Moving into a new home can be stressful, even when relocating to a nearby town. However, when moving across the country, the process can seem overwhelming due to the planning, effort, and expense involved.
The US Census indicates that about 12 percent of Americans, or 42 million people, relocate annually, with about 75 percent of movers staying in the same state. So, while you are not alone in moving homes, we've developed a "moving cross-country checklist" that provides tips for moving cross country and brings order to the process. Organized as a cross country move timeline, the list below allows you to check off completed tasks. The details about each task follow later in the article, so you know what needs to be done at each step and the best way to move across the country.
Quick Moving Cross-Country Checklist
8 Weeks
- Create Digital Moving Files
- Research Moving Companies
- Reserve Your Moving Company
- Make a Transportation Plan
- Set a Budget
- Notify and Locate Key Providers
- Declutter
6 Weeks
- Review Your Insurance Policies
- Take Inventory
- Gather Your Moving Supplies
- Evaluate Your New Home’s Measurements
- Finalize Moving Dates
4 Weeks
- Change Your Address
- Gather Personal Records
- Find New Providers
- Start and Stop Services
One Week
- Confirm Details with the Movers
- Pack the Essentials
Moving Day
- Maintain a Clear Path
- Communicate the Loading and Unloading Plan
- Tip Your Movers
- Do a Final Walkthrough
Expanded Moving Cross-Country Checklist
Below, we list each step in the cross country move timeline. For each step, we provide detailed tips for moving cross country.
8 Weeks Before Moving Cross Country
Starting your move preparation two months before the big day may seem early to some, but, if possible, starting even earlier is the best way to move across the country. You’ll be surprised how quickly time flies as moving day approaches, since you will continue taking care of your normal responsibilities while adding your moving responsibilities on top of them.
Every one of these eight weeks is an opportunity to check a few tasks off your list.
Create Digital Moving Files
Create a move-related folder on a cloud platform like Google Drive to store provider quotes, photos, property inventory, and receipts for quick access. While you can keep hard copies in a safe location, digital files allow you to access them when on the go from any device with an internet connection.
Research Moving Companies
The moving company you hire has a big responsibility, and hiring the right moving company will make life easier for you. Do your research by reading reviews and asking friends and colleagues for recommendations on quality movers who will transport your possessions safely.
Reserve Your Moving Company
After selecting a moving company, set your move date as soon as possible. Much of your activity in the coming weeks will revolve around the dates your movers pack, load, and deliver your possessions. During the busy summer season, it may be more difficult to get your preferred dates without advanced notice.
Make a Transportation Plan
The movers will handle your household property, but you also need to plan how you will get to your new home. Planning your driving time, airfare costs, or car shipping is up to you. Determine how you and your family – including pets or vehicles – will get to the destination. If needed, book airfare and accommodation as early as possible.
Shipping a car as part of the move can add to your moving expenses, but it can also save you from a long drive. In households with multiple vehicles, shipping one or more cars is often the only viable option.
Just like you would with your moving company, spend some time researching auto transport companies. Auto transport companies make it easy to book your car shipping using their online quote tools.
Set a Budget
The cost of moving across the country can pile up when you’re relocating your family and property thousands of miles away. Prepare to invest in packing supplies, a moving truck or movers, hotels, gas or airfare, and car transport. Add expenses like a cleaning service, packing supplies, tipping your movers, pet boarding, and specialty shipping.
If you are considering hiring a professional moving company, use our moving cost calculator to get an initial budget estimate.
Notify and Locate Key Providers
If you have children in school or daycare, notify their current schools of your impending move. Likewise, you should identify your children’s new schools, extracurricular activities, and other providers as far in advance as possible. Waiting lists can be lengthy for private schools and daycare providers.
Declutter
Ruthlessly declutter your home before the move. To help keep things organized, set up areas in the house with bins for items you plan to donate, sell, or throw away. While decluttering, pay attention to materials you can use for packing, such as old clothes, blankets, and towels.
