The Benefits and Drawbacks of Self Service Moving
Self-service moving is a great option if you’re not sure if you should move yourself or hire movers to do the move for you. Sometimes this decision comes down to cost and time—both of which are critical to a successful move. So if you don’t want to move yourself, yet you can’t afford to hire full-service movers, then self-service moving might be the best compromise.
What Is Self Service Moving?
Self-service moving refers to movers who provide a very limited service. Unlike a full-service mover—one who moves your household goods into a truck, drives the truck to your new home then unloads your things—a self-service mover simply drives the truck. You’re responsible for moving and packing the truck and unpacking it when it arrives at its destination. This is an ideal option for people who want to save some money, but are concerned about driving a large truck, especially through a residential area or an area with narrow streets and lots of traffic.
What Services Are Included in Self Service Moving?
Self-service moving usually includes a professional driver and the moving truck. All other costs are your responsibility, including packing your household, packing the truck and unpacking on the other end. Some self-service companies will provide you with a moving container—a large mobile unit—that you can store on your front lawn for a few days prior to your move. This kind of service allows you to pack the container over a longer period of time. It also ensures that you’re not tripping over boxes as you continue to pack your home. Plus, you can take as much time as you need to load the container and unload it at the new home.
How Much Does Self Service Moving Cost?
Costs will always vary depending on how far you’re moving, how much stuff you have and the area you’re moving from and to. Costs will also depend on what kind of service you require: if a mobile container is needed or if you require the truck for a longer period of time. Ask the company upfront what services are included in the cost and what extra costs might apply. No matter what, a self-service mover will usually be less expensive than a full-service move, depending on your circumstances. Plus, you can also ask the mover how to reduce costs and ask for a full breakdown of your estimate so you can see where to cut back if you need to keep within your moving budget.
Is Self Service Moving Really Cheaper?
Not necessarily. To decide if this is the right service for you, you need to determine the time it’ll take to move your things into the truck and how many people you’ll need to help you move. If you have the time and a lot of people to assist, then this might be the right service for you. But make sure you weigh the costs of a self-service move against a full service. Often you’ll find that the full service is worth the price, especially if you have a lot of large, awkward items to move or you are limited by time and resources.
Plan Your Cross Country Move
The process of planning a move across the country is often complicated by the remote nature of research, planning and coordinating. While the internet provides a wealth of information to get you started, a move across the country will require additional investments in time, travel and research
Clean: Burn calories, alleviate stress and breathe easier (quite literally) with a healthy dose of spring cleaning. No sense in moving dust bunnies cross country!
Declutter: You can cut, sometimes significantly, the size of your moving load by donating or purging clutter before you start packing. Recycling old magazines, books, and donating or selling your curios are a good place to start.
Pack: Start your packing process by collecting supplies and boxes. Make sure your cardboard boxes are durable enough to survive a cross country move.
Change Address: The USPS makes it easier than ever to fill out an official Change of Address form. Visit the United States Postal Service website up to three months before moving day to schedule your address change.
Set Up New Utilities and Services: Utilities such as gas, water, trash, phone, cable and internet should be set up before move-in day. Your landlord or realtor should be able to provide a list of local utility information.
Cancel Old Services: Be sure to cancel services for your old residence such as yard and pool care, pest control maintenance, house cleaners and anyone else who comes for regularly scheduled maintenance.
Suspend Subscriptions: If you use subscription services for meal kits, personal care items, diapers and other regularly used items to make your life easy, be sure to suspend the service and update your address before you move across the country so you don’t miss a delivery.
Research: Lastly, you will want to learn as much as possible about your new city before you move. Consider researching the following topics on your new destination: Real Estate Markets, neighborhoods, schools/education data, and crime statistics.
Does Every Moving Company Have Cross Country Movers?
Only federally licensed moving companies are legally allowed to provide cross country moving. Cross country moves are different than local moves (moving a short distance within the same state) and intrastate moves (longer distance moves that occur within the same state) because they involve moving goods across state lines
Unpacking Services
Unpacking tends to take longer than planned, or it becomes one more stressful thing to add to the list. can help you get organized with our unpacking services that allow you to focus on more important things like settling into your new home.
How To Load A Moving Truck – A Step by Step Guide
After weeks of planning your move, the big day has finally arrived. You’ve double-checked your moving checklist to make sure that you haven’t missed anything important. If you have made the decision to move yourself rather than hiring a professional moving company
The last thing you want to happen is not having enough room for all of your personal belongings. While most truck rental companies can estimate the size truck that you need based on the size of your home explains the experts if you don’t pack it properly, it can lead to more money out of your pocket and a lot of frustration. To save yourself from unnecessary stress, here is a step-by-step guide on how to load a truck to make sure all of your personal belongings make it to your new home in one trip.
