Travel time is the time your moving crew spends driving the truck to your home and back to their facility at the end of the day. Many companies will offer fixed rate travel times. While other companies may charge depending on how far your home is from their facility. To help keep travel time charges to a minimum, opt to find a local reputable mover closest to you. When engaging a moving company, make sure they are transparent on how they charge their travel time. This way you won't get left with extra charges you weren’t aware of.
The main difference between local and long distance moves are how they are priced. Local moves are priced by the hour while long distance moves are priced by the weight of your items. Generally, most local moves are completed in the span of 1 to 2 days. While long distance moves will vary depending on how far you’ve moved. Most moving companies will give you the option of an hourly or weighted move depending on the distance. It’s best to find out first how your moving company is going to charge you. Once you know, you can then determine how you want to organize your move. If your move is getting charged by the hour, then you may think of packing everything yourself and moving it closer to the front door so that the movers are taking less time going in and out of rooms. However, if your move is priced by weight you may consider transporting the heavier items in your car instead of putting everything on the moving truck.
Plan and organize! Keep a moving checklist easily accessible. Create a folder to store all your moving documents like contracts, receipts etc. Then begin to organize your moving timeline. Make sure you know what your moving budget is, as that will help you make important moving decisions. In addition to that, take inventory of all your belongings. This will help a moving company determine your moving estimate and you'll also be able to use the list to get an insurance quote on your belongings. For local moves that charge by the hourly, anything you can disassemble or pack to save time is valuable. Move all boxes and furniture items to an area that is easily accessible to the movers, in order to reduce the amount of time needed to move items into the truck. Try to keep any loose items to a minimum to streamline this process. Other ways you can be prepared, include ensuring the moving truck has ample parking, clearing snow before the movers arrive during the winter months and organizing the availability of freight elevators if you’re in an apartment building.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to find disreputable movers without realizing it when you hire professional movers. Luckily the Canadian Association of Movers (CAM) can help you validate which company to choose from. CAM's database of certified companies maintain the following high operating procedures. A high standard of delivering fair practices, reasonable pricing, professionality, safety and timely delivery of services. Once you have selected a local professional mover from CAM’s database. Contact your local Better Business Bureau (BBB) to receive a reliability report before you hire your chosen mover. It’s always pertinent to read reviews of the company that you’re considering hiring when finding a reputable mover. Ask how they will handle your move, find out if they have a local presence and can be reachable in the event of a problem. For more information on how to find a reputable mover, refer to our Learning Centre for our article on ‘Why Hire a Full Service Moving Company? Pros & Cons’ which details things to look out for when hiring a credible moving company.
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It’s always best practice to tape and completely seal all boxes. Leaving the top of boxes open creates additional risk. Items can fall out and get lost during the move. Or even become damaged during transportation. For items that are too tall for a box, you can telescope two moving boxes of the same size together creating a larger makeshift box. If you have awkwardly shaped items that won’t fit in your moving box, consider wrapping some sort of protection around it. Packing supplies like packing paper or bubble wrap are ideal for scenarios like these. Once they are properly protected you can then safely transport them.
Yes, there are certain items that legally cannot be moved or shipped by movers. In order to keep your moving crew and belongings safe during transportation there are a few categories of items that cannot be moved. These include flammable materials to household chemicals. The following list of dangerous goods are prohibited for movers to take: flammables, explosives, paints, aerosols, propane tanks, any equipment containing fuel, ammunition and flares. None of the above mentioned items can be shipped or transported by movers. Either plan to dispose of these items at your local transfer station or opt to transport these items yourself. For more information on items that movers cannot take, refer to our Learning Centre for our article on ‘How To Pack Electronics’ which speaks to items that are prohibited by law to be shipped.
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