6 Weeks Before Moving Cross Country
After laying the foundation for the move and completing or making progress on your eight-week tasks, the six-week mark brings another set of tasks to tick off.
Review Your Insurance Policies
Verify whether and how your insurance policies cover you for the moving process. How does your homeowners’ insurance cover your possessions during a move? How does your auto policy cover your vehicle while being transported? Most people find that neither policy provides the protection they need, so you should consider adding coverage as needed.
Take Inventory
With your property decluttered, take inventory of your belongings for your insurance policy and professional movers. You should have a current inventory, with documentation of your property's condition in the event of a claim.
Back up your inventory with pictures and videos, especially for high-value goods such as antique furniture, artwork, jewelry, and electronics.
Evaluate Your New Home’s Measurements
Some people buy homes or rent apartments online based on pictures instead of in-person tours. Still, you will need measurements to prepare for moving challenges such as tight doorways, steep staircases, or awkward angles.
Get measurements from the home seller or the real estate agent, including the dimensions of the rooms that will hold furniture and appliances. Use the floor plan to visualize the space and strategize your move.
Gather Your Moving Supplies
If you hire professional movers, they provide the boxes, bubble wrap, and other moving supplies. In addition, moving insurance often does not cover damage to items you pack yourself. Nevertheless, you might want to pack some items based on their destination room at the new home rather than where they are at your current home, even if the movers will repack the items for the move. At a minimum, you will likely want to pack certain items that you plan to transport yourself.
In either case, you will need boxes, packing materials, and tape for your move. Make use of information resources, such as gathering moving supplies, to guide what you acquire and when. Having a plan will reduce your stress and make the process less overwhelming. Plus, you have time to get some free supplies, such as extra boxes, from nearby retailers.
Label each box as you go, including the destination room at your new home.
Finalize Moving Dates
At this point, you should have an established timeline for your move. Finalize your moving dates, including the booking with the professional moving company, equipment rentals, flights, and accommodation.
4 Weeks Before Moving Cross Country
Your move is getting close! It’s time to take care of some smaller, administrative tasks.
Change Your Address
Notify suppliers and others who send goods to your home of your change of address. You can easily update your mailing address using the United States Postal Service (USPS) website. In addition, you need to change your address with the state, DMV, voter registration, Social Security, Internal Revenue Service, banks and credit card companies, employers, and other service providers.
Gather Personal Records
Sensitive personal records should be packed in a bag that travels with you. Include birth certificates, medical and dental records, passports, veterinary records, school transcripts, and other legal documents.
You should also fill prescriptions to ensure you have a supply that covers you through the move and beyond.
Find New Providers
Emergencies and mishaps can pop up at any time. Identify new doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, dentists, and optometrists you can see as needed upon arrival at your new home. Depending on your lifestyle, diet, and hobbies, consider identifying potential mechanics, food suppliers, or other service providers as well.
Start and Stop Services
Contact your utilities and service providers to notify them of your move and to stop service. This includes your electricity, gas, water, cable, security, and other providers. Notify other service providers of your move, such as house cleaners, babysitters, dog walkers, and gardeners, and arrange for these services at your new home.
One Week Before Moving Cross Country
Here are some of the last essential steps to prepare for a smooth move:
Confirm Details with the Movers
If you hired a moving company, call to verify the details and payment arrangement. Be sure to get your arrival and departure times in writing.
Pack the Essentials
Pack the essential items needed during the move and upon arrival, such as some clothing and toiletries. Consider packing a box with disposable plates and flatware, paper goods, and garbage bags to simplify unpacking at your new home.
Moving Day
The day has arrived! Here’s how to make it less stressful:
Maintain a Clear Path
Keep a clear path in your home so movers can transport boxes easily. Clear out big furniture and move boxes out of doorways.
Communicate the Loading and Unloading Plan
Work with the moving company to determine which items should be loaded first. This will make the process smoother when you arrive at your new home and have to unpack.