If you have more than two people helping you move, you should designate two people as “loaders”, and they should remain inside the truck in order to pack the items as they are brought out . The rest of the people that are helping with your move will be in charge of bringing out all of the furniture, appliances, and boxes and handing the lighter items directly to the loaders.
Load a Truck With the Heaviest Items First
The heaviest of your items need to be the first to be packed. This will help to maximize the space and keep the rear of the truck from dragging if it becomes too heavy. The items that you want to load first are:
Appliances: keep these items upright and distribute them along the back wall of the truck. If you are loading a washer and dryer, you should put them on the opposite side of the refrigerator.
Furniture: large pieces of furniture should be loaded next. This includes sofas, chairs, and entertainment units.
Move Longer Items Into The Truck
The next items you want to load a truck with are your sofa, headboards, tabletops, box spring and mattress. They should be placed along the longest wall of the truck to keep them upright and to save space. Secure these items with ties. Load a truck with your dressers and desks against your mattress to protect the drawers in case they decide to open, and make sure any item that has drawers is placed with them facing the wall, so they don’t have as much room to open during the move.
Free guide on moving house with helpful tips and advice
This is predominantly due to the number of vans on the road and the number of people moving home every year increasing. This has lead to the largest sector increase over any other industry
Things to do before moving
– Plan ahead, If you need storage / boxes always order in advance, this will mean you are prepared and ready to go for when your arrives. We can get your first months storage free and will even deliver the boxes to your door before move day.
– Don’t forget to tell your bank, credit card providers, insurance company, building society, TV licensing, DVLA and other websites you have joined that your home address details will be changing.
– Make sure you have all of the keys back from neighbours, friends and relatives before leaving the property and give them to your estate agent.
– Make a list of important phone numbers like your estate agents, your solicitor and service provider.
– If you are moving to a completely new area be sure to tell your doctor, dentist and optician that you will be registering with new ones.
– Arrange for your utilities to be switched off before leaving your current property and reconnected in your new home.
– And finally contact your internet service provider so they can connect you in you new home.
How To Save On Storage
This is a mistake as you will be charged extra to have the service provider arrange what you could arrange on-line in minutes. Over the last few years you have probably noticed the many large storage facility’s opening in your area the reason for this is because it’s easy to book, cost effective and convenient if you are prepared to contact your local storage facility directly this will save you money.
How To Save On Packing Services
This is a mistake as you will be charged extra to have the service provider buy and bring the packaging with them. If they purchase your packaging from a local storage facility you could be paying as much
Customer Loading Service
The service will arrive at the collection address and open up the so you can load your items.The trolley, straps and blankets will be available for you to use and the driver will be on hand to give advice on how to use the loading equipment if required.
Must-Know Tips for Moving Out of State
So, you decided to pack up all of your belongings and start the process of moving out of state. We hate to say it, but choosing to move across state lines was the easy part. Now comes the challenging yet exciting process of hashing out the details and planning for the big move. To help, we gathered the most important steps for moving out of state and sprinkled in our top tips to make your move that much smoother
Secure Housing and Employment Before Moving Out of State
While it might not always be possible, moving out of state after you have a job lined up will take a huge load off. How do you find a job across the country? If possible, reach out to friends and family who live in your new area.
Craft a Master Plan for Moving Out of State
Before you begin your moving research process, create a high-level master plan of how you’ll organize your move. Figure out how much money you can spend max while moving out of state. Can you transport any of your belongings in your own car or rental truck, or will you leave everything to professional movers? If you’re planning a DIY move, you’ll want to look into the cost of renting a moving truck.
Pare Down Your Stuff Before Moving Out of State
Take inventory of everything that you’ll bring to your new place, being sure to focus on the things you really need, like your dishes and a bed frame. Moving out of state can get very expensive very quickly, so you’ll want to keep costs under control by only moving these necessities.
Budget Everything for Moving Out of State
Hey, moving locally is expensive, never mind moving out of state, so you’ll want to save money wherever you can. Whether you’re using recycled packing materials or scheduling your move on a day with lower moving estimates, sticking to a budget will be a big help as you’re moving out of state. To keep track of both your budget and your expenses, create a master spreadsheet of all of your moving-related costs so you’ll be prepared to make the payments when you need to.