One Curious Night
The time has come. You feel it in your belly. The move is near. You’ve picked out your new place, you’ve sold or put your last month down on your current one. The golden question remains. How are you going to get your furniture across the country?
The Search Ensues, The Bombardment Begins.
The internet will prove to be your ally but also the utter bane of your existence as you fill out 2 or 3 forms. The consequences are palpable. Phone call after phone call, text after text, email after email, it just doesn’t stop. At this point you might be thinking, “I need to go ahead and book this so I can tell everyone to go fly a kite.”
Not so fast. Contain the urge to send everyone away because you might send away the good guys and make a hasty decision. There are two kinds of companies and only one you want to deal with.
Carrier or Broker
A Carrier is a licensed interstate trucking company. A Carrier is the actual organization who will pick up your goods and truck them across the country to deliver in your new home. You should do everything in your power to work with a carrier. It’s easier than you think too! Just google “Safer Web Company Snapshot”, click the first link that pops up and enter the prospective company’s DOT number. This database will pierce the veil and reveal who it is you are really speaking to. Under operating status, if anything but “Carrier/ authorized for HHG” shows up, run far away.
If you’re searching through the database and discover the company you’re considering is a “Broker”, it’s highly recommended that you search for a carrier. The most control you’ll have in your move is by dealing directly with the source.
A “broker” is a licensed middleman who outsources your move to whoever they can find. Most of these companies are fly-by-night. They open up for a summer, collect as much money as possible, and then close down by the time they could face any consequences for their mal-practice. The problem with the salesforce of a broker is they don’t have any experience. The entire staff is made up of charlatans who haven’t moved a piece of furniture in their life.
Experience is the Main Factor
A Carrier’s salesforce has been trained on estimation by real experienced movers. The entries of furniture have real life measurements that consider not just your furniture but the space it will take up once wrapped in pads. They will have real answers to your very real questions that revolve around actual moving. There’s literally nothing like the real-deal.