Tip Your Movers
Make sure to tip your movers to show your appreciation. The typical amount is $40 per person per day, or $4 or $5 per mover per hour. You can tip less for small, local moves and consider more when your move includes difficult or delicate items such as pianos or artwork.
Do a Final Walkthrough
Before you leave, check each room in your home to ensure nothing has been left behind. Go through closets, cabinets, and cubbies. If it’s clear, turn off the lights, close the windows, and lock the doors when you leave.
Get Help with Your Cross-Country Move
Hopefully, this checklist helps you handle each step in the cross-country moving process while remaining cool, calm, and collected.
As mentioned earlier, an issue that can cause stress is identifying how to move a vehicle or vehicles across the country. Just as professional movers can ease the burden of a cross-country move, professional car transport companies like Nexus Auto Transport do the same by providing high-quality, timely shipment of your vehicle from your current home to your new one.
Instant quote: https://nexusautotransport.com/car-shipping-calculator/
Car Shipping vs. Driving: Cost and Time Comparison
Comparison Factor |
Driving Yourself |
Auto Transport Service |
|---|---|---|
Fuel and Toll Costs |
Hundreds of $ for cross-country move |
None, included in service price |
En Route Lodging and Meals |
4 to 6 days of expenses |
None, included in service price |
Vehicle Depreciation and Mileage |
Several thousand additional miles on vehicle |
None, vehicle rides on trailer |
Estimated Travel Time |
4 to 6 days depending on pace |
None, since you do not drive the car |
Unexpected Road Hazards |
Full exposure to road hazards |
Weather and traffic can delay shipment |
FAQs
How early should I secure my auto transport booking for a cross-country move?
Booking far in advance does not save money or otherwise help the customer in the auto transport industry. The general rule of thumb is to book 2 to 4 weeks in advance of your desired pickup date. However, you should book several weeks earlier if you are coming from or going to a remote location, during peak seasons (summer and snowbird migrations), or if you plan to use an enclosed carrier, since there are fewer of them on the road.
What specific items are long-distance movers legally prohibited from carrying?
The Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration establish federal rules, but individual carriers may be more restrictive; check with your mover in advance for specifics.
Items prohibited at the federal level include:
- Hazardous/Flammable Materials: gasoline, propane tanks, lighter fluid, paint, motor oil, transmission fluid, ammonia, pool chemicals, fertilizers, fire extinguishers (pressurized), nail polish remover, and aerosol cans
- Explosives & Weapons: ammunition, gunpowder, fireworks. Some carriers will move unloaded firearms; others will not.
- Perishables: open or refrigerated food, plants (some states have agricultural restrictions as well), frozen food.
- Pets and plants
Generally, it is best to dispose of or donate hazardous products rather than transporting them yourself.
Does standard homeowners’ insurance fully cover belongings damaged during interstate transit?
No. The typical homeowners’ policy covers personal belongings when temporarily away from home against covered perils such as fire and theft. Policies generally do not cover typical moving damage from dropping or scratching items. Even when the homeowners’ cover applies, it often covers only 10 percent of the value when outside the residence, and that is after the deductible.
Talk to your insurance provider and the moving company about your insurance options.
Are any cross-country relocation expenses currently tax-deductible?
Talk to a tax professional concerning this issue. The deductibility of relocation expenses is in flux. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the deduction through 2025 -other than for military personnel under order, so it is a moving target at this writing.
When the deductible was in place, it applied only to job-related relocations and covered only:
- Moving expenses for household goods and personal effects
- Lodging and other travel expenses during the move, excluding meals and check-up trips
How many days does open carrier car shipping typically take from coast to coast?
There are two parts to this answer. From the moment you book a cross-country car shipment with a broker, it takes 1 to 5 days to schedule your carrier and arrange your pickup. Once your car is on the truck, it often takes another 5 to 7 days to reach its destination across the country.
Enclosed carriers often take several days longer to schedule the pickup and may take longer for drop-off as well.
