I have about 1000 lbs of belongings, plus my car to get from Silver
Spring, Maryland to Ft Sam Houston, Texas - about 1600 miles.  The
hitch I need for my car to attach to a trailer can't be put on my car
in time for my trip, and I have to leave in four days.  How can I get
my car and belongings and myself to San Antonio for 500-750 dollars?

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Request for Question Clarification by kriswrite-ga on 04 Nov 2002 07:16 PST

Before I can give a full answer, I need to know what type of care you
have: Make and model. Also, it would be helpful to know from what size
place you are moving from and to  (from a 2 bedroom house to a 4
bedroom house, for example). Thank you.
kriswrite

Sure you can. It's called FedEx Ground, delivery in about 4 days.

A 70-pound box, the heaviest allowable by FedEx, will cost $26.03 to
ship from Silver Spring, MD to a residential address in San Antonio,
TX. (About a dollar cheaper if FedEx doesn't consider it a residential
address.) You could fit 1000 pounds of stuff into 15 such boxes, and
shipping would total about $390. Assuming a reasonably fuel-efficient
car and moderate gas prices, it shouldn't cost more than $100 in gas
to drive there, yielding a total of less than $500. Obviously, pack
your car with the densest and/or most fragile items to save money
and/or grief. You can use the leftover money to buy boxes, extra
insurance for the shipping, or stay in a hotel during the trip. :)

The shipping rate will be slightly higher if you have a greater number
of smaller boxes that still total 1000 pounds, so make the boxes as
heavy as you reasonably can, up to the 70-pound limit.

FedEx Ground does not do pick-ups from residential addresses, so take
your boxes to the FedEx Service Center at:

1025 Bonifant St
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Sat 12pm-5pm)

For under $750??  Your answer:  you can't.  The closest option you
have is to rent a small U-Haul that can tow your car.  It will likely
cost you $749.

I wish I had better news.  Good luck!