An Honest Mover!
March 8, 2010 by admin
Filed under Moving News
You know I love it when I am looking at other movers and I find a completely honest mover. Believe it or not, this is sometimes a rarity. But, today in looking through Craigslist I found a co0mpletely honest mover…
Okay, actually he is not a mover but a moving laborer (he does say he works for a moving company.) Still, it is refreshing to see this on Craigslist. While there are many movers that advertise there that are honest the number that are dishonest far exceeds our small click.
Anyway, here is Bill’s ad that he posted in the Battle Creek Craigslist:
Are you looking to move. Let me Help you with that. Loading / Unloading / Packing I can handle it
PACKING SERVICES…….WHAT A PAIN….. LET ME DO THE PACKING FOR YOU……… I DO NOT UNPACK THOUGH
I currently work for a moving company which I can not disclose on here but I definately [sic] know what im doing
YOU SUPPLY THE U-HAUL AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE HARD PART
I am willing to drive the truck for you but i will not be renting them for you
Maybe you only have a couple of items and maybe its a whole house. Either way is fine.My Rates:
$75.00 per hour with a 2 hour minimum
$25.00 traveling and fuel charge
EMAIL TODAY
I am uninsured so i cant offer coverage on the items but i will do everything in my power to keep you and your articles safe and happy.
SEND ME AN EMAIL OF WHAT YOU NEED MOVED AND I WILL EMAIL YOU A QUOTE BACK
TO MUCH TO LIST….. I OFFER FREE ON-SITE SERVICES- JUST SHOOT ME AN EMAIL — MY NAME IS BILL
I can forgive the grammatical errors for the fact of his complete honesty.
I do think his rates are a bit high for just a laborer, but heck, if he gets the business then more power to him. I love the fact that he comes right out and tells you that he is NOT insured. Some many would have not done this.
Although he refuses to tell what moving company he works with I would hazard a guess to say it is Greater Michigan Movers as they are the only one is Battle Creek. (If I am right Bill I promise I won’t tell Mike.)
Just thought I would write and talk about this.
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Moving Systems
December 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice, Moving Truck Rental, Moving company rates, Moving labor
There are several moving systems.
Depending on your move the moving system that you should use will vary. I.e. a small local move will most likely best served by a do it yourself move; and a large long distance move may be bettered served by a full service mover or vanline.
The best way to determine what is best for you is to know what each kind of moving system there is and to ask a lot of questions.
I know that moving can be tough and stressful that is why I have this website and all these articles: I want to address every question that may come up and answer them. I am also very accessible via email or the telephone.
But this article is about the different moving systems out there. So lets get into them:
Do it yourself moving:
Quite obviously this kinda of speaks for itself.
This is the moving system you may use when you have a small local move.
moving yourself may not be viable to you – or even cheaper – if you have a larger move in town. However, if you have a 1 bedroom apartment (or even a small 2 bedroom) or smaller this may be a great option.
It is not uncommon to rent a U-Haul (or Penske, Budget or Ryder) moving truck, load it up with a bunch family and/or friends and move to your new place down the road.
This can be very cheap. But don’t kid yourself: moving yourself is the most stressful of all the moving systems out there. You have no insurance protections or any other fail-safes. Something goes wrong…and it is all on you.
Secondly, you must weigh in the hidden cost factors: Gas, Mileage (the real killer), Boxes, dollies and blankets, etc. These are all added to overall cost of the move if you can not or do not have way to provide them yourself.
That cheap do it yourself move may quickly become more expensive to do than if you hired a full service mover.
Moving Labor:
A moving labor moving system is more than just hiring a couple of guys off Craigslist or elsewhere to load and unload your moving truck or trailer. There is a bit more.
There are few different business models that I categorize under moving labor: There are the “you load, we drive” style of movers. The most famous of these types of moving labors are ABF and PODS.
What these companies do is bring you a trailer or shipping container and you have to load them yourself or hire the muscle to do it for you.
This can be very inexpensive to move your household goods very long distances, but they are too expensive really for the shorter, in state moves.
