Moving Companies - Questions for the Movers

1.     Registration Number

The moving company should have a registration number with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), called a USDOT number (US Department of Transportation Number). If a company only travels within one state, than they may not be registered. You can check online with FMCSA.

2.    Rates and Estimates

Ask the company what there rate is; most companies will provide a rate per pound and a distance rate. If the company offers a quote based on cubic feet, do not hire them. A company estimate must be based on weight if you're moving long-distances. For short-distances, some companies will charge a per hour rate. Both the hourly rate and that poundage rate will not change, whereas the estimate can depending on the type the carrier provides. Keep in mind that the moving company must give you an estimate in writing and they must provide you with a copy. The estimate must include all charges and both you and the mover must sign it for it to be an agreement. The estimate must also indicate the method of payment and be dated. You can read more detailed information on estimates by going to the articles on binding estimates and non-binding estimates.

  3.    Subcontractors

Some of the larger movers subcontract to a smaller company. If this is the case with the company you are thinking of using, ask for the subcontractor’s name and if the company uses several subcontractors, ask for a complete list. If the mover is uncertain, ask them to find out and get back to you. This information should be readily available and should not be withheld. If subcontractors are used, make sure you check out the drivers to ensure you'll still receive good service. Most subcontractors are local movers who have purchased their own truck for transport. We've worked with subcontractors before and have had very good service.

4.    Additional Fees

Find out if there are any additional fees or when additional fees apply. Some companies will charge extra for awkward items, or if the destination does not have easy access, or if the load has to be hand-carried over a certain distance. To avoid such costs, note any larger items and pre-arrange where the truck can park, if there are any stairs, and if you are moving to a condo or high-rise, investigate any possible obstructions such as elevator usage and load restrictions. These extra charges are called flight charges and long carry charges and they should be discussed with your mover ahead of time. If you're well organized, have arranged for parking and elevator usage, these charges should not apply.

If your old or new residence is not accessible for a large carrier truck or van, you may need to have the mover arrange for a shuttle service, which will also incur additional costs.

Additional costs may also include fuel surcharges or transportation surcharges if you are moving to a remote area. In addition, if your belongings cannot be unloaded on arrival, they may need to be stored. Storage-in-transit fees will be charged along with warehouse handling charges. Try to avoid either by ensuring your new residence is ready on time.

5.    Additional Transfers

For long distance moves some companies may transfer your belongings from one truck to another. Additional transfers increase the possibility of damage and loss. Keep this in mind when you are choosing your carrier and ask beforehand. Also, if you are moving during the winter or rainy season, find out if the company protects against water damage.

6.    Insurance

Ask detailed questions about insurance. The moving company will provide insurance at an additional cost. Insurance is usually based on weight, so you will need to assess the value of your goods versus what the insurance policy will provide should your belongings arrive damaged or not at all. Standard coverage is 60 cents per pound and is usually not enough to cover the true cost of the damaged item. Before you purchase more insurance, look into your home insurance to see if they offer additional coverage for moving.

·  Packing/Storage Services

Find out how items are protected and labeled. Most companies will shrink-wrap your sofa and provide a free blanket wrap service; smaller companies may charge for this service. Ask how items are labeled and how they will be identified on arrival. Make sure you keep an accurate list of all your items, number of boxes, single pieces and odds and ends. In addition, ask up front if the moving company expects appliance service charges, and if they do, ask about their policies for preparing appliances for transport to see if you can either do it yourself or find someone who'll do it at no cost. In most cases, companies don't charge for standard major appliances, but will for any extra item.

If you require storage, ask the company if they provide storage service. Usually, the larger companies do and this can save you time and money by having the truck drop off your items for you. It's a good idea to check out the storage facility beforehand.

·  Complaints and Claims

Ask the company if they have any unresolved complaints or claims against them. Most will give you a history of complaints and claims, and if they were resolved satisfactory for the client. Details won't necessarily be provided, but if there are some outstanding issues, ask for more information about why and the nature of the complaint and claim. Also, ask how many claims and complaints they've had; this is a good indication of their incident record.

·  Ask for Referrals/Recommendations

Most reliable companies will automatically provide you with letters of happy clients. And although anyone with a printer and computer could generate supportive documents, you can usually assume they are legitimate and factual.

Funny Moving Stories? Have one of your own?

Moving can be stressful. Sometimes in all of the rush and details of a move, perfectly rational people can do some pretty funny things. Take a minute to laugh a little and read some funny moving stories. Submit your own, below.

A cat was accidentally shipped from Southern California to Salt Lake City. The curious kitty snuck into the trailer when no one was looking. In the rush of the move the poor customer didn’t realize her kitty was missing for three days. After a frantic call, the kitty was recovered without injury. It did take an hour or so of coaxing by the driver to get the scared kitty to come out of the trailer, though.

