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Official Moving & Storage - Interstate Moving Services
Long Distance Moves
Long distance moving is a bit different than local moving - local moves are fairly simple and straightforward, you can usually schedule your move any day you want and your property arrives the same day. While local moving is simple and relatively stress-free, it’s not without its own set of potential problems such as damage, delays and loss of time. However – long distance moves, whether it’s a few hundred miles in state or across the country, can increase the possibility of such problems exponentially; most notably complicated delivery scheduling and delays with the delivery of your household goods.
Because of the increased potential of problems with long distance moves, it’s essential that you choose a qualified and established moving company who specializes in long distance transportation. There are two different types of moving companies that you should talk to regarding your long distance move – either a local (franchised) office of a national van line or a large independent moving company.
Van Lines
A van line is a national company with network of local (franchised) agents. The van line, as a company, establishes certain operating standards; training, coordination of services, shipping guidelines, etc. for its agents in different states. In some cases the agent you select is the booking agent, who then assigns the job to a different mover or hauler. In other cases, the booking agent might be the one who executes the move depending on their availability and if the agent has hauling arrangements with the van line.
In general, the quality of service with a van line company is equal to the quality of the local agent with whom you book the job. However, it’s not safe to assume that you can skip over the qualification of a potential mover just because they are affiliated with a van line - Consumer Reports took a poll of customers from 11 major van lines and found nearly 46% of the customers reported losses and/or damages during their move! The Household Goods Carriers' Bureau reported 25% of all moves end up in claims. You are entrusting your valuable property to the hauler, so you should evaluate their qualifications carefully, using the same standards that you would use to qualify a local moving company.
If you live in the city, this can pose a special problem for some van lines. Many haulers are based in the suburbs and will try to avoid smaller pickups in the city – which in turn leads to limited availability of pickup times and higher charges.
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