Again, there are not a lot of insurance protections for you here. If something is damaged or stolen (highly unlikely) then “oh well”. Not much you can do about it.
Moving labor also can go hand-in-hand with a do it yourself move. You rent a moving truck from a moving truck rental place and then hire laborers to load and unload your moving truck. This also goes with “you load, we drive” types.
But like I said there is far more risk in this type of moving than with your full service style movers.
But this can be very cheap if nothing goes wrong.
Full Service Moving:
These are companies like mine – U-Save Moving, Two men and Truck, All My Sons, Moishe’s, etc.
These companies, when hired, will do everything for you. They’ll box up your household, store your households possessions if needed, load and unload the trucks, and even assemble your furniture and place it in the right rooms for you. These companies are insured and licensed for your protection.
And best of all, they are there for you every step of the way.
Using a full service mover lessens the stress factor by a 1000x easy. Sure it can be expensive, but not in all cases.
Typically, a medium to large move locally will be cheaper with a full service mover than if you were to do it yourself believe it or not, PLUS you get the peace of mind knowing that you are insured.
Most of the movers are pillars of their communities. Being members of the BBB or Chamber of Commerce and other social and charitable organizations.
Reversely, there are a lot of scammers in this moving system. There are many that have a pick up and trailer and think they can become movers. So one really has to be on guard initially until they hire a licensed and insured full service mover.
A good rule of thumb in hiring a full service moving company is the amount of information that you can find out about the company and their principles. The more info you can find, typically, the better the company.
Just try it: Google me – Jae Burnham – or my company – U-Save Moving – and notice the amount of information there is about me and this company. I am all over the place. I am on Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, Flickr. I have listings with every major search engines. I am in the Yellowpages and Yellowbook. I am not hiding.
Any company that little to no information easily accessible should NOT be used.
Vanliners:
When moving across the country this moving system may be most affordable option for you. I would not recommend them for local or even across the state moves.
The most notable vanliners are Mayflower, Allied, United and if you have to, Bekins (voted one of the worst by J.D. Powers and Associates.)
The problem with this type of moving system is that it takes far longer for your possessions to reach your destination than if you were to use a full service mover.
Where typically a full service movers can deliver your possessions in a day or two, vanliners will take a week or two to deliver your goods.
Another negative point is that your possessions may be unloaded and reloaded a couple of times, adding to the chance that your stuff is lost, damaged or even stolen.
However, rarely will you find a vanliner that is not insured and licensed.
These companies usually are usually very bureaucratic. Meaning if there is an issue with something lost, damaged or stolen it is very hard to reach someone that can make a decision and give you satisfaction with your claims. There is a lot of red tape and hoops to jump through and many just give up.
However, for the most part, many of these moves are smooth and problem free.
So you can see there are many moving systems and each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. Not all moving systems will be right for you. You need to know what each moving system is and how it could benefit you personally.
Choosing a moving solely based off the cheapest usually ends in disaster and will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Asking questions and studying the industry will give you a basic education and allow you to make educated choices for which moving system is for you.
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Do It Yourself Moving
November 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moving Tips and Advice, Moving Truck Rental, Moving company rates, Moving labor
In today’s economy many of you are turning to do it yourself moving. You are looking at your alternatives in saving money because you don’t want to pay a full service mover to move you: And truthfully no one can really blame you. However, there are certain truths about do it yourself moving that may sway to using a full service mover instead of doing it yourself.
When looking at do it yourself moving you need to look at the costs of it. Now don’t get me wrong; you can save yourself a lot of money by moving yourself, but you also have to figure in the hidden costs of moving yourself versus paying a full service mover.
Moving Truck Rentals:
Renting a moving truck for your move requires a bit of planning. I have written reviews on the moving trucks that you could rent for your move. U-Haul, Penske, Budget, Ryder and even Enterprise all rent moving trucks, but I don’t recommend them all for certain moves.
For instance, for your local, in-town moves U-Haul will give you the best service and rates, but Penske and Budget are better for your longer and larger moves going across the state.
Now for your out of state moves I recommend either Budget or Ryder. Penske is also a good choice but they are a little more expensive. Ryder is great if you can bring the truck back to the original location. Ryder does not do one-way rentals. Budget and Penske do.
