Archive for August 2009

Moving Guide for Professionals by Sean Davis
Out of state moves or long distance moves , Moving companies must be licensed and insured ,(some type of moving services might require bonding too) the Department of transportation also know as DOT of federal motor carrier safety administration also known as FMCSA you can also verify license information your self at following internet address: http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx moving companies and movers are also required to keep their insurance on file with the Department of transportation.
la (13) In state moves, all of the above it true to state to state moves, all moving within the same are subject to the local state Department of transportation (state DOT)  and the rules change from state to state, you can verify with your state department of transportation if your mover is licensed, in California the California public utility commission aka as CPUC available at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc/ is responsible for verify and issue household goods moving companies licenses you can also check your moving companies with the better business bureau or local office of chambers of commerce you can call all those moving resources to verify of your moving is licensed or even a reputable moving company.
International moving is licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission FMC available at  http://www.fmc.gov/ each moving company wishes to conduct international moves any more leaving main land USA including any islands and HI “ Hawaii or for that matter any international shipping done by an air or sea container must be registered and licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission.

movers in California

Licensed moving companies are required to meet a few over moving requirement, publish their tariffs and or list of prices to who ever wants to see a copy.
publish their arbitration program and disputes settlement programs which should include neutral arbitration in case a conflict arises, between the mover and the customer.

Publish their damage and claim procedures in case some items arrive missing or broken During the move.
Movers are also require to maintain minimum liability insurance and auto liability insurance and workers compensation insurance in cases they have employees.
Another point to remember when considering hiring a moving company is using common sense of the price looks too good to be true it usually is, there is a reason why one mover will give a price half then the rest of the competition average , he would cut down all on all the possible costs and will reduce dramatically the quality of the move, that might results in late delivery extensive damage to your furniture lost items during moving etc ..
All the above resource are intended for your protection during the moving process, and the best selection of moving companies,  but as we said before couldnt replace using common sense. Ask friends and family as to positive moving experience and moving quotes which they received for their moves.
Take guard of the companies which do not provide any commercial address on their Web site, documents of  businesses, or a company which is hesitant to provide you their physical commercial address.
It is important that you know where to contact the company if you have a problem.
Plan to visit the Moving company office, before you make your final decision
This could be a stratagem simply to enter a person of sales your house to give you an evaluation. Made attention, made the research and decide which to invite in your house, based on references. You always point out that the price moving evaluation should never be the deciding factor. The reputation of the moving company goes a long way. Moreover, you should be able to meet or speak to the owner about the company. If you can speak to the owner about the businesses, even if only by the telephone, you will be able to develop a feeling of confidence that it is tested and enough able to ensure a professional moving process.
Thanks for read so far, Sean Davis

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by Charles Morris

I learned very early in life not to be too fond of things or people, because sooner or later youll eventually have to leave them all behind. It all began when my father went into the political world. He began to travel so much we hardly ever saw him.  The first time we moved I was 5 years old, just going into first grade and we were moving to Washington. talk about california-dreaming. I was born in New Jersey and a lot of people tell me that moving coast to coast is really hard from the adaptation point of view, since theres so many differences from one side of the country to the other, but I didnt really notice a big change during this first move, except for the fact maybe that I had to leave most of my toys behind because mom said we had to pack the least stuff possible. We lived in Washington for 3 years and by the time I had learned my first museum lessons on the legislative branch and republicans and democrats my father was transferred to Ecuador. we once moved through Joshua tree national park.

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I was eight then, and I thought I was going to live in the tallest tree in the whole rainforest.  I never imagined I would move to a real city with cars and buses and even malls.  The hardest thing about moving to Ecuador was leaving my friends behind. Although I was too small to have a real social life, I was very fond of my teammates. I used to practice baseball and was beginning to like it but I never found a baseball team in Ecuador. Moving to Ecuador was hard on me as a child, and I have never forgiven my parents for leaving our golden retriever behind. The cultural shock was intense too, I had never heard a word in Spanish and everything went great, until the moment we reached the door of our new home and the movers came in almost singing in a never before heard of magical language that sounded almost like chanting.  Since I never understood a word they said I thought it was great that we went to buy new stuff all over again, TV, kitchenware, furniture.  After a few weeks my mom told me that our move had been misplaced in storage at customs and they were holding it somewhere in a port in Ecuador. I think she didnt really understand what they told her, so she just decided to buy everything new again.

