Premier Relocations 45200 Grand River Avenue   Novi, MI 48375 USA Toll Free: (800) 863-5161 Phone: (248) 344-1144 Fax: (248) 344-9150 Email: info@premier-mayflower.com

Local vs. Long-Distance Moves

Whether you’re planning a move across town or across the country, you’ll want to know what you can expect from your moving company. Here Kirk Hensler of Premier Relocations in Novi, Michigan explains a few of the differences between local and long-distance moves.

Inventory

The major difference between a local and a long-distance move, says Hensler, is the way your moving company will keep track of your items. When you’re moving within the same city (or within about 40 miles of your old home), he says, transporting your belongings is a fairly straightforward process. Usually, your move will be handled by a crew of several people and either a small or medium-sized truck. Your boxes and furniture will be loaded onto the truck, driven across town, and then unloaded at your new home – ordinarily on the same day.

When you’re moving out of the area, however, your items will be loaded into a semi trailer for long-distance transport. Because your shipment probably isn’t large enough to fill the entire trailer, it is likely to share the space with other customers’ shipments. To ensure that each customer’s items are kept together and that everything is delivered to the right destination, most moving companies utilize an inventory system. This means that as items are loaded onto the trailer, your driver will be tagging each with a color-coded, numbered sticker and noting it on an inventory sheet. Once your shipment arrives at your new home, the inventory sheet will be used to ensure that nothing has been left behind on the truck.

Prohibited Items

When you’re moving more than just a few miles, you can expect that there will be several items your moving company will not allow you to move. Safety is the primary reason for prohibiting certain items. For example, most moving companies will not allow you to pack flammable items – lawn mowers with gas in them, aerosol cans, paint and other household chemicals – for long-distance transport. “In warm weather,” says Hensler, “the temperature inside a trailer can easily reach 140 degrees. If something were to ignite or create a small explosion inside the trailer, the results could be disastrous.” Your moving company should provide you with a list of items that are not transportable. Be sure to review the list carefully before you start packing to avoid any oversights.

Transport Time

The amount of time it takes for your shipment to arrive at your new home depends on several factors, says Hensler. First, it will depend on the size of your shipment. The larger your shipment, the fewer shipments will fit onto a single trailer. Once the trailer is full, the driver will be on his way. If there are going to be four shipments on a single trailer, for example, and your shipment happens to be the first loaded, it will likely take at least three more days for your driver to fill the trailer.

Obviously, transport time will also depend on the distance between your old home and your new one. But keep in mind that truck drivers aren’t able to drive as fast as you are, and that there are limits as to the amount of time they’re able to spend on the road each day. Legally, Hensler explains, drivers are only able to spend 11 hours a day behind the wheel. “At an average of 60 miles per hour,” he says, “that’s only about 600 miles a day. If you’re moving cross-country, your driver will need a minimum of four days to get to his destination.”

If you’re working with the right moving company, says Hensler, there should be no confusion about how long it will take to deliver your items to your home. “When you book a move with Premier Relocations,” he says, “you will already have certain dates in mind for your move-out and move-in. We do our best to coordinate our projects so that we’re able to meet, or at least come very close to, your target dates.” If you’re not able to get such a commitment from your moving company, he says, keep looking. “Your move is already stressful enough,” he says. “There’s no reason to work with a moving company that’s going to add more uncertainty into the equation.”