You can expect about 10 to 12 miles per gallon of fuel. This is true for U-Haul, Penske, Budget, Ryder and Enterprise. However, realize the newer trucks that you would rent from Budget, Penske and Ryder may actually get up to 15 mpg.
Rental rates are all pretty much the same as well ranging from $20 for the smaller trucks to $60 for the larger trucks per day. One way rental rates will be determined by availability and distance. Moving from Michigan to California may cost about $1000 during the winter months, but may cost about $1800 during the busier summer months.
And finally, don’t forget about the mileage costs. U-Haul is always the most expensive. You will pay about $.79 to $.99 per mile, while with Budget, Penske and Ryder you can haggle them down to $.11 and $.12/mile. The more miles the more it will cost.
Of course you have to return the moving trucks back with the same amount of fuel as you had when you left.
Moving Help:
In do it yourself moving you are going to need moving labor to load and unload your truck. Whether it is you personally, friends and family, or hire help you are going to need people to help with the loading and unloading.
Doing it yourself is always be free. However, this will add a lot of time to the the rental. I have heard of it talking as much as a week to load a moving truck. The more help you have the better (and faster) it is.
You may not have to pay your family and friends with real dollars, but it will cost your something e.g. food, beer, etc.
But understand, when you have family and friends loading and unloading the moving truck, they are not professional movers so the loading and unloading will not be great, and the chance of damage to your possessions are far greater.
If you don’t have access to family and friends then you may have to hire professionals. Typically you will have to pay about $40/hr for two men and most moves take about 3 to 4 hours for loading and unloading together. You can expect to pay about $200 in labor when it is all said and done.
You can find good labor with either Hire-A-Helper.com or MovingHelper.com. These laborers are all rated so you know before you hire them if they are good and reputable right from the start.
Or you could go to Craigslist and hire moving help from there. While you may hire good reputable moving help from here, it will be less reliable then the above places.
When hiring off Craigslist look for ads that are professional in appearance and structure. The more time they have put into an ad the more likely they are a good moving company.
At the very least they should include their name, phone number and an email address. If the ad doesn’t have at least those three things in it move on…it is usually a scammer.
Finally, who will drive the moving truck rental for you. You or somebody else. If you don’t have a lot of experience driving large trucks then you should have somebody that does do the driving. Driving through a big city or mountains can be tricky if you don’t have the experience. Of course by sticking to the freeways you will be mostly okay.
Now lets do the math for a typical move and see how the figures add up with a do it yourself move or hiring full service move.
In our example lets move you from Lansing, MI to Detroit. Fairly typical. Lets figure out the the do it yourself move first (this moves is for a 3 bedroom house):
Rental truck: $40/day
insurance: $15
Gas: $83
Mileage: $148.5 (150 mi @.99/mi)
Labor: $200 (hired laborers)
Misc: $30
Total: $433
Of course this may not be your move. Maybe you are just in town, or you are moving out of state. And in those cases the figures would be different obviously. But the idea is still the same.
Full Service Movers:
Full service movers are movers that will do the job, start to finish, themselves. They bring everything to the move and do it all. You can sit back and relax watching the football game while they slave.
Typically you can expect movers to charge between $70 to $95/hour for two movers. And for three movers between $90 and $120/hour.
In towns moves these hourly rates are typical. However for moves that are 40 miles or more some movers will follow a tariff. Some won’t depending if they belong to the Movers Association for their state or not. So in those cases you could pay about $1500 for move from Lansing to Detroit may be more depending on the time of year.
But in all cases these rates include the truck, men, dollies, blankets, straps, tools, plastic, insurance, fuel, etc.
So lets take the same example above and compare it to a do it yourself move:
Service: $425 ($85/hr for 5 hours) (not a Movers Association move)
Movers Assoc move: $1500
So based on the above you can see by hiring a full service mover you could actually have a cheaper move than by doing it yourself for this situation.
Do it yourself moving is only cheaper if you are doing an in-town move. You larger and longer moves you will actually save money by using a full service mover.
