By 5Movers

07/01/2010 Nowadays there are many types of moving companies and moving services available to the public in America for local and long distance moves. Each of us wants to make a good and educated decision when it comes to spending all of that money for moving. Each of us has our own specific needs. A college student moving into or out of their dorm rooms certainly has different needs that a senior citizen moving to an assisted care facility! Of course, there are a budget issues and schedules that need to be met as well as different moving services that we will want to consider for our moves.
When we gather information about different moving companies and moving services we are suddenly flooded with phone calls and information. It’s so easy to get lost when you are on information overload. Most important of all is deciphering all of that information and putting everything into practical terms that you can understand.

The first step in moving is always advanced planning. Make a list or inventory of ALL of the items in your possession. At this stage of the game, it’s worth listing it all and then deleting items along the way. Go room by room listing each item and if you want make a “guesstimate” of how many boxes you will need for each room. (Don’t worry about being exact with this, since the point of it is to give you a general idea.) I always recommend doing this in a notebook and in pencil, so that it will easy for you to make changes along the way and keep track of it all.)
Once you have created an inventory with a general box count, you will need to sit down and take a look at it. This will be the” big picture” for your move and help you see the smaller parts of the puzzle! With this list you will be able to get an idea of how labor intensive your move will be and help you to decide what kind of moving services would be of interest you! There are quite a few out there!
Here is a list and a general description of the most popular moving services available for moving in the United States.
Full Service Deluxe Moving Companies-These are the large and well known moving companies. They offer full service moving packages. This means that they do all of the labor for you including packing and unpacking all of your boxes. Their prices will already include all packing materials.
Standard Moving Companies-These are companies that might not be as well known. They offer many different options for moving depending on what moving services you are looking for or might need. These companies can offer large discounts based on your inventory and how labor and material intensive your move will be. They can also supply packing materials for an additional charge.
U Load We Drive Moving Companies-Here you are responsible for everything: packing boxes, preparing your furniture, loading the truck and unloading the truck. The only thing you won’t need to do is drive the truck! You are responsible for all packing materials at your own expense.
Truck Rental Companies- You rent the truck and equipment you need, do all of the packing, driving, loading and unloading. You will be paying for everything, including the gas.
Remember that all moving companies must be licensed, bonded and insured, meeting all federal and state requirements for operating as moving companies and moving services. It’s also important to note that all moving companies will base their prices on the space needed (in cubic feet) for your belongings, weight of your shipment, additional services required and the distance of your move. (For a local move it will be based on an hourly rate.)
One popular addition for U Load We Drive and Truck Rental moves is moving labor. There are companies that will supply moving labor to assist you with your packing and unpacking or loading and unloading needs. This will of course be at an additional charge above the cost of the moving services fees.

Now that we know what the different moving services are, it’s time to think about what you need, what you want, what you can afford and which moving services you want to explore? Do you want to be able to compare the different moving services to each other? Do you want to compare the prices of the different movers and moving services to each other? Which of them do you want to compare?

The simplest way to research any subject is on the internet. It will save lots of time and the expense of making lots of telephone calls. You can research each moving service on many websites. The internet is also the best way to get free moving quotes for all of the different moving services. Let the movers run after you! Let them tell you what they have to offer and send you free moving quotes to your email. There are also moving companies and moving services that offer “in house” moving quotes and moving estimates. It’s important to remember that these quotes are estimates. If on your moving day there will be additional services required of you have more belongings that is shown on your inventory, it will cost you move. If you have a U Pack move and use more space, it will cost more.

Now that you have all of these moving quotes, you want to be able to compare them and make a good decision for you move. It’s important to compare each of the moving services to each other. See what each moving company and moving service is offering you. Which service is offering you what you want or can afford?
I always recommend printing all of the free quotes. It will make your life much easier when you can sit down and really look at them and not on the computer screen. Separate the quotes according to the specific moving service they are for. This way you can easily compare the quotes from each of the moving services.
Remember, READ THE FINE PRINT! A vague quote of any kind should be considered suspicious. If you are promised something by a moving company or moving service, make sure it is written on the quote. If it isn’t on the quote, it will be as if it doesn’t exist. A quote with lots of fine print is always going to be preferable to anything vague. You can always ask the movers any questions about that and it’s always preferable to having a bad surprise later on your moving day.
One other item that will help you decipher a free moving quote is a moving dictionary or glossary of moving terms. As in any industry, it’s very important to know the terminology to understand what you are reading and what you are actually being offered. There are many websites that have good glossaries for moving.

Now you are ready to make a decision about your move. You have all the information necessary to make a good and educated decision.
Here is one last piece of advice that I always offer to customers. Find out from any of the companies that you are in contact with what their cancelation policies are and what you need to do if you need to cancel and how you need to do it. This will tell you a lot about the integrity of the companies you are speaking with. A Company that will make this difficult for you is a company that you really don’t want to do business with. Also, remember you can always consult with the moving specialist or consultant at your moving company or moving service and they will always give you their best advice. Feel to visit with us at www.5movers.com for more information that will help you with your move.