Moving, packing and unpacking logistics were always set up by my mother.  Sometimes successfully and easily but mostly our moves ended in fighting with the moving companies because they had broken or misplaced some family jewel, cushion, mattress or anything that would eventually disappear.  Since mom was such a meticulous person she kept a written inventory of every moving box, every book, every piece of furniture that ever went into storage, a moving truck, a plane or a boat.

We tried to move during the summer always, but since we moved back and forth from northern to southern hemispheres, summer could be winter at destination or the other way around. So moving in the summer doesnt always work out when youre moving abroad.

The other very hard thing to deal with when you move abroad is learning the language of the country youre moving to. Although I eventually learned Spanish, my communication skills the first year and a half developed basically a very primitive form of sign language, which some of my friends at school couldnt really decipher and so they would either feel pity towards me and speak to me in English, or not speak to me at all and ignore my efforts.

la (8)

As a kid who moved permanently I had a lot of trouble making friends, and by the time I had established a relatively close relationship with anyone, dad would get transferred and we would have to pack up and move once more.  By the time I was 16, I had moved about 7 times around the world, I had learned from cultures in the far east, France, North, south and central America, and I was completely alone in the world.  I had never had a real long-term friend.  I told my mother that as soon as I finished high school I would move back to New Jersey and settle down there for good.  But since we had moved so many times before and my schooling had been interrupted I still had 2 more years to go.  I finished high school in Bogotá, Colombia. It was a huge city compared to those in South America I had lived in before.  I had a Colombian girlfriend and she was moving to South Carolina to study at USC School of law, she wanted to mayor in international relations. I was ok with it, since we were both moving back to the States, Id be close to her, at least in the same country.  Although I never saw her again, we arranged a double international move in one.  We would pack our things as one, put them in the same container, ship them over to America and then I would have a long distance moving company pick up my stuff in southern Carolina and deliver it in Jersey where I figured I would magically find a place to live as soon as I moved back there.  It didnt really happen the way I expected.  We hired a Colombian courier and they assured us that the same company would receive our stuff in Florida and ship it in a fully equipped and insured truck to USC where she would be waiting.  The moving company we hired carefully packed our few belongings and signed us off on loads of insurance paperwork with the promise wed be seeing our stuff by the end of 2 weeks.  That was the last time I saw many of the souvenirs I had picked up from the many countries I had visited over the years.

We left on our graduation presents to Miami where we spent two incredible summer weeks as a couple of teenagers in love free of parents and responsibilities, for the first time in our lives, and by the due date for the move to reach USC, we were spending our third week as a couple who were about to kill each other over the ownership of the plastic cup we had brought from Señor. Froggs.  Since our move never got there, and the company in Colombia never answered for it, we ended up splitting up, and I moved with my backpack and my dreams back to Jersey where I set up a travel agency for travelers and excursionists.

The most important lesson I learned from moving abroad was that aside from the language, food, clothing, or religious differences in the world there is only one human race and it does business in the same way everywhere.  Particularly the moving business is the same in the whole wide world.  If you pay what your move is worth, youll get your move, if you try to cheat the movers, they will cheat you first, and if you move as little as possible youll loose less. Thats why I never grew attached to things, and thats why I thank my mom for leaving my toys behind on that first move. also moved the annoying beach-bum. Beach Vacations are fun during moving too. Island Escapes

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Moved Out Again, by Patrice Mamasita

Fortunately I never married the woman I lived with, because I had to move out twice in one year.  It doesnt really matter if you pay the bills, or the mortgage, it will always be her house.  And she kicked me out not once but two times.  Maybe shes like that because I came back to her, so she took advantage of it, but the truth is that Im tired of moving furniture around.

la (1)

Dating Scene can be really difficult out there , I know very few people that are looking forward to go œout there again so I was not that happy to leave , But I felt like I have no choice.

