I Paid $4,500 for My Move from North Carolina to Texas
Fact Checked by: 
Winston-Salem, NC → Houston, TX
$3,898.02
Two bedrooms, about 3,700 pounds
About $4,500
+$480 for a 500-foot carry
1,100 mi
Long-distance, interstate
- I compared quotes before I hired Colonial Van Lines for my Winston-Salem to Houston move, a company I’d used once before.
- The estimate itself was accurate. What I hadn’t budgeted for was $480 to carry everything 500 feet from the truck to my Houston apartment.
- I shared all of it, my quotes, my bills, and my ratings, as part of moveBuddha’s Better Moves Project.
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This account is based on a conversation with Kallie, who moved from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Houston, Texas, in June 2022 using Colonial Van Lines. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
My move from North Carolina to Texas
I needed to move 1,100 miles from Winston-Salem to Houston for work. My two-bedroom apartment was only about 850 square feet, and hiring a full-service mover still made more sense than a DIY move. What I wanted was someone I could trust to handle my things efficiently, keep the cost reasonable, and work around my schedule.
My priorities were keeping costs down, avoiding loss and damage, and finding a company that could fit my dates. The shipment came to about 35 boxes and standard furniture, roughly 3,700 pounds. Nothing high-value, though I was nervous about my television, a Papasan chair, and a few large pictures and mirrors.
About a month out I started running Google searches, checking review sites, and comparing movers. I’d used Colonial Van Lines before so I was already leaning that way, and I still ran moveBuddha’s moving cost calculator to compare quotes and confirm I was getting a fair price. According to moveBuddha, users who compare movers this way save more than 30% versus taking the first quote they get.
My Colonial Van Lines experience at a glance
Here’s what stood out most about moving with Colonial Van Lines, good and bad.
- Communication: My biggest complaint. I ended up relaying information between the driver and the office when the two of them should have been coordinating directly.
- Pricing accuracy and transparency: The original quote was accurate. What I hadn’t planned for was $480 for an unexpected long carry in Houston, where the driver had to park about 500 feet from my apartment. The charge was fair for the work involved, and I wasn’t prepared for it.
- Timeliness: Colonial delivered inside the agreed window, arriving two days before the deadline on my original quote, over a holiday weekend in peak season.
- Professionalism: Both crews were hardworking and professional. Their attitude and efficiency put me at ease the moment they arrived.
- Loss and damage: Nothing was lost or damaged. Every item I’d worried about arrived in the same condition it left in.
- Would I use Colonial Van Lines again? Probably not. The communication problems would push me to start fresh and compare options rather than going straight back to them.
for a long carry I never saw coming
Find out what a move from North Carolina → Texas actually costs before a mover tells you.
Why I chose Colonial Van Lines
After a phone survey with a few companies, my Colonial representative emailed a $3,898.02 estimate that came in below my other quote. It covered loading and unloading labor, transportation, a fuel surcharge, packing material and labor for a mirror and a few large paintings, and basic released-value moving insurance.
I’d used Colonial before, so I felt confident going in. After a $1,850 deposit they confirmed my details by email and sent links to moving tips and hacks. I spent the run-up packing, with help from my mother, changing my address with the USPS, sorting out utilities and internet, and planning my own road trip down.
My move at a glance
Here are the basics of my relocation, including what I was quoted and what I actually paid for my Winston-Salem to Houston move.
| Moved from | Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Moved to | Houston, Texas |
| Distance | 1,100 miles |
| Move size | 2 bedrooms, ~850 sqft |
| Moving company | Colonial Van Lines |
| Moving quote | $3,898.02 |
| Actual cost | About $4,500 |
We found that when you use moveBuddha’s moving cost calculator, you can save 30% on moving costs compared to customers who go with the first quote they receive.
Quotes I compared
I did phone surveys with a few companies and Colonial’s $3,898.02 came in lower than the other quote I got. Having used them before, I didn’t push the comparison as hard as I might have, which is the part I’d change.
What I’d tell anyone comparing full-service quotes on a route like this: the number you’re given prices the work the company can see. Nobody had eyes on my Houston parking situation, and that’s where an extra $480 came from.
Pickup day
The crew hit traffic and arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon, about 30 minutes later than expected. It wasn’t a big deal, and their work ethic put me at ease immediately.
While they packed, wrapped, and loaded, I answered their questions, cleaned the rooms they’d emptied, and tried to stay out of the way. Everything was out of the apartment by 7:30.
Delivery day
The movers reached my new Houston apartment 13 days after pickup. That sounds long and it was genuinely reasonable for a smaller shipment travelling more than 1,000 miles over a holiday weekend in peak moving season. Colonial delivered two days before the end of the service window on my original quote.
Like the pickup crew, the unloaders in Houston did a great job. Nothing was lost or damaged, everything ended up where I wanted it, and they reassembled my table, desk, and bed.
The one downside was $480 for the 500-foot carry between the truck and my door. I wasn’t expecting it and I thought it was fair, because the movers couldn’t have known about the parking before they arrived. A carry that long could easily have become a shuttle, which would have cost me considerably more. Colonial probably saved me money by dollying everything rather than bringing in a smaller truck.
Final thoughts
By most measures this was a success. The crews at both ends were professional and efficient, nothing was lost or damaged, my original estimate was accurate, and the long carry charge was reasonable given what the movers walked into.
That said, I felt like I paid more than I should have, and the communication made the whole thing harder than it needed to be. I shouldn’t have been relaying messages between the driver and the office. Between that and the scheduling inflexibility, I’d start from scratch and compare options again next time rather than automatically going back to Colonial.
Planning a long-distance move? Use moveBuddha’s moving cost calculator to get prices from top-rated movers and find the best option for your route and budget.
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Tips for future movers
These are the practical steps we recommend based on Kallie’s experience:
- Ask your landlord about truck access before move-in day: Kallie’s driver parked 500 feet from her door and it cost her $480. A quick conversation with your building manager gives your mover a chance to plan, and long carries aren’t always avoidable.
- Budget for the fees that aren’t on the estimate: Kallie’s quote covered $114 of packing for large items, and the long carry wasn’t in it at all. Ask upfront about long carries, elevator charges, and stair fees so delivery day holds no surprises.
- Build a buffer if you’re moving over a holiday weekend: Kallie moved over the Fourth of July and her things still arrived two days early. Holiday moves can stretch a delivery window, so have a plan if yours runs long.
- Insist the driver and the office talk to each other: Kallie spent the move relaying messages between them. Ask who owns coordination on your file, and escalate to your coordinator the first time you’re asked to pass a message along.
- Compare fresh even with a company you’ve used before: Kallie had moved with Colonial previously and leaned toward them from the start. Familiarity is worth something, and it shouldn’t stand in for a comparison.
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