What to Look for When Hiring a Moving Company

Moving homes is a tedious process, What to look for when hiring a Moving Company?. You have to plan, gather supplies, and arrange the logistics to have a successful move. It becomes more hectic if you hire the wrong moving company. Irrespective of the distance from the old house to the new home, moving is a big project, and you need adequate planning to make it successful. Without proper preparation, you may get to your new home and discover that you have forgotten some vital things.

As someone who has dealt with tenants moving in and out for many years, Peak Residential Management says it would be best to hire the right moving company to avoid having these issues during your move. Doing this will ease the stress and free you to sort out other aspects of the project. But how do you know the appropriate moving company to choose out of the numerous ones available?

Things to consider before you hire a moving company

Here are some vital things to look for when hiring a moving company.

1.     Insurance and license

Before you trust any moving company with your valuables, ensure that they can protect your properties. Never settle for companies that do not have the necessary insurance and license. That is because anyone can label a truck with an attractive name without having what it takes to perform a move.

Anything can happen when moving homes. Without a license and insurance, the moving company does not have the legal responsibility of protecting your items. If they damage or misplace your valuables, replacing them will be tough because they do not have insurance. You do not want to take such chances.

Even when the moving company shows you their license and insurance, it is advisable to verify it with the United States Department of Transportation by checking their USDOT number on the USDOT database.

The database shows the licenses and insurance of all authentic interstate moving companies. However, intrastate moving companies may not appear on this database. You can verify them from your state’s directory of moving companies.

2.     Type of moving company

There are two types of moving companies based on the nature of moves they perform. These include interstate and intrastate moving companies.

Interstate moving companies are the ones that can move your belongings from one state to the other. If you are moving outside a state, it would be best to use their services.

Intrastate moving companies perform moves within a particular state. They do not cross the boundaries of the state where they operate.

It is crucial to consider this when hiring a company. Note that even when you engage interstate movers, some of them have a maximum distance they can cover. Verify the extent the company can go before hiring one.

3.     Reviews

Check the online reviews after getting a list of moving companies you may consider. Once people have a decent experience or a terrible one, they will leave reviews. These reviews will give you an idea about what to expect from the moving company. To avoid having issues, only go for companies with great reviews from customers.

4.     Recommendations from people you can trust

Indeed, online reviews may not be very reliable sometimes. That is because they may be a few fake reviews from a company or competitors. But you can always rely on the recommendations of your family members or close friends. Reach out to people you can trust and get suggestions from them.

They may even disclose wonderful experiences from a small moving company that does not have an active online presence. If they had a terrible experience with a highly-rated company, they will disclose it to you. These recommendations can guide you accordingly.

5.     Match moving companies with your needs

Every move is not the same. Different people have specific needs during a move. It is essential to find out if the moving company can meet these needs. Asking the appropriate questions will help you match a moving company.

Here are the questions to ask before hiring a moving company:

• Considering your pickup and delivery dates, will the company be available when you need them?
• Do they have the appropriate size of moving trucks that can accommodate all your items?
• Will the moving company provide additional moving supplies such as boxes, blankets, bubble wraps, etc.?
• Can the company cover the distance of your move?
• Are there specific items that the company does not move?

6.     Moving Inventory

The moving company you settle on should be the one that will take a moving inventory of all your items before the move. It will enable them to know all your belongings and estimate the space and weight so that they can use a suitable truck to transport your items.

The bottom line

There may be extra charges during the move. That varies with moving companies. Ensure that you get all the necessary details of what constitutes additional fees from the moving company. Doing so will help you select a company and budget accordingly. Now that you know what to look for when hiring a moving company, your all set to start packing your stuff!