One-Way Truck/Tow Rental from CA to FL?

[ronreeder]

I confess that I did not read ALL of the replies to this post, but I read enough without reading this little detail:

The way people are evacuating California for whatever reason you want to believe, and flocking to more favorable locations as far as THEY are concerned, one-way rentals OUT of California are surprisingly expensive these days. The rental companies have to ship the vehicles BACK to California (and other recently undesirable localities) for the next renter in line.

I'm just sayin'

[AFTER TAXES]

ditto....did not read all either. Ur going to need a truck anyway, sooooo
maybe dig around find 3/4 to 1 ton nice ride.

just saying

[suncoasteng]

Originally Posted by John&Vicki

Congratulations on your new trailer.

Be very careful selecting a hauler. There are a lot of honest working folks in that industry but there’s also an infestation of scammers. They got me once.

Cheers,
John

John is right. Beware of on-line agents who just want to be the middleman. You-Ship is a software company, you need a trucking company!
Check with some local trucking companies and ask them for name of trucking broker, they will be the middleman and find you a licensed / insured / experienced hauler who needs to come back to Florida

[time2travel]

Originally Posted by GetOutside

Hi Air Forum Community!

Owning an Airstream has been a life long dream of mine, and thanks to COVID and the new world order, my boyfriend and I just purchased one from a friend. We are so pumped but we know we have some work ahead of us to get our bearings. Neither of us have ever owned or lived a camper lifestyle. It's a 1991 34' Airstream Limited that was completely gut renovated a few years back.

I wanted to get some advice for towing it one-way from California to Florida. We live in two different states and are flying to California in mid-September to pick it up and drive it to FL to make some small upgrades to it. It is approximately 10K lbs and we are trying to find a truck rental company to pull it across the country and leave in FL. Does anyone know of any truck rentals that allow one-way trips with this kind of load? We will be leaving from the Orange County area and driving it to Florida within one week. We've considered buying a truck also, but wanted to get the scoop on the rental options first since we would have to leave the truck behind.

Any tips/advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!!!

M & D

I purchased an AS in OR and had it sent by B&B RV to Delray Beach, FL. You can contact Patrick 951-446-7632 for a quote. Eric the driver was awesome.

[gamakai]

I am in the "rent a truck and do it yourself" camp. Rent a f250 or Ram 2500 from Enterprise (they have price packages that include unlimited miles and have brake controllers built in). If PO is not including a hitch, buy one as you will have to anyway. Take the AS to a tire shop and have them repack the bearings (not just inspect). Make sure tires are newer in age, 2-3 years, if not replace them. Hook up and go. Getting used to your AS will be so much easier out west I-40 or I-10 has so many stretches of little or no traffic than does Florida. You will care for your AS much better than some unknown yahoo off Uship. Enjoy the journey or else why go to the bother.

[vintageracer]

Buy a good used truck in California capable of towing your trailer to Florida.

Sell the truck when you git to Florida.

IF you are a savy buyer and seller it might not cost you anything.

Something to consider!

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Especially if this is your first time out with a fairly large trailer, I'd suggest that an anti-sway / load equalizing hitch of some sort is pretty much mandatory. Simply dropping it on the ball and heading up into the mountains is a recipe for disaster (first time out). That hitch will need to be installed and set up correctly.

If you rent a truck, this is not the sort of hitch that you will have. Indeed one *could* install one. The cost of the hitch and install would add to the cost of doing it DIY. If you buy the truck to keep, then the cost of the hitch and install are simply part of the package ( trailer + TV).

I suppose that if you are lucky, the parts that fit the rental truck might also fit your eventual TV. Life is rarely that simple

Bob

[GetOutside]

Wow, thank you for sending such thoughtful replies. I finally got through all of them and jotted down lots of notes/tips/advice. My boyfriend has already purchased a brand new 2500 Dodge Ram to tow the AS that will be delivered to him in California next week and he's planning to do the trip himself. However, he is bringing a friend to drive cross-country with who is a seasoned camper (owned several RVs and large trucks/trailers over the years). I have advised that he purchase a load equalizing hitch prior to the trip and they are getting the AS inspected and putting a set of new tires on it before taking it out.

Thanks again for all of the information and advice!

Wish them LUCK!!! I will be on journey #2.

[Dragrun]

Not sure if you're still looking for a recommendation, but I've used this company before https://www.a1autotransport.com/fifth-wheel-transport/ from Cleveland to Florida. I can't remember off the top how much it cost, but I do remember it being more affordable than some of the other options we looked at. They'll price it out for you without having to commit to anything so they may be worth a phone call to see what kind of rate you can get.