The first time we got in a fight we had just moved in together and we were coming home from Ikea. I had spent about 2000 dollars on girlish furniture for our apartment that I didnt even like in the first place. Wed been at it for days until she finally saw what she wanted and made up her mind to get it. I was pretty tired that day and didnt want to talk, but she began to go on about how we would arrange our furniture and how we had to be home for delivery and how everything had to be perfectly arranged. I didnt say anything and just let her ramble about how it was such a good idea that we had picked everything together. Suddenly, the bomb came off: Why arent you speaking? Dont you care?

I told her I was happy she had chosen things she liked. It was as if I had stepped on her corns. She got angry as I had never seen her before.   After she screamed at me all the way home, she stopped and didnt talk to me for the rest of the evening and night.  The next day, I went to work early. I thought she had forgotten the subject.

About at noon, I got a call from the moving company.  The movers wanted to know where to deliver my stuff.  I was confused and told them there had been a mistake and I was not moving, I thought it was the delivery people from Ikea, so I gave them my home address.  They called back after a few minutes telling me that address was the pick up address, not the delivery address.

This is when I began to worry. I called home and she said she had hired a moving company to take all my things away because since I didnt care about our apartment, I wouldnt care either about moving out of it. Just a little wrong, she was. I called a friend and asked him if I could crash for a few days at his place and drop my stuff at his storage room. So I spoke to the movers and they delivered my stuff at his place on that afternoon. I almost lost my job because of this joke.

When I got to my friends house to receive my move, the movers delivered my clothes, a couch, and a plasma TV. I had nothing to place in storage. So I had stayed at my friends house for about a week when she called me. We started meeting again, and again, and again, and before the end of the month I was back at our place, good as new, happier than ever.

Our place was turning into a peaceful home; we even got a dog, when she lost it again about 3 months ago.  She began to complain about the dog not going out to walk enough. She wanted the dog in the first place and I was the one taking him out every evening, and picking up after him. This time we got in a fight about the dog and how he was getting fat and hairy all over the place.

This time she didnt have to kick me out, as soon as I heard her speak like that, I flashed myself into the future and imagined us with a child. I couldnt bear the site. So I called the movers myself. They came the next morning. Luckily for me it was not a very strong moving season so they had moving availability the next day.  I took everything.  I had them pack even the toilet paper.  I told the movers to leave all of her stuff but to take everything I had paid for.  Since I hadnt had time to rent an apartment, I took all that stuff into storage.  They had my move delivered to a warehouse where I had full access anytime.

A few weeks later I was moving to my new bachelors apartment. The same movers again helped me with this move from the storage to the apartment.  They were very helpful and even nice to me, as they cheered me up and encouraged me to keep on with my life, (since they had witnessed the whole break up and all).

Today I feel a lot better.  Next time I fall in love I will be looking out for beware signs before I move in with someone. I like living alone, not having to worry about when Im going to be moved out of my house, or how much extra I have to pay for last minute moves into storage. I feel just fine like this.

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Moving to and from California and New York City ! , By Edward Wilson.
A couple of years ago I decided to develop my own engineering company. At the beginning it was pretty harsh, contracting and hiring and meeting up with clients, but since I already have a bit of a career going on, I took up pretty quickly. At first I found it very exciting, but then, I began to miss traveling, moving to different cities, meeting new ways of living. I really wanted to have that back, but now I have a business to take care of and I can´t just move away and leave it to run itself, Crisis And Issues Management.