So before you go a rent that U-Haul call up some full service movers and compare. You’ll get a lot better service with full service movers then by doing it yourself…that is for sure.
Do it yourself moving is an option, but don’t forget to look at all your options first.
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Wanted Moving Help
October 27, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moving News
Superior moving professionals are all you get with U-Save Moving. We are dedicated to your stress free moving experience. No matter the size of your move, whether you have an office or residence, or whether you moving just around the corner, across the state, or to the other side of the country we can assist you with affordable moving solutions. Call us today at 330-887-2834.
U-Save Moving is a professional full service moving labor company. Why spend $500, $700, $1000 or more to move your possessions when it can be done for a fraction of the cost with the same or BETTER quality?
- Rates starting at $40/hr
- Local/State Wide Moves
- Out of State Moves
- FREE Moving Estimates.
- FREE furniture assembly/dissembly.
- NO Mileage Fees.
- NO HIDDEN FEES.
- NO EXTRA CHARGES.
- Short notice moves.
- Affordable hourly and Flat rate fees available.
- Senior, Military and Student discounts.
- No job too large or too small.
- Residential or commercial.
- Open most Holidays and Weekend
And we are always on time for all our appointments
Call U-Save Moving Now at 330-887-2834 or visit our website at Professional-Moving.com to get a free moving estimate. While you are there go through our extensive library of moving articles to learn everything you can about the moving industry. Or check us out on Twitter and Facebook, also you can see photos of all our recent moves on Flickr. I bet you won’t any other moving company this reachable or connected!
So if you wanted moving help, then give us a call…
U-Save Moving
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You Call. We Move. You Save
October 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moving News
10% discount when you book the day of your FREE estimate
U-Save Moving
www.professional-moving.com
330-887-2834
Superior moving professionals are all you get with U-Save Moving. We are dedicated to your stress free moving experience. No matter the size of your move, whether you have an office or residence, or whether you moving just around the corner, across the state, or to the other side of the country we can assist you with affordable moving solutions. Call us today at 330-887-2834.
U-Save Moving is a professional full service moving labor company. Why spend $500, $700, $1000 or more to move your possessions when it can be done for a fraction of the cost with the same or BETTER quality?
- Rates starting at $40/hr
- Local/State Wide Moves
- Out of State Moves
- FREE Moving Estimates.
- FREE furniture assembly/dissembly.
- NO Mileage Fees.
- NO HIDDEN FEES.
- NO EXTRA CHARGES.
- Short notice moves.
- Affordable hourly and Flat rate fees available.
- Senior, Military and Student discounts.
- No job too large or too small.
- Residential or commercial.
- Open most Holidays and Weekends
And we are always on time for all our appointments.
Call U-Save Moving Now at 330-887-2834 or visit our website at Professional-Moving.com to get a free moving estimate. While you are there go through our extensive library of moving articles to learn everything you can about the moving industry. Or check us out on Twitter and Facebook, also you can see photos of all our recent moves on Flickr. I bet you won’t any other moving company this reachable or connected!
U-Save Moving
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Perfect Job U-Save Moving
October 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under Testimonials
On time. Very fast, perfect job.
Eric Nitz
17 Oct 2009
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U-Save Moving Did A GREAT Job!
October 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under Testimonials
[U]-Save Moving did a great Job!
On time, fast, friendly!
Whenever I need a mover I’ll be sure to use these guys.
Good Job!
Melanie Williams
16 Oct 2009
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I Highly Recommend U-Save Moving
October 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under Testimonials
Excellent Job! I highly recommend!
Sam Patil
13 Oct 2009
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We Could Not Be More Impressed With U-Save Moving
September 25, 2009 by admin
Filed under Testimonials
We could not be more impressed – Jae, Bryan and Jeff were so hard working and professional. They should be your only consideration for Movers. We will use them again, no question.
Ashley & Brett Foster
25 Sep 2009
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U-Save Moving Was Great
September 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Testimonials
Jae & Travis were really nice and were on spot, on time and moved in stuff within 30 mins. which took me 5 days to load.
They were great.
Sree Raj
22 Sept 2009