A moving company, also known as a removalist or van line, is a company that specializes in assisting individuals and businesses with relocating their goods from one location to another. Moving companies may offer additional or all-inclusive services for relocations, like packing, loading, moving, unloading, unpacking, and arranging of items to be shifted. Additional services may include cleaning services for houses, offices or warehousing facilities.

Overview

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, in 2007, 40 million United States citizens had moved annually over the previous decade. Of these movers, 84.5% relocated within their own state, 12.5% moved to another state, and 2.3% moved to another country. The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest household goods shipper in the world with the Personal Property Program accounting for 20% of all moves. A 2020 OnePoll survey showed that 64% of participants consider their recent move to be one of the most stressful events they have ever encountered.

Pricing and services

United States and Canada

In the U.S. and Canada, the cost for long-distance moves is generally determined by several factors: * Weight of the items to be moved * Distance between the original and new location * Speed of the move * Timing of the move, including the specific time of year or month Some movers also offer consolidated shipping, which reduces costs by transporting several clients' items in the same shipment.

United Kingdom and Australia

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the price is based on the volume of the items rather than their weight. Some movers may offer

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of u ...

pricing.

DIY moving

The use of truck rental services, or simply borrowing similar hardware, is referred to as DIY moving. Individuals or families may rent a

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

or trailer large enough to transport their household goods. They may also acquire moving equipment such as dollies, furniture pads, and cargo belts to facilitate the move and protect their belongings.

Packing and materials

The moving process also involves finding or buying materials such as boxes, paper, tape, and bubble wrap with which to pack boxable and/or protect fragile household goods and to consolidate the carrying and stacking on moving day. Self-service moving companies offer another viable option: the person moving buys space on one or more trailers or

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...

s. These containers are then driven by professionals to the new location.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moving Company Moving and relocation Truck rental