Crating and Palletizing

Crating: What should be crated?

High value items that are sensitive or fragile in nature, or which might be large and/or heavy, and which require an extra level of protection should be crated. Probably a gun safe would not be a good candidate for crating, but a large or heavy sculpture that is expensive would definitely benefit from a good crate. The requirements for insurance against damages are pretty stringent and rigidly adhered to (perhaps more so now than ever before), so it’s important that things such as art objects, high value motorcycles, sensitive medical or electronic equipment, and like items be properly packaged. Otherwise, if your item is damaged during shipment, you will not receive any or extremely little compensation.

So what goes into crating? Since insurance regulations require at least a two inch cushion between the object and the interior wall of the crate – and this cushion must NOT be loose fill, such as Styrofoam peanuts – then Styrofoam sheets must be cut to fit the dimensions of the object being shipped. Since these are typically produced in one inch thick sheets, two layers are needed, so the first must fit the dimensions of the object being shipped, while the second layer has to fit the dimensions of the first layer of protection around the object. This is a straightforward matter for items with predictable geometric shapes, such as rectangles, ovals, circles, and squares. But what if you have a statue of Venus arising out of the sea, or a dragon, etc.?

Irregularly shaped items such as these will require special construction of cross braces and shoring, and a system of straps fastened to eyebolts that will immobilize the item. Where the item is stabilized against a shoring brace or other surface, there must be sufficient padding to protect the item against damage, including the finish. Motorcycles and statues usually require such treatment.

Items with glass also require specialized handling. For instance, a painting with a frame and glass will typically have painter’s tape put over every centimeter of exposed glass, then possibly have a layer or two of cardboard or bubble wrap to fill the empty space between the glass and the forward dimension of the frame. Then one can place the layers of Styrofoam to provide the further required protection against damage for the item.

Of course, each particular item can pose its own problems and solutions, but the above should help to explain how the items are crated, and why crating can be so expensive. A plus for crating is that the crate and its packing and shoring, etc., can be used over and over again to ship the item. Just be certain that the item is stable and has the required amount of padding inside if you ever do re-ship it.

Palletizing: what is it?

Palletizing is simply the act of arranging items for shipping on a pallet. Pallets are typically made of wood and are 40” x 48”. However, they can be different shapes and sizes according to the needs of the person shipping the item and the requirements of the shipping company.

Palletizing is usually reserved for small shipments that are too expensive to send as separate items by the small package services (up to 150 lbs., such as FedEx and UPS), but which would also be too expensive to send by moving companies. So palletizing the items (consolidating the shipment onto one or more pallets) and using a freight company is the most economical choice. Before the items are put on the pallet, the pallet and each item must be weighed separately and these numbers must be added to get the total weight of the shipment. After items are arranged on the pallet, they must be wrapped tightly with multiple layers of stretch wrap to stabilize the load.

The pallet is now ready to be shipped either by truck or by air. The air rates (for 2-3 day delivery) can be very reasonable ($1 per pound or thereabouts, so check them out). If you have a studio apartment or a small apartment with very few items and no large furniture, this might be your best choice. If you have a bed or couch that might prevent this solution, consider having a garage sale or posting the item on the web for local sale.

Before deciding to go this route, however, make certain that you’re getting door to door service, particularly if you’re moving from or to a town that is far away from a large urban center. Freight companies usually hire cartage agents (independent truckers) to transport these shipments to small towns and must pass the cost onto you or have you come and pick up the items promptly at their own location in a major city. So when you get a quote from the shipping company, make certain that the cost includes any cartage fees and that door to door service is included in the cost

Ancillary Services Provided by Some Moving Companies

Home Staging: This is the art of leaving just enough furniture, art, window dressings, etc., in your home to give it a warmer appeal to potential buyers. Indeed, studies have shown that the properly staged home, as opposed to the empty house, is much more likely to sell for the asking price, and it will sell sooner, too.

It’s best to have a professional do this, as there are many subtle “do’s” and “do not’s” that many homeowners don’t know about that can drive potential buyers away or cause them to offer a substantially lower amount than your asking price.

If you are going to stage your home yourself, it’s important to keep a few tips in mind.

First of all, repair any “red flag” issues, such as cracks in walls or sidewalks, or gouges and scuffs, etc., in wood floors. It will probably cost much less to repair these types of thing than it will to absorb the loss from a severely reduced offer (or no offers at all) for your home. So take care of these things pronto. Second, create an air of easy accessibility and traffic flow within and between rooms. This creates a sense of comfort that will have prospective buyers smiling inside and out. So get rid of clutter and move furniture to places where it doesn’t interfere with access to cords and controls for drapes and blinds, or to controls for sound systems, etc. It’s a real turn off to have to do a rapid succession of square dance steps in a tight space every time you want to turn the lights on in your living room, so arrange furniture accordingly. Also, limit your accent pieces and be certain to vary their height. And don’t arrange pictures and other wall hangings in stodgy squares, rectangles, etc. Step them or arrange them unconventionally so that they get noticed. It’s similar to a trick that savvy shippers use when they attach “Fragile” stickers to crates and boxes: they set them off from all the other labels and then tilt them at thirty degree angles so that they attract the eye and get noticed. Otherwise, they’re lost in the array of labels and papers on that side of the package.

