One couch. One full size bed (mattress, box spring, and metal frame). A bench, a shoe rack, an end table. Shelves, a desk, four chairs, two tables, and walls filled with framed photos and artwork (large and small, delicate and not-so-delicate, all equally cherished). A kitchen cart, a baker's rack, too many dishes. Our apartment has been itemized into cubic feet and pounds, looked at and assessed by professionals who see cargo where I see a home. It's been an arduous month, but I have finally checked off the first major item on my "Moving to Milwaukee To Do List:" Find a moving company. When I started looking in January I thought the process would be relatively straightforward, but as with most things in adulthood I was sorely mistaken. It often felt like there was no one resource to give me all the information I really needed, so in true Type A fashion I did far more research than any normal human being would be expected to do. In the end, did it help me make a better decision? We won't really know until everything is delivered to us in Milwaukee in July. But until then, here is everything valuable that I learned in my research process. I hope that it can help at least one other person preparing for a long-distance move. A Guide for Finding Your Long-Distance Moving Company 1. Write an Inventory List
To get a quote, some companies will ask you to complete an inventory checklist of every item you intend to move - from furniture, to fixtures, to equipment, to the number of small, medium, and large boxes you anticipate packing. Give yourself a head start and keep your own list so that you don't have to walk around your apartment taking stock of everything, worrying what basic furniture you're ignoring, every single time a moving company asks. As for the number of boxes, Moving.com has a handy Packing Calculator that can give you a good idea of what you should expect based on the size of your apartment and the number of people in your home. 2. Become an Educated Mover The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has a really helpful website that I wish I had found before doing Google searches for moving companies. It has pages on what to watch out for when choosing a moving company, a document on your rights and responsibilities as a mover, and numerous resources to help you select a reputable moving company. The American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) website is a similarly helpful resource for learning about the ins and outs of working with a moving company. Reading through the information on these sites helped me identify the questions I needed to ask moving companies and to make sure I was armed with enough knowledge to avoid being taken advantage of as a consumer. 3. Get moving estimates For long-distance moves, plenty of companies both local and national can do the job. Many sites suggest starting with recommendations from friends or acquaintances who have had positive experiences with particular companies, but you can also get quotes from multiple companies at once through sites like Moving.com and Angie's List. Once you submit your basic information - moving date, locations, and contact information - you can expect companies to reach out to you via phone and email either with initial estimates (which, for the most part, can be ignored) or requests for more information to get a more accurate estimate. Remember, any estimate you get from a company before they know your inventory shouldn't be trusted. Only an estimate based on an inventory list and/or an in-home assessment will be reasonably accurate. 4. Evaluate the companies Before going through the hassle of responding to all those phone calls and emails, find out more about the companies who are contacting you (or whom you are looking to contact, even if you're going off the recommendations of friends). Use the FMCSA Mover Search Tool to check their registration, insurance, and safety ratings; look them up on the Better Business Bureau; and check out their websites to make sure they're not missing critical information like their DOT number and complete contact information. If a company seems fishy or has a poor track record, don't waste your time on them, no matter how good their initial quote seems. Keep in mind, however, that Yelp might not be your best friend in this particular scenario. Some less-savory companies will pad their Yelp profile with positively effervescent 5-star reviews, and other perfectly good companies will have very little presence on Yelp except for the handful of disgruntled customers any company is bound to have. Don't ignore Yelp, Facebook, and Google entirely, but take any ratings you see on those sites with a grain (or grainery) of salt. 5. Schedule complimentary in-home assessments with the top three companies on your list "If you are moving from a location within a 50 mile radius of your mover’s (or its agent’s or broker’s) place of business, the estimate must be based on a physical survey of your household goods, unless you waive this requirement in writing before your shipment is loaded" (FMCSA Rights and Responsibilities). Some companies might be able to offer a video walk-through, and I found that the most reputable companies were more than willing to work with the complexities of my schedule to coordinate a survey at a suitable time and often within just a few days of the request. The purpose of the survey is for a professional to see that the inventory you thought was accurate isn't, in fact, ignoring all those things you had shoved in the back of that one closet since the day you moved in six years ago. Through their own expertise and their own programs for accurately assessing weight and volume, they will be able to give you a quote that most accurately reflects what those guys will be loading onto that truck on moving day. Whether they are basing their estimate on weight, volume, or some other metric, you need to know that they have a clear picture of your home to minimize any upsetting surprises on moving day. 6. Make it personal To them it might just be a job comprised of boxes, blankets, and bubble wrap, but to you it is your home. If there is something you don't understand, ask questions. If you need time to discuss it with your family, take the time. If they say anything that seems out of place - like the company that told me they needed a deposit before sending a surveyor to my apartment - then trust your well-educated gut. Any company that doesn't take the time to answer your questions, assuage your concerns, or make the reasonable accommodations you need to feel more secure about your move probably isn't worth your money, your time, your stress, or the privilege of transporting your home sweet home across state lines. 7. Compare and Decide You've done your homework, you have your quotes, they've answered all your questions. This is where my Moving Company Research Spreadsheet came in really handy, allowing me to compare each company against the others at the top of my list. While a lot of it will come down to the cost of the estimate and the quality of the interactions you have with company representatives or your dedicated move coordinator, you will also learn the ways that each company values you and your home. (By the way, you can go ahead and click on that link to download a copy for yourself and adjust it to fit your needs!) When you do make that decision, make sure the terms of the agreement and the estimate are clear, in writing, signed, and dated. Then, don't forget to kindly let down all the other companies who were vying for your business with a simple "Thank you, but we will not be using your company for our upcoming move." A couple final notes:
2 Comments
11/6/2023 12:39:08 pm
I like how you mentioned that it is a good idea to check with BBB when you are looking for a moving company. My sister and her husband want to hire a moving company because they are going to be moving their family to their first house soon. I will have to tell my sister that hiring a BBB-approved company will ensure that their move goes smoothly.
Reply
11/13/2023 09:26:12 pm
The other day, my parents told us they finally sold their house and are getting ready to move to their lake house. They'll definitely benefit from following your advice about starting to research moving companies with anticipation. They'll move in a couple of months, so I'll make sure they read your moving tips.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorNashira is a music teacher and proud Small-Town Jew who, after surthriving six years in Brooklyn for her husband's surgical residency, is finally back in Wisconsin where she belongs! At least until the end of the two-year surgical fellowship, that is. It's a wild ride, and she's ready to tell you all about it! Archives
September 2019
Categories
All
|