Techniques and advice to save you time, money and aggravation when you use a professional mover.

Techniques and advice to save you time, money and aggravation when you use a professional mover.

Proper Packing is the major thing that you can do to save time, money, and aggravation on moving day! If you are not fully packed when your moving crew arrives then they have to take costly time out from the moving to help you finish your packing. Sometimes they even have to call the office to request more personnel and materials which will inflate your charges above the estimate given to you prior to the move.

Basically, use common sense when packing. Pack heavier things like books and canned goods in smaller boxes, and pack lighter things in progressively larger boxes. Never make a box heavier than the lady of the house can handle, since she may be the one who ends up moving it around before or after the move.

When you pack, lift heavy items with your legs - not your back! Squat directly in front of the load, pull it in tight to you and lift it with your legs, not your back. Set it back down the same way. If you must turn while carrying the load, then turn your whole body with your legs, don't swivel yourself at the waist. This simple moving tip can help you to avoid severe back injury while packing.

All staples in box flaps should be removed so as to safeguard surfaces the box may be placed upon such as wood floors, counter tops and furniture. These are places where cartons may be stacked prior to pickup and after delivery. Do not interlock box flaps together - instead always tape bottoms and tops with at least three strips of tape and run them at least halfway up or down the sides of the box for strength. Remember that taping reinforces the strength of the box, and yet can be easily cut with a blade later when unpacking.

Mark the top and sides of all cartons on the tape with contents and destination location (such as which bedroom, the kitchen, or the basement). Have the writing on the box facing up so that you know which side of the box is up and which is down. Marking boxes well will make identifying which boxes things are in easily when they are stacked on top of each other or when placed in their new location. If the box is reused, then using fresh tape over marked taped easily eliminates old markings. Some packers like to use color-coding such as colored tape wrapped once around the box or colored stickers pasted on the box to identify in what particular room to put the box.

Don't save all your packing for the last day! This is a major packing tip! Begin packing items not needed well in advance because packing gets more and more tiresome over a period of time. So it is wise to jump start the packing endeavor as much as possible. Disassemble items that need to be taken apart and carefully save any hardware involved. Sometimes lost hardware is virtually impossible to replace. Put hardware in a baggie. If it goes with a desk or dresser, tape it inside the drawer where it can be found later. If it goes with a bed, tie the baggie to the bed rails.

Don't pack your toolbox, you may need some of your tools on move day.

Don't pack your checkbook. Things may come up unexpectedly that require check payment. If you are putting your goods in storage, don't pack away important papers like passports, driver's licenses, birth certificates, etc.

How to Pack

Thoroughly wrap fragile items individually with paper, bubble wrap or foam wrap depending on the item. Newspaper print residue must be hand washed off of all things it touches, dishwasher washing will not take it off. Also, print residue can ruin porous items like clay pots or lampshades or items with a rough finish like computer equipment. Use plenty of paper to line the top, bottom and side of each fragiles box. Add cardboard to further cushion fragiles. Never be afraid to use plenty of paper when packing expensive fragiles. Even if you feel like you're wasting paper - you're not because paper is a whole lot cheaper than fixing or replacing a broken expensive fragile item. Utilize empty Tupperware or plastic containers to double protect some of your fragiles before you box them.

Special care must be taken with small items so as not to lose them in the packing materials. Taping over the small item's wrapping is a good technique to highlight it (like the top of a sugar bowl) as not being merely a bunched up hunk of paper (use brightly colored tape if available). Also, one could tape several of those small packets together into one bigger, heavier package that won't get lost in the wrappings.

Packing Glassware and Packing China. Glassware and china should be wrapped with enough paper so as not to clatter within the box. You can also wrap glassware in bubble wrap. Use plenty of paper to line the top, bottom and sides of each box. Glasses should also be individually wrapped and then packed standing up; they're stronger when standing than if laid on their side.

Wrap loose small things such as silverware in bundles. Don't leave them loose in the box.

Packing Plates. These should be individually wrapped and then stood on their side in the box with a cloud of soft stuff underneath- NEVER lay plates flat; all their weight would then be on the bottom plate, and if the box is set down too strongly the bottom plate could break.

Packing Oil Paintings. These should be covered over with a non-acidic clear wrap first and then bubble wrapped or wrapped in a paper pad, or dolphin foam, and then in a pad and then placed into a picture box or a flattened out box with the ends taped.

Packing pictures in glass frames or packing mirrors or packing glass. Glass covered pictures, mirrors or flat glass should be wrapped in blankets and packed in picture cartons or flattened out cartons with plenty of cushion around the edges.

Packing Lamps and Packing Lamp Shades. These should each be placed in separate boxes. Only one lamp shade to a box, wrapped in clean white paper. Do not use newspaper with print or it will permanently mark the shades.