Be a little bit unconventional, but not too much so. You can pull furniture away from the walls and more towards the center of the room around a coffee table or other piece of furniture. This can certainly aid in facilitating the advice given above about uncluttering your rooms, but it also makes the room appear larger and inviting.

Repaint large rooms that are painted with bold colors. Use neutral colors instead for these areas (living rooms, family rooms, etc.). So go with tans, creams, grays, etc., to create a warmer feeling that will appeal to the eye of your potential buyers. These colors will also help to show off accent pieces, furniture, window dressings and carpeting, and they make it easier to visualize what the room would look like with other furniture. Bold colors intimidate prospective buyers and make it difficult to know if one’s furniture and wall hangings would be appropriate in the room. Bolder colors can be used in smaller rooms or just on a single wall in a smaller room to make some other items in the room stand out more.

Finally, clean out your closets. Closet space can be a big seller, and empty closets are bigger closets. This are the only rooms that you want empty when trying to sell your home, and they could very well be the tipping point in your favor for a buyer who has looked at several other homes and is yet undecided. So clean out those closets and make that sale.

Storage: Many moving companies have storage space available, and some even offer climate controlled storage space as well as conventional storage space. You might save money and time by renting the storage space through the company that moves you if you’re in need of storage space.

Handyman Repairs: These are light repairs that don’t require the service of a full-blown contractor, and they include everything from replacing a faucet to checking for thermal leaks with a thermal camera, and then repairing the leaks if they just require the installation of weather stripping.

Car Shipping: Some moving companies have their own car shipping company as a separate entity. If they do, this is a plus as they are required to be federally licensed, bonded, and insured, whereas moving companies that only do local moving (no shipping across state lines) are not required to have this extra level of protection for their customers.

Crating, Packaging, and Shipping: A few moving companies might have their own shipping company, that is, they do “small package” shipping (packages up to 150 lbs) through nationally advertised and well known companies (such as FedEx and UPS, for example). They might also provide “fragile pack” and crating services for high value or very fragile or expensive items such as medical imaging equipment, art, motorcycles, etc. And a few companies can provide air freight services (for items over 150 lbs gross weight) associated with crating and palletizing services. These can save potentially save you money as opposed to just trying to contact a shipping company yourself and shipping certain items with them. So check with your moving company to see if they provide these services, and how much they would cost.

Which moving option to select: Full Service, Labor Only, or Do It Yourself?

The full service move is the most convenient and worry-free type of move a reputable company will offer, but it will also be the most expensive. With the full service move, the moving crew shows up at your house in a standard 26 foot moving truck stocked with all the equipment, tools, and packaging supplies needed for your move. These will always include two-wheel dollies, furniture dollies, and tools for disassembling an reassembling furniture, as well as stretch wrap, boxes, and tape, but could also include a stairwalker, piano board, pallet jack, and other such equipment.

The movers will wrap, pack, and load your goods onto the truck according to industry standards, then transport them to your new residence. Then they will unload the truck and arrange the items in your new home according to your wishes.

Then they will present you with a bill, which might be hefty, but they probably saved you a lot of time and trouble because they are experienced professionals. And that’s why this most expensive of all services is probably the most popular, too. And speaking of expenses, always get an estimate for your move and make certain that you know any add-on charges that might apply. Some companies will just charge for drive/labor time plus boxes and tape that they use, while others will charge for these services plus at the end of the move they will add junk fees such as equipment fees, fuel surcharges, and taxes. This can inflate your estimate by as much as 50% in some cases, perhaps even more. So make sure that you know everything you will be charged for in advance.

The Labor Only move can save hundreds of dollars. With the labor only service, you provide the truck and the driver, and the moving company provides the muscle and loading expertise. The will expertly wrap, pack, and load your rented truck in accordance with moving industry standards. But you will drive the truck to your new destination and unload it there yourselves. This is probably not a good option for someone with a grand piano or a gun safe or other such heavy, large object. But it does work well for someone with some muscle (for unloading) and some confidence in their driving skills.

Some things to remember when renting a truck:

First of all, get a big enough truck. The largest truck you can legally drive without a commercial driver’s license is a 26 foot truck. Check on the rental company’s website (or call your local rental company) to get a better idea as to whether a 26 foot truck will hold all your household goods.

Second, get a truck that has the loading system that you are more comfortable with. There are basically two types: the loading ramp, and the lift gate. With the ramp, you will have to carry or wheel items up a ramp onto the truck. With the lift gate, you just lower the gate to the ground by operating a lever, then wheel or lift the item(s) onto the lift gate, then send the gate up until it’s level with the truck floor, and then move the item onto the truck. This can be tricky with tall items, as they might start to tip while being raised or lowered, and if you’re standing on the lift while raising or lowering it, you could severely injure yourself or someone else. On the other hand, ramps tend to be rather narrow and you could severely injure yourself or someone else while trying to wrestle a heavy object up or down the ramp. Maybe this is one major reason why the full service move remains the most popular option.

