You've gotten some good tips. I work for a storage facility which is also Oregon's largest independent Uhaul dealer. We rent the trucks, and also rent the Uboxes. (PODS).
When you talk about a moving van, are you talking about the semi trucks and trailers or a Uhaul/Budget/Penske truck?
Things to consider. The more your items are handled, the more opportunity for damage. After doing this job for the past nine and a half years, and being a trucker before that, I've learned that I would NEVER let my things go via the "big boys" aka, Allied, Mayflower, etc. To start with, unless you order (and PAY for) a "dedicated trailer" your things will be moved along with someone else's. Not only that, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen one of those trucks in a truck stop with someone's furniture and boxes out on the pavement while they transferred from one truck to another.
With a moving van (Uhaul, Penske, Budget, etc), you are looking at packing, loading the truck, driving to your destination, unloading into storage, and then when you find your home, loading back into a truck, driving to the new home, unloading and unpacking. Each of those steps has it's own potential for damage.
Choosing a POD or a Ubox (they're the same thing), you load the POD, they come get it, truck it to the location, store it, deliver it to your new home, and you unload it. Fewer steps, less potential for damages. It would be more expensive than a do-it-yourself with the Uhaul/storage/Uhaul/home, but IMO, would be worth it in the long run.
I can send you our company's packing/moving/storage tips if you'd like...PM me with your address.