Packing Electronic Equipment. When packing electronics they should be padded and boxed so that their knobs can not be broken off and so that the finish will not be scratched.

Suitcases should be used for special thingsbecause they are so easily identifiable in the clutter of move day. Things like winter / summer clothing or linens / sweaters should be packed into them. Don't put CD's that could be shattered or any heavy things like books or canned goods into them.

Dispose of all open bottles of liquids. Cleaning supplies, oils, liquid foods, paint and solvent containers should all be checked for a tight seal. Then box them up, stuffing the boxes with a lot of bunched up paper, towels or cloths to absorb any drippage or spillage that might occur. One good idea is to put one heavy-duty plastic trash bag into a second one and line the box with these to hold in any spilled liquids. Bottles and cans of liquids should be stood upright in the box using packing paper bunched up between some to hold them upright.

Place any boxes of liquids on the floor of the truck, not up in the load where spillage could damage your household goods.

It is against the law to transport alcoholic beverage containers that have already been opened - in any motor vehicle - so definitely dispose of them.

Stack all cartons neatly against a wall, and create clear, unobstructed paths to prevent the possibility of tripping. When necessary disassemble beds, remove mirrors from dressers or walls, and remove air conditioners from windows. Your mover will do these things if needed, but if you do them you will save time. Remember that saving time saves you money.

*Be careful of your back! Always bend your knees when picking something up!*

Do a walk through of each residence from which you are moving after the truck has been loaded with it's contents. Double check all cabinets, drawers, closets, pantries, bins, attic, basement, garage, or storage lockers. Make sure you have all hardware to disassembled pieces so that it can easily be located. Look at all inside or outside places where things can be left sitting (including window sills). Get your ladders, hoses, and toolboxes. Be absolutely certain that everything has been loaded onto the truck before releasing the moving crew to the next location. It is not wise to leave the originating location early or to be absent from either the originating or destination (or any intermediate) locations for very long since you may have important information not yet communicated to the movers. If you were to leave, everything may not be done as you had hoped it would be.

Hazards should be noted ahead of time. You should advise your mover of damaged or any very fragile furniture, weak or broken stairs, or impediments which may affect the move.

Parking near your residence should be easily accessible for your mover. Do whatever you can to reserve parking for your moving truck; reserve 2 or 3 spaces with your cars, a friend's or neighbor's car, or saw horses. Call your Alderman to get no parking signs by which to save the spaces for the day of your move. Remember the moving van cannot block the street or the police will make it move. This will affect your move time because if the movers have to walk half a block with your furniture the move will take longer and cost you more.

If you live in a high-rise building, make sure that another move does not coincide with yours. Some high-rise buildings have loading docks designed to accommodate only one truck at a time. If the move is delayed due to no fault of the mover, you must still pay the waiting time.

Confirm your moving date and time with your mover one or two weeks in advance. Advise them of potential problems, elevator times, and special needs such as clothing wardrobes, extra cartons, last minute packing, insurance requirements, etc. Pets should not be present when the move occurs and the mover should be advised that you have pets so that movers with allergies are not assigned to your job. Take precautions so that your animals do not escape or flee because the mover will not be responsible for lost pets.

Preparation and moving organization on your part are the determining factors in not hindering an efficient move from your professional mover. Pre-move planning will go a long way towards making your move trouble-free.

If you will be moving in the greater Chicago area - Burrows Moving Company provides packing services and materials for your move as well as top quality moving and storage services. We also specialize in moving and hoisting pianos, organs and antiques as well as providing other moving problem solving services.

When choosing a mover it is wise to establish 3 goals....

1. Try to find a mover that has a proven track record of doing moves that are smooth and trouble free for their customers.


2. Pick a mover with a proven track record of completing their jobs in a timely fashion and coming in with fees that are either on or under their estimates, thus keeping their customer's costs down.


3. Pick a moving company that has a low claims ratio and that has a record of settling customer claims satisfactorily and quickly, because it is humanly impossible for any professional mover to never have an occasional damage.

Low Estimates

Most people shop first for a low rate mover which invariably causes them to engage a moving company which gives such poor moving service that it totally fails to achieve even 1 of these 3 goals for them. It is almost axiomatic when searching for the right moving company that the lower the rates they charge, the lower the level of service they provide - no matter what sales people promise. The truth of the matter is that in most cases the low rate movers end up actually costing their customers a lot more than a higher rate, quality moving service would have. This is because of their untrained men's inefficiencies and their damages to furnishings and the company's hidden nickel and dime charges. All of these factors end up escalating the customer's overall moving costs beyond that of the higher rate, quality movers.

When selecting movers a prevalent problem is low-ball move estimates whereby on move day you end up finding the movers actual charges invariably coming in well over what you expected.

The #1 complaint registered with watchdog groups against movers is that on moving day the charges were much higher than the estimator had led the customer to believe they would be.

