National move - long distance - how to find a moving company?

I actually expect something around that. It’s not 2x12h in the truck, but I think you do drive 8-9 hours for one trip.

The 12h also referred to the 880km from . For you, it’s just a bit shorter and cheaper, just as you say. Personally, I have already done dozens of moves for myself and family. With some preparation and as many helpers as possible, it is doable. Of course, the distance doesn’t help and increases the complexity of planning. You’d just need a truck driver’s license...

I actually expect something around that. It’s not 2x12 hours in the truck, but I think you do drive 8-9 hours for one trip.

a truck is only allowed to drive 80 km/h plus rest breaks for the driver.

I have now looked up the emails and the invoice again (see screenshot). I have cut off the addresses and private details, but it was almost exactly 880 km (East Frisia > Southern Bavaria) and the move took place last November.

The initial offer was just over 2000 euros. Since we actually had more stuff than initially indicated/thought (you always tend to underestimate it), they corrected the offer upwards to 2520 euros.

As I said, they came with 3 men and a 7.5-ton truck, which was just enough. We still had moving boxes; they brought blankets and protective foils. They were super quick and super nice. And no hidden additional costs came up.

I don’t know why it should cost twice as much for you. I also can’t imagine that it is much cheaper to rent a truck and drive it yourself.

I don't see why it should cost twice as much with you. I also can't imagine that renting a truck and driving it yourself is that much cheaper.

Just looked it up, with Buchbinder a 7.5-ton truck costs about €200 per day if returned to the same location. One-way surcharge is about the same again. But maybe you can find something cheaper. You can drive it with license class 3. Everyone knows someone with that. Let's calculate 1 day loading, 1 day trip there, 1 day unloading, 1 day returning. That’s about €800 for the truck, plus travel costs plus fuel (€200 per direction?). You will definitely pay less, but it's surely more stressful. Although after this calculation, I also have a question mark as to how the company makes money with €2,500 for the move. They will need 3-4 days and at least one overnight stay. That calculated with 3 men...

Hmm yeah, it's really tight. Either he also has his own gas station & workshop and truck leasing company, or it was about money laundering and undeclared work. Who knows, maybe they also did other moves before and after, so they had no empty runs, but that would be quite a big coincidence if that always worked out.

Maybe they were just extremely underutilized at the time, so they urgently wanted to submit the cheapest offer, since operating at a loss is perhaps still better than having no money in the cash register at all. (?)