Home

Moving Companies

Car Transport

Moving Storage
    Containers
    Portable Storage

Moving Truck Rental

Moving Supplies

Moving Tips
    Packing Tips
    Moving Checklist
    Moving Boxes
    Announcements
    Utilities

Favorite Links

Site Map

BIO ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vivian Cragg is a veteran at moving. She has been left behind by her husband 18 times to move their house while her husband starts his new job. She has used both professional moving companies and done it herself with the help of day laborers. This article is part of the information she learned during the last 30 years of following her husband and taking care of their move.

Moving Companies -- Movers

Shall I move myself or have a moving company take care of this? There are several types of moves, interstate and intrastate (local). Moving companies have a different way of charging for these two services.

Movers / Moving Companies / Moving Services

An Interstate or long distance move takes you from your home state to a destination outside your home state and is based upon the weight of your inventory, the amount of miles traveled and any additional services you might require (auto transport, storage, etc.) If your household goods cross a state line with a moving company, it is considered an interstate move and is governed by FMCSA rules and regulations.

An intrastate (local) move will move you within the same state. They are state regulated and are generally calculated by hour and manpower needed to move your inventory, and is normally within a 100-mile radius.

Once you have decided what type of move you are going to use, take the time and research the Internet. There are special Internet sites that will send your inquiry to many local movers. You will also find that a lot of the moving companies have on line quotes. Just fill in your household items and submit it. They will send you several quotes. While it is a bother, it is a good thing! The more information you have the better deal you can get. For our last move, we had 10 vendors contact us -- one gave us a quote that was two-thirds of the next best quote. Quite a savings!

If you come up with an estimate and it is over 8400 lbs. or 1200 cubic feet, house movers recommend you set up an in home estimate prior to signing a contract. Whatever charges you discuss, be sure they are all in your estimate and that they are binding. This will insure that your costs do not increase after you sign your contract. Samples of the sites that offer to broadcast your need for a quote to local movers include: 123Movers.com, MovingExplorer.com, Relocation.com and FroggyMoving.com are very helpful in accumulating quotes.

Unlike interstate moving services which pack your whole home, you pick and choose what you want them to handle. Are you going to pack or will they; will you pack some boxes and the movers pack others; will they unpack any items upon arrival to your new location. How many drop-off points will you have? You will get a better idea of how much you will spend, if you give lots of details.

Booking Agent

The booking agent and origin agent are two different contacts. The booking agent will set up and manage your move and is responsible for quality control, where the origin agent will provide the actual services for you. These two are sometimes the contact. The origin agent will estimate the size of your move and give you a quote. He will provide a crew to pack your belongings and then load the moving van.

Moving Company Driver

Your driver will be responsible for providing the Household Goods Inventory. He will hire and supervise whatever number of loaders he may need to pack and unload your shipment. Unless you choose to place your shipment in storage, your
goods will go directly to your new home. He will also coordinate the distribution of goods into your new home, example: kitchen boxes in kitchen, etc.. They will also assemble whatever they dismantled (this does not include swing sets, waterbeds, sheds, etc.)

Destination Agent

They will provide a crew to unload the van and place your belongings into your new home. If you have chosen this option, they will unpack your cartons, they will not put them away only unpack. If you need extra storage they will take your items to their storage unit. He will also advise the van lines and the booking agent of any problems that may have occurred.

International relocation and corporate relocation can get very complicated and expensive. In this case, relocation services are very helpful will help you on both sides of your move and arrange for international movers. On the other spectrum is apartment moves where you should think if you have enough belongings to justify professional apartment movers.

BIO ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vivian Cragg is a veteran at moving. She has been left behind by her husband 18 times to move their house while her husband starts his new job. She has used both professional moving companies and done it herself with the help of day laborers. This article is part of the information she learned during the last 30 years of following her husband and taking care of their move.