Third, make certain that the truck has cargo tie rails and use them. Cargo tie rails are smooth boards that are riveted to the interior wall of the moving truck’s cargo area several inches from the wall. This allows the moving crew of you to strap items to the wall, preventing them from falling or even shifting. Be certain to purchase and use professional grade cargo straps available at truck rental stores, as merely lashing the goods with twine or rope will permit the rope to stretch and sag, with damage to the finish and even structure of those goods or neighboring items being a likely possibility.

Fourth, check whatever insurance you’re going to rely on to find out what it covers and what the deductibles are. Does it cover “overhead” accidents, accidents in which you try to drive under an overpass or tree limb that you think is high enough, but in fact smashes into the area over the cab of your truck (a very popular truck rental company’s insurance does NOT cover such accidents). You can see a lot of such accidents on the internet.

Fifth, and pursuant to the above paragraph, find out for sure just how high your truck is and always be aware of it. If the truck you are driving is 12 feet high and you approach an overpass that says it has an 11’6” clearance, you need to stop before you crash into the overpass. And never try to pull into a covered parking lot, and be very careful when driving on tree lined streets, especially when pulling into a parking spot. Low limbs can ruin your day.

Sixth, be aware that if you’re going to cross state lines, you will have to pull into weigh stations that are usually just inside the border of the state you’re going into. Sometimes these are closed and they will have large signs saying so, usually well ahead of the station. But if they are open, you will have to stop and have your truck weighed and possibly inspected. Hazardous goods and prohibited goods will be confiscated and you stand the possibility of being fined. Gasoline, even in lawn mowers, weed whackers, etc., is strictly prohibited by federal law. So get rid of all gasoline and other such combustibles, including paint, before loading your truck. Check your local laws to find out how to do this. Even liquid detergents, though not flammable or explosive, can be prohibited. And of course, ammunition, gunpowder and black powder are prohibited, also. Guns might be acceptable for transport, but check with each state you will go into for its laws and abide by them. Also, all these items are not only prohibited for interstate transport, but they are also prohibited for in-state transport. Some states also prohibit the transport of certain fruits, vegetables, and plants, so be careful and be legal.

The Do-It-Yourself option completely excludes the moving company. It’s just like the labor only option, except that you do all the wrapping and loading onto the truck, as well as the unloading, etc. Please see the “Labor Only move” above for important tips on doing this.

How to Prepare for a Move

Although there are many aspects to preparing for a move, we are going to avoid the peripheral topics here (things such as registering your kids for the new school, filling out change of address forms for the post office, stopping newspaper subscriptions, etc.). This blog will concentrate instead on how to prepare your goods and parking areas for moving day in order to be more efficient, therefore saving you time and money.

The first thing to do is to book the move as early as possible. This not only gives you a much better possibility of hiring the moving company that you want, but it also gives you and the company more time to coordinate. For instance, tricky things such as large chandeliers, pool tables, gun safes, baby grand or concert grand pianos, or hot tubs can be better prepared for when details are provided.

If it’s possible, reserve a parking area for the moving van as near as possible to the door(s) that the moving crew will be using. If you have a freight elevator, the parking area should be as close as possible to it. And if you have a choice between an approach that has a lot of steps and one that has few or no steps, choose the latter. Doing these things will make the move go much faster, and that means big savings for you.

Please don’t have things on your beds (often this takes the form of clothing) when the movers come. Professional movers like to put the largest items on the truck first, and beds are among these things. Moving companies have wardrobe boxes, tall boxes with metal bars on which to hang clothing, that are made expressly for the purpose of transporting clothing without having to fold or wrinkle items. And please don’t put clothing or anything in plastic bags. Everything on board a moving truck should be in a good quality, rigid box. Even plants must be put in boxes (tall plants will often fit into a lamp box). The reason for this is that everything loaded onto the truck must contribute to the common structural integrity of the load. Soft sided luggage and plastic bags provide little or no support, and the bumps and vibrations of even a short journey will cause them to slip and move, causing surrounding items to tumble, and that’s how things get damaged. So please keep clothing in your closets and the moving company will place them carefully into wardrobe boxes, or, if you like, you can box the items yourself, but please don’t have your clothes or anything else on your beds when the moving crew arrives.

Take high value items with you, unless they’re too large. For instance, money, jewelry, rare or valuable coins, gold, platinum, gems, etc., should accompany you in your personal vehicle.

Keep an inventory of expensive items, and take good quality pictures of them just before they’re moved to establish the quality of the finish and the condition of the items. This way, disputes may be avoided if items are scratched or otherwise damaged by the movers.

Hazardous materials cannot be transported by a moving company. This includes not only things such as gunpowder or black powder, but also items such as gasoline, kerosene, paint, or even liquid detergents. So things such as lawn mowers and weed whackers, etc., must be purged of gasoline before being transported. Usually people who are moving will run these items until they run out of gas in order to comply with this federal law. If you do this, be certain to do it outdoors and not in your garage or in an enclosed area, as it could be dangerous to do so, both from the standpoint of fire danger as well from the standpoint of the buildup of dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide.

If you follow these procedures, your move should be a smooth and efficient transition to your new home.