 2 bed when I moved from Uk to Canada last year. I had like 500 cubic feet. They packed everything tbf
binkkit@reddit
We’re packing half that much—a 20-foot container’s worth of stuff—into the garage. I would not want to load the container by myself. We’re planning to hire help for loading day.
If your stuff is all neatly packed and ready to go, in containers that stack well, and your husband is a super athletic fast strong person, maaaaybe he can do it. Personally I’d hire help.
Do lay in a stock of painkillers and ice either way.
cashewkowl@reddit
You can probably hire help at less than $105/hour.
revb92@reddit (OP)
Right?
RupertHermano@reddit
Is everything already packed in boxes etc? Then maybe, if he is strong and strapping.