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I had always wanted to move to New York, but it is such a crowded city. It has such a competitive environment. There´s engineers all over the place. I had done some previous work there, but I had never really lived in New York. I just moved temporarily to a hotel for a couple of months, which doesn´t really count as living in the place.

moving companies california

As a single man, I decided I would throw myself into the Hudson head first and move myself and my eternal love (or business, whatever you want to call it) to New York. I had no idea what to do first, Good Stories are always hard to tell, Squid 3 and such ¦

A few people who worked for me told me I was crazy moving to a city with 25 million people. They told me the company would crash in six months, but to all those who were left behind, I found a whole pile of engineers willing to work for me too, so that wasn´t so bad. My strongest asset in moving my company to New York, was finding out that a lot of things in New York are done through the internet. So I found myself a young curious webmaster who designed my whole moving to NY strategy through a company webpage. The best thing about this web world is that the kid that was doing all the work, is based in Springfield California and he didn´t have to move anywhere.

movers at hard work

He also did all the company move research. Through another internet service company designed only for people who are moving, he found out about all the movers who did long distance corporate moves. Although there are a lot of them, well, It´s not easy to trust some stranger to put all your engineering equipment and computers and everything you´ve acquired from your work over the years into a truck and just leave.

I have worked for years, just to buy the basic engineering, testing, and sampling instruments I need in order to successfully fulfill my contracts. I would not have sent all these instruments from one side of the country to the other, if I was not sure that the moving company I am hiring was absolutely trustworthy. And it was.

I hired the moving company that the webmaster chose for me, and as it results, they even moved my apartment and my project manager´s family too. They worked with us all the way. From the moment they came into the office to estimate all the stuff they had to move, I was convinced of their seriousness. The evaluator set up an appointment and was there 10 minutes before the meeting. This was special for me, because in my line of work, nothing is ever on time. Im usually nervous with the equipment since so much of it is expensive and people who don´t know how an instrument works tend to uncalibrated it or jam it. This guy didn´t touch a thing. He didn´t even ask what it was for. He did however, ask a lot of questions regarding fragile instruments or equipment with internal gasses or special devices which could break during the move. His meticulousness gave me the impression that he was really into his job, and this told me that the company knows who to hire, and thus, can guarantee their efficiency and their moving jobs as a whole.

where i want to be :)

The day before the move, a moving team came into the office and packed perfectly and I mean as if the instruments came in the original boxes and were brand new. That impressed me even more about their performance. Moving day was hard, I was still prety scared about it but the manager at the moving company gave me the phone number of the truck driver and I didn´t even had to call him. He was permanently contacting me.

I had my personal stuff put in the same truck with the project manager´s belongings and the corporate move, so everything we knew was on their hands. Moving time was estimated to be about a week. They said 7 to 10 days, longest week ever, but they arrived at exactly 7 days, so timewise, they were excellent.

Upon arrival, the movers looked basically as if they had been run over by a train. I guess the road trip is hard on anyone, and who knows how many of them they do in a month. So i began to question myself about the safety of my equipment. As they began to unload and unpack, they asked me to test each and every single instrument. This seemed weird to me, but as I did it, I understood that this is also an insurance for them because somethings may eventually get damaged during the move, but other things may get damaged through misuse and people sometimes take advantage of the move to pin the damages on the moving company. Everything was perfect. Even cups and dishes and personal stuff. Nothing was broken, nothing was damaged. I was grateful to all of them and invited the crew out that night. They only accepted going out to eat. I guess they were a little starved from the trip, but they said they had a long week going back with another move thay had in Jersey.

Going through a corporate move requires complicated logistics and programming, it is not an easy task but these guys pulled it off in such a professional way that they deserve to be hired over and over again. So I decided I´m not tying myself down to a town or city as long as they´re around. Whenever I feel like moving myself, my company or my people, I´m doing it through them.

I finally lost the fear of moving my company, as long as I move it with the same moving company. My webmaster is a gifted person when it means trusting people over the internet and I am very thankful to him also. Although he didn´t want to move to New York with us, we still work together online and I am happy and successful here because of his work.

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