You Load, Consolidated Hauls

Consolidated Freightways says it has a better idea for people who plan to move but don’t feel like driving a rental truck across the country or paying to hire a moving company.

CF will send a trailer to your house, let you load it yourself and then come and get it.

The service, which went “live” June 21, is being offered through the Menlo Park, Calif., company’s new e-commerce division.

By accessing CFMovesU.com on the Internet, customers arrange to have a 28-foot trailer delivered to their house. CF will pick up the trailer two days after it’s delivered and truck it to its final destination.

Customers have two days to unload the trailer before it is picked up again.

Marty Larson, director of e-commerce and marketing technology for Consolidated Freightways, said the Internet-based business is not an attempt by the less-than-truckload, common freight company to become a full-service household goods mover.

“The service is definitely in competition with the do-it-yourselfer, the self-mover, but also it is targeted to add new revenue streams to the company,” he said.

“Because of the Internet, its low cost, wide accessibility and efficient way of exchanging information, it has opened up a new market for us that previously we could not have gone after,” Larson said.

He noted that 20 million U.S. households move each year.

Larson said the service will probably cost the same as renting a truck. “It’s too early to look at pricing, but we positioned it to be competitive with truck rentals,” he said.

For the full story, see the June 28 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.