A request was submitted to move a car and a goat.

A customer reserved one month of storage for a ReloCube^®. As everything was being finalized, the customer asked if it would be OK if he and his dog could live in the ReloCube while it was in storage.

An aquarium was packed and shipped. Not unusual right? Except that it was shipped with the water and fish still in it! The customer then filed a water damage claim.

A woman called to inquire how many days it would take for the trailer to arrive at the destination. When she was told 4-5 days she was concerned. She was worried that the food she had left in the freezer might spoil.

While in the process of quoting a move for a very nice gentleman, a quotation analyst could hear a woman talking and asking questions in the background. Suddenly the nice gentleman calmly said, "I am getting off the phone now, my wife is annoying me."

One customer asked to ship her pets in the trailer. When told that this could not be done because it would be harmful to the pets, she asked, "But what if I put them in cages?"

A request was submitted for an iguana to ride out of its cage in the front seat of the truck with the driver for the duration of the transit.

Are You Prepared for a Do-It-Yourself Move?

Are you ready for a DIY MOVE?

Moving yourself is a great way to save money and be in control of your moving experience. Before you back up the moving truck, ask yourself a few important questions to make sure you are fully prepared for a do-it-yourself apartment move.

Have you booked everything you need?

A self-service move requires managing a number of details yourself. One of the first steps in planning your move is to make necessary reservations.

If you are renting a moving truck, you should call in advance to reserve a truck that is large enough to hold all of your belongings and is available for the time you are designating to move. If you are saving money by borrowing a truck or other vehicle from friends, be courteous and make a “reservation” with them, as well.

It is a good idea to check with your apartment manager to see if you need to make reservations in your new community for a loading-zone parking spot or a freight elevator. (You will also want to reserve parking spots and the elevator at your old address for the move-out.)

Are you prepared to pack?

You’ve made the necessary reservations, and transportation is secured. Now it’s time to pack!

Before moving day arrives, gather all of the tools you will need to securely pack up your apartment. Collect free boxes from grocery and package stores, or buy boxes from a local moving company. In addition to boxes, you’ll need packing materials to protect items inside the boxes. Save your newspapers, or ask neighbors to donate theirs. You might also purchase packing peanuts from your moving truck rental company or from office supply stores, such as UPS.

Plan for packing efficiency by securing fragile items like dishes and glassware with soft t-shirts. Set aside a pile of blankets to wrap delicate furniture, such as mirrors and lamps. Finally, grab a few rolls of packing and masking tape to ensure boxes are extra secure for the move.

Who’s going to help?

You’ve done your homework, and you are ready to pack up and move out. But who’s going to help you carry your sofa and entertainment center?

Just as you reserved a moving truck, you will need to reserve your moving help in advance. Be sure to give friends and family advance notice so they can mark their calendars for the big moving day. Also, reward them for their efforts with a nice post-move dinner or individual gift cards.

The more organized you are, the more quickly your move will happen. Once you enlist help, make it easy on your helpers by following an action plan. You won’t want to leave a bunch of eager workers wasting time and energy trying to figure out what to do next. Give everyone assignments, and assign people to certain rooms or certain types of items.

What have I forgotten?

An important detail that might slip your mind is how to care for your children and pets during the move. The hustle and bustle of moving can be extra difficult with little ones underfoot, so hire a babysitter for small children or consider putting your dog or cat in a kennel for the day. This will cause less stress for them and for you!

It’s a challenge to remember everything involved in the move-yourself process, but advance planning and a moving checklist should help you cover the bases. Now that you’re ready for your self-service move, why not plan to take the money you are saving and treat yourself to a great housewarming party once you’ve moved in to your new apartment?

10 Tips For Managing A Moving Sale

1. Donate What You Don't Sell

Of course, you're hoping that everything sells and that at the end of the day, you'll be left with only a few empty clothing racks and card tables. While you might luck out and have this happen, it's good to be prepared just in case it doesn't. Make a game plan for what to do with what doesn't sell. Maybe your friend Ginger wants your old skis. And maybe Fred wants that elliptical trainer. If the friends who have been helping you want some things, let them have it. If they don't, you can still give away what's left by donating it. Before the sale, go online to find drop-off locations for nonprofits that are accepting donations of the types of items you're selling. As soon as the sale's over, pack up everything that didn't go and take it to a drop-off center. Better yet, some organizations will even come by to pick up items.

2. Be Ready for Early Birds

The ads and all the signs and flyers you've posted clearly state that the sale starts at 8:00 a.m. You've even included a line that reads, "No early birds." It doesn't matter. As long as there are yard sales, there will be early birds. So you need to be prepared to sell from the moment the first yard sale item is placed on your lawn, even if it is only 6:30 a.m. To avoid any errors or lost sales, make sure everything is priced the night before. Ask your friends to arrive early -- you can greet them with fresh-baked scones, coffee and hot cocoa. And if you're still setting up, don't be shy -- ask the early birds what they're looking for. If they're there, you might as well try to sell them something.

