Attention Household Movers

pack your own stuff...

load the truck yourself

have beer and pizza and cake for the movers, watching you do all the work, will make them hungry.

have some hammocks or cots so they can take a nap

have some hookers so they can be entertained

that's about all i can think of right now.

 

Depends, how their attitude is, what kind of job they do, are they full fledged members of the " chip-a-wall " tribe? Most guys would appreciate a few bucks tossed their way for a job well done if in fact that's the case. Make sure they put down some floor runners, pad the bannisters and railings, put anything that's not going on the truck in a separate room ( bathroom for example ), that way it doesn't get put aboard by mistake. You're better off going with a major Van Line than Joes midnite movers... things to that effect. If you can disassemble items such as shelving and such it makes it easier for the guys as well. Moving from WI to AZ I'd assume they'll be charging by the weight so now's a good time to purge the stuff you don't need or haven't used in a while. also get at least 3 estimates, the reputable movers won't charge for coming out and doing an estimate, be wary of anyone "lowballing". They should all be in the same ballpark. Get it in writing, you're only required to pay estimate plus 10% if the weight goes way over, and you'll also have a delivery spread, which means based on the weight and how far it's going as per tariff they have to have your goods there by the end date or you're entitled to compensation as in interim lodging. By the same token if you're not available by the end date they can put it into storage at additional cost to you.

 

as far as tipping goes, if you feel they did a good job, the $20 each. no more. that is beer money for them, so they will take it.

if you feel even more generous, then what ever you feel you can afford, for EACH person...they may compare notes, and if one guy gets paid less..??

expect to find your mattress pee'd on, or your furniture deeply scratched....

 

If you pack your own boxes (and home owners pack them heavier than movers do actually, we don't pay for the cardboard and we'd rather lug lighter boxes all day) figure out how the movers will move through the house (front door or garage) and stack your boxes in an ajacent large room.

Nothing makes a day drag longer than finding "yet another" room to work. This is why I usually attack the basement early, my knees get worn out and everything down there is often boxed already. I can "throw" a few hundred boxes up the stairs and a dolly guy will run them out to the truck.

We load the truck in "tiers": base, heavy, light and fill, repeat. Guy in the truck usually is the one that calls the ball on that. Base is tables, dressers, consoles, most wood furniture. Boxes are nice because they're a uniform size, so weight is the issue. Fill is odd stuff that fits in holes, garden tools, pole lamps, vacuum cleaners.

There's not much point in rushing, it's going to be an all day thing, would you rather be done fast or careful? Talk to the driver and the senior crew leader, they'll introduce themselves on the walk through, anything you tell any one guy should be repeated to them. Chain of command so to speak.

I've got a ton of other ideas but I don't have time to type them all.

Oh any garden tools that run on gas need to be empty, and vent the BBQ grill after disconnecting the propane. Gas dryers need to be disconnected by a utility service. (Stoves usually don't move)

Pizza is good, driver can't drink beer, a case of water & Gatorade at least.

 

I own a moving company. Stick with the larger companies, get three quotes. The larger companies have strick policies about who comes out to move you, so doubtful you'll have drunks or druggies. The van line we are with makes everyone be background check and drug tested randomly. They won't flag a guy for minor stuff like child support or a speeding ticket, but drunk or drug related arrests, fighting and stealing are not put up with. For us our drivers get help with the local agent where they are working at, if no agent is there we will go to another van line for labor. If that don't work we go to labor finder, since they do perform background check, if still no luck we will go to a local moving company, but the employee there has to allow us to do a background check on him.
Point is, this industry has cleaned up a ton over the past few years.
I still see some rough looking companies out there, but most of those are running through brokers.