What about moving a piano when it's cold outside?

Question

So, I'm looking at moving a piano.

Destination A and Destination B are about an hour from each other, and we're experiencing a cold winter, but the move day should be nice. About -10C (8F). We would put blankets and stuff over and around the piano, but I don't know if that would be enough.

Is it a bad idea to move a piano in the back of an open truck in this kind of weather? What if I got a big moving truck, instead?

Answer 1

When we moved ours several years ago, it was in December, and it was snowing!  Everything was fine.  We waited about 2 months to have it retuned.  

Then, when my husband acquired a baby grand a couple of years ago, we called a tuner right away and he said to let it settle in for at least 3 weeks before trying to tune it.  

As far as open truck or U-Haul...the open truck is not going to be any worse than the U-Haul.  It's only an hour and you're going to have it covered.  It's a stringed instrument.  It will bounce back, as long as you give it a little time.

Answer 2

It should be fine for such a short period of time.

Answer 3

The temperature swing probably won't damage the piano, but I would probably wait a few days for it to stabilize in its final location, them have it retuned.

A U Haul truck is still going to be just as cold as it is outside, and maybe even colder during the day.