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Long Distance Moving Tips You’ll Need to Know

Many Millennials are leaving cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago for places with a good reputation for livability, places with good schools, walkability ratings, parks, and other amenities.

If you’re planning on moving a long distance, take the time to plan your move carefully, this will help you avoid issues along the way. Keep in mind, you’ll need to take note of the differences between a local move and a long distance move.

Whether you’re planning your first ever long distance move, or simply need to ensure your next goes off as planned, use these tips for a smooth move.

Pack Your Belongings for a Long Haul

During a long distance move, your belongings are going to be handled by multiple people, and will be riding in a truck across a large stretch of miles and a long period of time. Make sure that everything you pack is well cushioned inside the box. Try to assure that each box is packed to the top and that nothing is loose. Containers inside boxes should be well sealed, taking into account your boxes may be turned on their side or even upside down at some point.  We recommend buying high quality moving boxes instead of used boxes or other low-grade alternatives. If you wouldn’t pack a certain way for long term storage, don’t pack that way for a long distance move.

Insure Your Belongings Properly

A lot can happen to your stuff when traveling thousands of miles in the back of a truck. Moving is a high risk industry, so it’s best to be ready for something to go wrong and get the proper coverage. If you’re unsure what type of coverage is available for you, your moving company can explain the differences between the coverages, so you can make a more informed decision.

Keep Items You’ll Need Upon Arrival with You

Keep personal documents such as your driver’s license, social security card, passport and birth certificate with you. If you will need documents such as recent bank statements, tax returns and/or pay stubs before your shipment arrives, do not pack them in your boxes. Basically, don’t pack anything you’ll need once you get to your new home before your shipment arrives; you’ll probably need these personal documents when you’re looking for or starting a job, and you’ll obviously need some clothes, sleeping materials, hygiene products, and a few other things to keep yourself sane while you wait for the moving truck to arrive.

Pack Your Mattress in a Box

Avoid arriving to your new home with a  bent out of shape, damaged, or otherwise tarnished/dirtied mattress. Leaving your best memory foam mattress outside of a box creates risk, especially when it’s being handled by a few different moving crews.

Organize Your Belongings when Packing

Organizing your items before putting them in a box will save you time later when you arrive at your new home. This could include basic pots/pans, plates, everyday clothes, or other belongings; it’s up to your discretion. It’s also important to label boxes which contain fragile belongings: we recommend grouping them together in “specialty boxes” which should be marked to indicate the care that is required when moving those items. You can organize the rest of your boxes by the rooms their contents belong in, or however else you think will speed up your move. Just make sure that you mark the boxes accordingly.

Be Aware of the DeliveryWindow

The nature of long distance moving and the logistics involved in delivering a number of shipments to varied destinations has too many moving parts for the moving companies to be able to pinpoint a precise delivery date. Most companies usually don’t, because they simply cannot tell their customers well in advance when their moving truck is going to arrive at their new home. Generally the company will provide a delivery window. Pay close attention to your contract; some companies have a delivery window that can in some cases be in excess of 20 business days (excluding weekends and holidays). Take along adequate shoes and clothing to keep yourself sane until the end of the delivery window, and consider what you might need for the few days afterwards in the event the truck encounters an unexpected problem.

We hope you’ve found these tips helpful when getting ready for your long distance move! If you’re planning your move, and haven’t figured out how you’ll get your vehicle to its new home, call us at Auto Transport 123!

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