Once more we find ourselves, as we speak, at the height of the moving season. By the time the summer is over, approximately 65% of all American households will have completed full service or partial moves across the continent.
Full service moves are the most common type of relocation where a moving company of your choice sends a moving crew to your home to carefully pack all of your household belongings in boxes of assorted sizes, including wrap your furniture in special blankets for added protection during the haul, load your items onto the moving truck, transport them to your new address, carry them into your new house and unpack your stuff. The included full moving services vary with each mover – you may be charged separately for packing and unpacking the boxes while hooking up your appliances will be an extra service.
But what if you don’t want, or don’t need, to move your entire household but rather a part of it? For example, a specific set of furniture (a piano, a dining table with four chairs and a buffet, a living room furniture set, etc.) or the content of only one or two rooms (a college dormitory room, a small two-room apartment, etc.). Don’t worry – the moving industry offers a swift solution to this “problem”. Known as partial load moving, small load moving or even small scale moving, these small moving jobs are ideal for people whose soon-to-be-relocated household possessions are not enough to fill in an entire moving van. In reality, these mini moves offer some clear advantages over the typical full service ones.
What’s Great About Small Moving Jobs
There are many moving companies that charge for a minimum weight of the household items to be hauled (most often this minimum is set to 2,000 pounds). What this means is that if you need to have 800 pounds relocated, you will have to pay for the transportation of extra 1200 pounds that you don’t actually have. And that, without a shadow of a doubt, feels very unfair.
Luckily, there are movers that either specialize in small moves or include such partial load moves in their standard package of services. The obvious benefit of small load moving is the reduced relocation cost. The fact that you’re sharing the space in the moving truck with other customers’ household goods automatically means that you’re sharing the relocation costs of the entire truckload as well. And let’s be honest – the lower the relocation price, the better.
What’s Not So Great About Small Moving Jobs
The downside of small load moves is the time you may need to wait until your household items are delivered to your new address. Since the truckload is shared, sometimes you may have to wait a few days more until the truck is full and before the small moving job gets done. This works okay if the delivery of your stuff is not urgent – you may get to wait a bit longer but you’re paying much less, so things are just fine. On the other hand, if you’re pressed for time and need to have your stuff moved promptly, then you’ll most likely be charged an extra fee for express delivery.
Added Protection For Your Small Load Move
Most small scale movers will make sure your possessions get carefully packed and wrapped for safe transportation. Whether it’s a number of boxes or a few sets of furniture, you’re supposed to get quality service and professional attitude from start to finish. Also, by default, you will get basic limited liability protection when you sign your moving contract (aka Bill of Lading) which means you’ll be insured from $0.30 to $0.60 per lbs per article. Although in no way will the aforementioned protection match the actual worth of your household items, this coverage might be enough in your case considering you’re doing a micro move. However, consider buying additional moving insurance (Full Value Protection) if you’re about to relocate expensive goods or items of high sentimental value.
The good thing about small moving jobs is that they are budget friendly and most often come tailored to your specific moving needs. The moving companies that offer partial moving services believe that any mini moving job deserves to be treated with the same detailed attention as a full service move. These mini movers understand individual needs and customize their range of services to get the relocation job done well and leave their clients satisfied. And if you could exclude the time factor from the moving equation, a partial load move may well be the ideal thing for you in this summer moving season.
Xpress Movers is a fully licensed moving company that will handle your small moving job just like a full size move – with great care and professionalism. Fill in this free moving quote for an instant small load moving price estimate.
