Across Country Moving Concerns

As most would imagine, moving across the country can be a huge undertaking and with it comes twice the anxiety that one would endure even when moving within their own state. There are many things that could and have gone wrong on across-country moves; some of which you can prevent ahead of time to eliminate further stress.

The moving company that you choose to relocate you and your family to another state can determine if your move would be successful or not. That’s why it is imperative that you properly screen the moving companies by making sure to do proper background checks and research on them. Without research, you could be putting your household items in the hands of a company that could either steal or damage your items; this is definitely not the way you envision your moving day.

Even with legitimate companies, there is always that chance of Murphy’s Law looming over your long-distance move. Here are a few cross-country concerns that most experience and ways in which you can handle them.

They say timing is everything when making a cross-country move; unfortunately, if you get all your things on the truck on time when moving day arrives, there is really no telling when your household items would arrive at your new home. In most situations, you have customers who get to their new place of residence well ahead of the moving vehicle; sometimes it can take hours, and other times it can take days.

The main cause for scheduling problems is if the company has multiple clients that are moving at the same time. It would be wise to talk to the moving company ahead of time to guesstimate the time or amount of days that it would take them to deliver your items. Most movers usually give a window of three to seven days; if this is the case, then you can find ways to work around that. Perhaps you can stay at a cheap hotel or bed and breakfast close to your new residence so that you can be on standby when the movers get there with your household items.

Secondly, another problem that can plague a cross-country move is the exorbitant rate that you may be asked to pay. Because of the nature of the move to several miles away, it is quite easy for a moving company to inflate their prices on customers who do not know any better. Not only are customers charged with the moving fee, but some moving companies are known for sneaking in moving supplies fees, etc., and making the bill twice the amount that it really is.

All this can be avoided if you initially get your moving company to supply you with a written estimate as well as a signed list of household inventory. In this paper, there would be information about the total weight of your household items as well as the cubic feet. Always keep that document close to you; it would be the one thing that would prevent you from paying outrageous fees at the end of your move.

Theft is also a big concern in cross-country moves as there are a lot of rouge movers who take the opportunity to steal from customers during transit. Again, this would be a good time to do your research on a few cross country moving companies before making a decision. The Internet is very useful in assisting you when it comes to getting more information about a specific moving company. There are two websites that currently provide moving customers with the evidence that they need to determine if a moving company is legitimate or not.

They are the Better Business Bureau website at www.bbb.org and the Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) System at www.safersys.org These are the sites where complaints are lodged about a specific long distance moving company that you may want to hire. It is also good to do background checks on the owner of the moving company as well as to see how long the company has been in business and their track records before you take that leap.

The worst thing that could happen is to complete your thorough research on the moving company and then find out that the work has been subcontracted to a company that specializes in long-distance moving. In this situation, the moving company that you initially hire would move your household items only so far before reaching a cut-off point where the subcontractor takes your items the rest of the way.

This is not a good scenario; you want to find out beforehand if the original hired company would be getting your items directly from point A to point B. If this is not the case upfront, then you can always switch to another moving company that offers this service.