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Relocation: Choosing the right moving company and relocation agent.

Relocating can be a truly harrowing experience and the least you can do is find a reliable moving and cargo shipping company that can take care of a lot of your worries (inevitably, there are some things that no moving company can alleviate).

You are better served by taking the time to carefully select the right mover - afterall, it is a question of shipping some of your most valuable possessions in life. Of course, if your employer is relocating you for business purposes, most aspects pertaining to your move will be taken care of by the company, though some companies let their employees handle the relocation on their own, while just providing some budgetary ceiling and guidelines.

Like with most things today, there is no dearth of choice, which can in fact make the decision on awarding your relocation contract all the more difficult. However, there are some key factors that should be considered in evaluating the moving company, which this article covers.

If you were to view it simplistically, the very broad aspects that dictate the ultimate choice will be:

  • Destination: Where are you relocating to and from where? Does the moving company provide services in those areas?
  • Goods being shipped: What kind of goods will you be shipping? Are you looking to ship your car or other vehicles? Or, will it include only household items such as furniture and consumer electronics?
  • Urgency: How quickly do you want the goods to be shipped?
  • Budget: One of the most important considerations when it comes to relocation.
  • Customer service: Does the moving company provide a complete end-to-end service?
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Shipping costs

It is very important to remember that lowest shipping rates may not always be the best shipping rates. Read the fine print, because a moving company that may be offering exceptionally low rates may be providing lower service levels or accepting much lower responsibility in case something were to go wrong. For example, a relocation company with no provision for Workers' Compensation Insurance may charge you lower prices, but consider the liability you may incur if their uninsured worker is hurt while handling your luggage on your premises. It would, therefore, be better to pay slightly higher price rather than risking such situations.

The cost of shipping a consignment is determined by a representative of the moving company who surveys the entire list of goods. Pricing is generally based on the volume, weight, the distance of the destination and the type of move (by air, sea or road). It must, however, be noted that it is an international air cargo convention to charge for weight or volume, whichever is greater. For moving cargo by air, airline companies have devised formulae to convert volume into weight to ensure that they earn a fair amount of freight charges for very light items, such as bags of light weight feathers which occupy lots of space. Therefore, knowing factors such as the weight and volume of your cargo are quite important in determining whether you should ship your cargo by air, sea or road.

Licensed mover

While evaluating the credentials of your moving company, make sure that the there is a physical business address of your mover even if it seem rather obvious. Also check whether the mover is duly licensed or authorized by the Federal Department of Transportation, Public Utilities Commission, the Better Business Bureau or Bureau of Consumer Affairs’ equivalent departments. Professional moving companies are usually enrolled as members of state registered movers associations such as the American Moving & Storage Association.

Damage claims

God forbid, you incur some damages to your valuable cargo. An insurance against that is to check that the moving company that you select has good claims-to-move ratio and a track record of settling claims for damages within a reasonable time.

Warehouse facility

Ask if the company has good temporary storage or warehouse facilities in case you may not have ready arrangements to offload them to your new premises, particularly in the event that you reach your destination later than your goods. In some cases, when relocating to a new country, you may have to warehouse your cargo until you have found a suitable accommodation.

Knowing the jargon used by shipping companies.

If you are thinking of moving, it would help to know some of the jargon used by the relocation agents. While you are not expected to be an expert in the shipping of household goods, it will help to be familiar with (or at least aware of) some of the terms such as Accessorial Charges, Bill of Lading, Binding Estimate, Booker, Bulky Article, Carrier, Carrier Liability, Cash on Delivery (COD), Cartons, Consignee, Consignor, Containerization, Delivery Date, Demurrage, Inventory (INV), Storage-In-Transit, Tariff, containers, shipping container lengths, FTL/HTL and so on.

In all likelihood, a good moving company will ensure that you are not bombarded with too many of these terms or at least clearly communicate what these mean. Afterall, your main priority would be to get settled in the new location and leave the relocation worries to the moving company.

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