FAQ Sheet about ABF and Broadway Express (with photos)

[Ed]

I will be using ABF for my upcoming move, using their mobile containers. I am taking my time driving across the country so I am having ABF put my container into storage. The cost for this is $125 for 30 days per container.

The downside is that they don't prorate the costs if your containers are in storage for less than 30 days. The good part is that they don't charge any extra to bring your container(s) from the storage facility to your eventual destination. Hope this information helps.

[et]

I currently have a reservation with ABF, but learned that they cannot provide a ramp at my initial location. Is there a reliable source to find ramps? I live in a small town and have somewhat limited options.

Thanks.

[MusicMom]

I think this would be something that you can get from UHaul. About the only thing they have that might function properly.

[Darlene]

I used ABF two yrs ago from CA to FL and have no complaints. The only challenging part was storage facillities either can't fit or or don't like a trailer that can't be driven away immediately after they drop it off. However, I did my homework when looking for storage facilities and checked with the storage facility to ensure there was enough turning room and there was a proper place to park the trailer without blocking any driveways. ABF was very responsive and was able to pick up the trailer on the same day at both storage facilities in CA and FL. I just kept them informed before, during and after on move day so they could schedule their resources appropriately.

I will be using them again next month when I move back to CA. I have friends to help me load and if I don't go below 10 linear feet they won't charge me for the ramp. They also gave me a discount for being a repeat customer.

Since I used their trucks before and I haven't added anything significant, I knew the exact linear feet and weight and was able to use that to get quotes from other companies. I've gotten rid of some large items, so I know I won't use all of the 18 linear feet and they'll deduct $188 for each linear feed I don't use.

When I decided to go back to CA, I spent A LOT of time getting a lot of quotes from movers and auto transport companies. After all that, I still came back to exact companies I used 2 years ago. Since I used ABF and DAS, I know what to expect and I'm not worried about the price increasing because last time they didn't charge me any more than what was originally quoted.

For someone who only had a $5k budget to ship 8,034 lbs of household goods, an oversized SUV, airfare and airfare for 2 cats & car rental) ABF, DAS and Jetblue made it possible.

[Guest]

Check out the photos in #25.
The trailer being loaded clearly has the Bekins Van Lines logo on the side!

[MusicMom]

I don't see which photo you're talking about, Kathleen Dolan, but are you trying to say this would be a bad thing that someone is loading a Bekins trailer?

[Guest]

The photo on the right.
I'm not saying it's bad, just misrepresenting the freight company.


I know you can see my IP, (i also have a phpBB board) I'm not concealing my identity.

[MusicMom]

What photo on the right of what? Oh, I see, you're talking about the photo in Point # 25 at the very beginning of this thread.

I think Diane pulled these photos from her stock footage. She visits with a lot of moving customers and takes a lot of notes. If you look closely, all three trailers, and places, are different.

The BE driver is in the top photo, where the ramps are still split. The Bekins trailer in question is obviously different, notice where the door is in relation to the support feet, but I can bet that Diane's focus was on illustrating the ramps' use, not the trailers'. So perhaps her sentence of "Here are some photos I took of walkboards in use on a BE trailer" needs a little tweaking, but does it really?

No evilness on Diane's part, sorry.

Wow, I can't beleive this required such an explanation.

[Diane]

Wow, sharp eyes, Kathleen! This question has come up before. Broadway Express (as its parent corporation Griffith Trucking) used to be the largest hauling agent for Bekins in the U.S. It still has a huge "pick and store" cross-dock and warehouse in Effingham, IL, at the intersection of two major interstates. Tony Griffith, the owner, has some trailers left over from his Bekins days that he uses now and then. That trailer is one of them. Nothing sinister here. See also the photo in this post (BE review #197). The person driving the stagecoach was painted to resemble Tony Griffith - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=55918#55918

[jrlamour]

Don't mess with ABF. I used them for a move and the trailer was filthy. I had to clean it out before I loaded it. I also had close to $6000 in damages and they only want to settyle for $500.

[tatti33]

[Diane]

That person posted a complaint that is also posted as ABF review #77. I talked with ABF about it and my understanding is that they made a settlement offer that went beyond what they were legally obligated to offer. Here is more information about it - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9910

[tatti33]

[Diane]

Hi - frankly I have no way of knowing what happened. The customer could have failed to secure the bulkhead correctly. The bulkhead could have failed and fallen down on its own. The one thing I'm sure of is that no ABF employee would have taken down the bulkhead out of curiosity. I also don't know how this incident was ultimately settled. It could be that ABF ended up offering the customer more than $500.

All I can tell you is that there have been only 4-5 cases of bulkhead collapse that I know of out of hundreds of moves that I have read about, and ABF has settled those cases fairly. If you read through all the ABF reviews here and on Epinions, I think you will be reassured. Also, the more space you use in a trailer the more likely the bulkhead is to fail, because it has more force behind it pushing the items toward the rear of the truck. If you have a small move I would say it is VERY unlikely.

One reason that ABF developed its ReloCubes was to eliminate any possibility of bulkhead collapse.

[tatti33]