3. Be Prepared to Make Change

On the day before the sale, go to the bank to get plenty of smaller bills and some coins so that you'll be prepared to make change. Figure out how many people will actually be helping you sell items. That will help you decide how much money you'll need for change making. Stop by the local hardware store and pick up a few free aprons. Set up a bank of change for each of your assistants accompanied by an apron, some extra price tags, a black marker, some masking tape and a small calculator. You'll also want to have some shopping bags, a few empty boxes, and some newspapers and maybe even some twine on hand for packing up purchases.

4. Let the Kids Help

If you have kids and they want to help, let them. You can encourage children to get rid of old toys and belongings by letting them keep the money from the sale of their possessions or letting them know that the proceeds from the sale are going toward something for the entire family, like a flat panel TV for the new house. If they want to help on the day of the sale, let them set up a small concession stand. They can make lemonade and sugar cookies or brownies to either sell or give away to shoppers. To avoid any accidents, avoid ingredients that can provoke extreme allergic reactions such as peanuts. And make sure that there's an adult or an older, teenaged sibling on hand to sit with the younger kids while they work.

5. Delineate Your Yard Sale Space

If your house is on the market, you might want to see if you can host your yard sale in the neighbor's yard. Not only will this keep your house available for prime weekend appointments, it will also keep you from having to conduct (or deny) impromptu showings of your house to yard-sale shoppers. No matter whether you're having the sale out of your garage or the neighbor's, you want to delineate your sale space. Put away any items that are not for sale. You don't want your son's new snowboard to end up going with your old skis by mistake. Estate sales, which are often held on prime yard sale days, generally let shoppers into a home. Keep all doors locked and rope off or block entryways into your home to prevent confusion.

6. Put a Price Tag on Everything

Garage sales can get busy, fast. Even if you have two or three friends on hand to help you hawk your wares, you won't have time to stop and come up with a price each time someone wants to purchase something. Whether or not you want to allow customers to negotiate the price is up to you, but tagging everything before the sale will save you the hassle of trying to come up with a price on the spot. As you're pricing things, keep your goal in mind. You're moving. While you do want to make money, your bigger goal is to get rid of all this extra stuff. Rather than putting a price on each individual wine glass, price them together; if you have a dozen, sell all 12 for $4 or offer six for $2. Pick one price for paperbacks and one price for hardbound books and make signs to indicate pricing.

7. Advertise, Advertise, Advertise

If you have a lot of things to sell, consider taking out an ad in the local newspaper. You can also post your yard sale on Craigslist. In your advertisement, be sure to state the location, date and hours. Most yard sales are conducted on Saturdays. But in some areas, sales are common on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, too. Briefly list what you have for sale so that shoppers will know what to expect. If you have mostly clothes and exercise equipment, say so and list what sizes the clothes are. Also, be honest. Perhaps you're selling a kitchen table your parents passed on to you. Just because it's 30 years old, that doesn't make it an "heirloom antique." And don't forget local advertising. Be sure to post flyers and signs around your neighborhood.

8. Organize Your Sale in Department Store Style

When you go shopping, do you want to walk into a giant warehouse with a mass of unorganized items? Probably not. Think about it -- how would you find what you're looking for? Take a hint from the big department stores, and organize your stuff as they would. Group everything by room or category. If you have the space, do a little staging. Put the baker's rack by the big freezer, and set up a table filled with kitchen gadgets, cookbooks and countertop appliances nearby. Group all the exercise equipment together along with those roller blades and your old skis. And if you have time, sort books, CDs and DVDs by genre. It will make it easier for a shopper to leave with several items instead of just one.

9. Do Your Homework

It can be easy to look at a collection of stuff you no longer want and wonder who's going to buy it. But instead of treating your old stuff like a big pile of junk, look at it like undiscovered treasure. Take a little time to give everything a good cleaning. If you still have the original packaging for an item, put it all together. If you still have all your owner's manuals, tape them to the gear they came with. Do whatever you can do to make something look as appealing as it did when you purchased it. And, to be sure that you're bringing in top dollar for your treasures, take a look online to get an idea of how you should price everything.

10. Invite a Few Friends to Help

Sometimes it's difficult to look at our own things with an objective eye. One way to solve this problem is to invite a few close friends to help you. They'll know you well enough to understand that there's no way you're going to part with your decorative tin collection. But they'll also know you well enough to realize all those fitness gadgets you have shoved under beds and tucked into closets will never replace your love of the gym. With your friends' help, you'll be able to sort through your stuff with an objective eye. The process will be a lot quicker, too.