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The mainstay of the industry, the physical transportation of goods from one location to another. Sounds pretty simple, but it isn’t, and many MANY companies manage to screw this up. Not only does it involve proper handling of your possessions, but also the proper loading of the truck - and loading deliveries is a lot different than loading a house move, and a house move is a lot different than an office or commercial move. Having a mover that knows the difference and can safely AND efficiently handle transport your belongings is key. Furniture should be pad-wrapped in-home before it is moved to ensure that drawers/doors stay shut and that no unexpected damage occurs to the piece or residence during handling (of course there are exceptions to this).
Loading the moving truck correctly is a huge game of “Furniture Tetris” (see also loading hints/tips).
Local moves (generally defined as those under 160km/100mi) are usually charged by the hour, and include travel time TO the origin, between the two locations, and FROM destination back to where the truck is based. Firm-estimate moves can be FLAT-RATED, but this usually involves a diligent mover doing a thorough on-site in-person visual estimate at origin of everything to be moved, AND also checking out what the destination site is like. Unexpected items/circumstances (such as additional disassembly, lack of adequate parking/truck access, delays in possession, extremely poor weather) can throw even a firm-estimate out the window.
Long distance moves (refers to moves over 160km) are most usually priced out using a formula which includes weight times distance. This means that your goods are actually weighed on a large scale (by weighing the truck BEFORE it loads your household goods, and then again after--or sometimes in reverse!), or if that is not a feasible option, by taking the cubic dimensions of the properly loaded truck and multiplying by the industry standard average of 7 pounds per cubic foot. There are some exceptions to this, called bulky items or weight additives, which come in to play for wicker/rattan furniture, large canoes and other “bulky” or “fluffy” items that are either odd/bulky in shape and have a low density (weigh very little but take up a large amount of space).
Why use a moving company for deliveries? If you are a home-owner (or interior designer), and you have purchased merchandise from more than one retailer/supplier, do you really want to pay multiple delivery charges and arrange multiple time-windows that you have to be home for your delivery? If you have 3 or more deliveries pending, it may make a LOT more sense to hire us to go pick up all your new stuff from the warehouse/distribution centres and deliver it ONCE on YOUR time schedule! More than likely, you will also realize a cost savings, and, as you will be paying directly, you will control the level of service you get!
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