Columbus runs about five and a half hours from Chicago, down I-65 and over on I-70 — long enough that Checkmate schedules it as a full driving day, with the crew loading early in Chicago to get the truck rolling before the Eisenhower fills up with rush-hour traffic. The route matters here almost as much as the destination: leaving on time is what keeps a Columbus delivery from turning into a late-evening unload in an unfamiliar building.
German Village’s brick streets and Short North’s converted rowhouses both come with access quirks — tight parking, narrow porches, sometimes a set of steps that a standard dolly route won’t clear — and those get mapped out before the truck leaves Chicago rather than discovered on arrival. What loads last in Chicago is whatever needs to come off first in Columbus, worked out at the walkthrough, not improvised at the curb.
This is a Checkmate truck and Checkmate crew for the full drive, covered under the company’s US DOT and MC interstate authority — no handoff to a regional carrier for the Ohio leg.
Chicago → Columbus — Typical Cost By Home Size
| Home Size | Price Range | Estimated Transit Time |
|---|---|---|
| Studio/1BR | $1,350-$1,850 | 1-2 days |
| 2BR | $2,300-$3,200 | 2 days |
| 3BR | $3,600-$4,950 | 2 days |
| 4BR+ | $5,150-$7,000 | 2-3 days |
Jamal builds these ranges off what a walkthrough actually shows — room count, stairs, a piece or two that's bigger than it looks — so the number reflects this load, not a generic size chart.
Moving Chicago to Columbus?
Before the truck leaves Chicago, Jamal works out the load plan for this specific run: what goes on first, what has to come off first once it reaches Columbus, and how access works at both ends of the trip
That planning matters more on a long haul than most movers let on — furniture that needs to come off first at the new place can't be the first thing buried under everything else in the truck. Michelle locks in the crew once that plan is set, and Tomasz runs the load on move day working from it instead of figuring it out in the driveway. The paperwork shifts the moment the truck leaves Illinois, too — from there it's our US DOT and MC authority covering the move, not our Illinois Commerce Commission registration.
Price This Route
