<p>I’m sure this has been addressed before - I searched but didn’t find a lot. What storage rental units in Tuscaloosa have others used in the past for the summer? How soon did you have to reserve?</p>
<p>My son is a freshman and I am trying to plan our first move-out from Tuscaloosa. Originally was just going to rent a van and drive down and bring everything back to Illinois. But now, pricing things it out, it’s about the same price (and less time) for my husband to fly down, rent a van, put most of son’s things in storage for summer, and then son and husband just drive back in my son’s car w/ the things he absolutely has to have home.</p>
<p>I am also very interested in this, ILMOM2012. We are in a similiar situation as I will be flying down from St. Louis and driving her car back. She will be headed to Costa Rica with Alabama Action as soon as finals are done so she will not have much time to get things packed. Can anyone recommend a climate controlled unit?</p>
<p>There is a good chance it will be just me and my son moving his stuff into a storage unit - and based on his exam schedule - it might be happening later in the evening. Any suggestions on a location to which it might be relatively safe to transport stuff at night?</p>
<p>We have used Premier Storage twice (for DD who graduated) and will be using again this summer for DS. It is climate controlled, clean, bug free, reasonable and secure. They often run 3 month specials with one month free, so it gives ample time on either side of move-out and move-in. They are on Greenboro Drive a few lights past Skyland. Very sweet people and LOVE helping UA kids! Can’t say enough about how helpful they were with DD. They also are a U-Haul provider, so you can get the truck or trailer from them too. RTR!</p>
<p>We’ve used All American on North River Commons, or something like that. I usually go up in April and rent the unit and put some totes in that I know son won’t need. Very nice area, feel very safe at night, and not too far from campus. I do usually call in March to reserve the unit, so don’t just show up in April, as units may already be taken. But there is usually a lot of availability at this location. It is a half a block away from the Rice Mine Road location, which is used more, but I like the North River because I can get a second floor unit, and being from a flood prone area, this is important to me. We only get a 5 by 5 and use it just for son. Plenty of room for his stuff. Not too pricey and worth the peace of mind.</p>
<p>I would like to get a storage unit for my son. I just have no idea how he will move his stuff in with no car. I was thinking maybe he could rent the zip car. I would prefer that he fly home rather than us make the 1200 mile drive to move him out and 1200 miles home. Then we’ll be doing it again for move in during August.</p>
<p>My H used to fly and rent a car around May to help S move out but since we got S a zipcar student membership, he has used a zipcar to move himself in and out of the dorm. He makes two trips to the storage unit, as he has a large bike which he makes fit in a smaller zip car. </p>
<p>The zip car option has saved us plane fare and rental car fees, and has taught son some responsibility. It has been working out well. One caveat if you are going this route is to make sure to reserve a car far in advance so you are guaranteed availability.</p>
<p>Now that son has a car on campus because of an off campus job, we have gone both the fly and meet and the train and meet. While the train route is more time consuming, we enjoy the ride and it’s so much cheaper. In fact, H and I are going to take the train to Ttown for spring break and drive back with son. The train actually stops in Tuscaloosa and is a very inexpensive cab ride to campus, whereas the plane is in Birmingham and will cost you a pretty penny in shuttle fare to campus. For those of you moving out your freshman, take the opportunity to take home stuff that he/she never uses and bring it home to leave it, or donate it, as mentioned in other posts. It will make your life a whole life easier when it comes time for move in in August.</p>