Unfortunately, the moving industry has developed a notorious reputation for moving company salesmen deliberately underestimating jobs just to get them. They do this because they know that on moving day the customer is stuck with them. So they use low-ball estimates to lock them into a booked move, even if it takes this deception to do so. Some companies have an unwritten policy to all of their salesmen to give low-ball moving estimates in order to get jobs. One moving company owner that we know of told us that he'd never get a job if he didn't give low estimates!

Sometimes they low-ball the bid by suggesting too few men on the job so that by quoting a lower rate they can appear to be less expensive then they really will be. They're also known to deliberately underestimate the time necessary to do the job so that they can bottom line a lower total price to a customer. Or they'll underestimate the weight of the shipment and then on moving day the loaded truck on the scale will show a much higher weight, which will result in a much higher charge.

The State law in Illinois does not require local movers to hold to their estimates because of all of the variables in moving such as bad weather, long gangways and / or extra stairs to traverse, no nearby parking for the truck, poor packing on the customers part resulting in movers time needed to finish packing, etc. Consequently, unscrupulous sales people will take advantage of this legal freedom from restraint and become deceptive in order to try to book your job.

The regulations of the Illinois Commerce Commission (the state governmental agency that regulates the moving industry), require the mover on moving day, to charge for all actual weight or actual time spent doing the job (no matter what the salesman estimated). The customer must be prepared to pay up to 10% over the estimate on moving day and the rest within 30 days or the mover does not have to deliver the shipment! Instead, the mover can take that customer's goods back to their warehouse and unload them and then later reload those same goods for delivery and charge the customer for all of that labor as well as storage charges also! So the poor customer ends up getting really, really burned and all because he is required by law to pay the higher charges for actual weight or time spent, not the low-ball estimated charges he was told when he was picking that mover!

Other major complaints against movers include failure to settle moving claims for damages to household goods or for lost or stolen items and real estate property damage. There are also complaints about movers with bad attitudes, movers in need of better personal hygiene, lousy truck driving, inebriation on the job, bad language in front of children, lost pets, etc., etc., etc.

Proving The Mover's Track Record

There are a number of agencies that keep a complaint record on professional movers and as many of them as possible should be checked in order to discover these unresolved grievances before picking any mover. Remember, the more good references and the fewer bad references a service business has - the safer it is to choose them to do your job.

First, make sure that any mover you are considering has a current license with the Illinois Commerce Commission (their license number should be on their advertising. If not don't use them because they may be pirates!). Never try to save money by choosing a low-rate, fly-by-night mover. They're typically found on the bulletin board at the local supermarket or on internet moving broker's websites or on craigslist.com. These outfits many times are moving pirates or do moving scams. If you don't personally know the mover you are interested in or some of their personnel, make sure that any one that you're interested in has been in business for some extended period of time. Tenure in business can be a good sign but that is only the beginning of reference checking.

Second, ask your friends, neighbors, acquaintances and co-workers for recommendations. Be sure to ask them if any mover they know of had met all 3 above mentioned goals for them or someone they know. Also, ask them for the names of the people on the crew that the mover sent to do their job (if they can recall them). Some mover's men are better than others, so if you can get proven men, do so. Also ask if there were any damages on their job and what was done to take care of the problem.

Third, call the Illinois Commerce Commission and ask if the mover has had any complaints filed against them in the last few years (they keep a 3 year complaint record on every mover in the State of Illinois). Bear in mind that any complaints filed are probably just the tip of the iceberg so to speak because most times dissatisfied customers don't even bother to register a complaint. Those who do are representing only a small percentage of their mover's failures. So a few complaints with watchdog groups can be multiplied by a factor of at least five or ten in order to determine that mover's true record.

Fourth and fifth, do the same with the Illinois Movers and Warehouseman's Association and the Better Business Bureau, in that order. Also, the Department of Transportation has a website called Protect Your Move, where you can search for information on all licensed movers.

Finally check with private groups such as Angie's List or The Franklin Report or the Consumer's Checkbook for Chicago or even some of the references the mover may have provided to you. This may all seem like a lot of bother but there are many, many, many horror stories floating around about nightmare movers and you certainly don't want to hire one of them for your job!

Now, you can check the rates and projected time and the weight from each estimate and compare them. Unusually low or high estimates should be reviewed again with the estimator just to be sure that that particular estimator has not seen something about your job that other estimators missed. You might even call his supervisor just to see if he's doing his job correctly with you.

If you can unexpectedly visit the mover's facility, do so. You'll get a better 'feel' for each moving company when you actually see their facility / equipment and their office personnel.

Having done as much of this as possible you should be fairly safe to pick any one of your final candidates. Of course, in the Chicagoland area, Burrows Moving Company always passes this muster and therefore will always end up as one of your finalists!