Moving process Step by Step

How do I schedule a move with a moving company?

– Call the moving company to ask for how much they charge per hour (local moves) or per pound (long distance moves). Based on the square footage of your home or how many bedrooms you have, they will recommend a number of movers for you to use to make sure your moving day doesn’t turn into your moving night. They will ask for contact information, email to send your paperwork to sign, and phone numbers to reach you the day of the move. For scheduling purposes, most companies require a credit card number to book your move, but do not charge a deposit unless the move is a considerably large one.
What do I need to do to be prepared for the move (specific to One Stop Moving & Storage):

If you are packing yourself:

o Leave non-breakable items in your dressers and furniture drawers, as our movers will wrap your furniture in thick padded moving blankets during the move so the drawers will not open and items will not fall out. However, items will move around within the furniture so make sure nothing is left in there that will break.
o Leave your clothes hanging, as our movers will arrive with wardrobe boxes that are free for you to use for the day. If you’re comfortable with our movers transferring your clothes into the wardrobe boxes then they will do that for you, or you will always have the option to do this yourself as well. Same process applies to unpacking the wardrobe boxes at your new location, the movers can do this for you or you are welcome to do it yourself. The empty boxes just need to be returned to the movers by the end of the moving process.
o Pack and move valuable and personal items in your own vehicle, such as expensive jewelry, laptops, ipads, animals, children. The latter two are not even allowed on our moving trucks.
o You can purchase moving boxes and materials from Home Depot or ask neighbors for used boxes. Make sure to label and use newspaper to cushion breakables. Pack dishes vertically instead of stacking them on top of each other. Pack heavy items in small boxes and light items in large boxes. Label the room that the box should go to in your new house.

If One Stop Moving & Storage is packing for you:

o Pack and move your valuable items (listed above)
o Plan to pack on one day and move the next day. In most cases, trying to do both in the same day makes for a long day, tired people and can increase fatigue and accidents.
o You can provide the materials that you want us to use (used boxes from neighbors), or we can supply the materials for you (for a fee), or we can do a mix of your materials and our materials.
What happens the day before the move?
– The day before the move we will call you before 7pm to confirm that you are packed and ready for your moving day and will provide you with a timeframe that the movers will be arriving the next day.

The day of the move:

Beginning:

– The day of your move, the movers will call you when they are 20 minutes away from your house. When they arrive, the foreman will review the contract with you to make sure everyone is on the same page as to the rates, fees and details of the move. In order to prevent wasting time, the other movers on the team that day will already be unloading their moving materials (padded blankets, dollies, tape, etc). The hourly rates will begin when the movers arrive at your doorstep.
The moving team will wrap all of your furniture in padded moving blankets and secure the blankets with tape. These padded moving blankets are used for a variety of reasons:
o They are eco-friendlier than the disposable plastic shrink-wrap option
o The padding protects the walls and floors during the moving process and protects the items while they are stacked on top of each other in the truck or in storage
o The padding prevents dust and the elements from ruining furniture
If the movers see any packing materials that are necessary to complete the move (most often this is a mattress cover so mattresses are protected from hands, the ground and the truck during the move), then the foreman will ask you if you would like to provide one or if you would like to purchase one from our company. More times than not, this is identified and discussed at the beginning of the move so customers have the time to buy one from a store during the move.

Middle

The foreman will periodically provide updates to the customer as to the progress of the move and how many hours are estimated to be left. This is key to managing expectations and for the customer to be able to plan the rest of their day.
Once the truck is loaded the moving team will drive to your new location, whether that means your new home or a place of storage.

End

– Unloading typically takes less time than the loading process. As the movers unload the items into your new home, they will remove the padded blankets and ask you where you would like each item placed. If you are moving into one of our storage units then your items will stay wrapped in the blue padded blankets throughout the life of the storage. If you are moving into another company’s storage unit then we will utilize paper padding that is recyclable and does not need to be returned to us after the move.
You have the option to end the move when you are 100% satisfied with the move. After all the items are off of the truck and the blue padded blankets are removed then you can make the decision to close out and send the movers home, or you can ask them to reassemble or rearrange furniture. All of this work will be done at the same hourly rate as moving and driving.
If you’re moving into a home, then when the moving team is almost done unloading the truck, then the foreman will review and close out the contract with you and review the start time of the move, the drive time, the fuel fee and any packing materials that were agreed upon and used throughout the move.