I'm moving across the country next month (West coast to East). What is the best moving company?

This is a great question. I haven't met anyone who didn't come away from the experience thinking their moving company was criminal.

Sell everything that won't fit into your car. Then just move money. Moving Cos make a note of every teeny chip, dent, scratch on your stuff and then when they add more damage, it's "not their fault." Lots of glass and china always gets broken and somehow there is never insurance due to some fine print in contract. Not a pleasant experience. The last time I moved, one of the packers was drunk and got sent home, so packing took an extra day... and then the truck got stuck in the mud when it arrived at its destination. We had to hire a large tractor to pull it out.

I used Painted Padded Wagon when I moved from SF to LA... they also have offices in Chicago and some other cities. They were great -- very professional, and their estimate was right on the money.

I had a really great experience with a company called Moovers, Inc (mooversinc.com) moving from NYC to SF. They were reliable, they stuck to their (free) estimate and they were also really, really nice. I would totally recommend them.

I've had good moving experiences, many years ago, and think with enough money and personal references you can find a good company (as in Andrew's answer and jessie's above) but I think the advice about selling your stuff is excellent. Much of what you have will look old and sad by the time you get it to your sparkling new home. There are, of course, some things that remain wonderful and precious, and those things you will want to keep--for now at least.