Self Service Trailer Rental Moving Companies Explained
A short history
Self service trailer rental moving companies provide an interesting solution to the traditional approach to moving. Before self moving, movers were basically faced with two options. Either have a professional company do everything for you (loading, moving and unloading) or hire a truck and do the loading and unloading yourself. load, move and unload all of your belongings.
A few years ago, some moving companies responded to the following needs of a number of customers in the DIY moving market to create self moving companies.
(i) customers liked to pack their own belongings safe in the knowledge they would take more care of their own possession than professional packers and would know exactly into which boxes important items had been put.
(ii) however, these movers were not particularly keen on driving a truck which often required special licensing and additional insurance.
The self service trailer rental moving process in detail
The self-moving process was designed with common sense simplicity in mind. A self-service trailer rental companies deliver a trailer to your home. You then pack the trailer according to your own timetable and are normally given a period of two months in which two do this without incurring additional fees at your own expense.
At the end of the two-month period or before, you arrange the pickup of the trailer by telephone. Your fully packed trailer is normally on its way within twenty-four hours to its final destination.
Obtaining quotes
Most of the large self service trailer rental moving companies have a website through which you can get a quotation for your move, accept a quote and do a whole host of inforrmation. One such company that we tried for the purposes of researching this article was www.uhaul.com.
Because of the nature of the on-line quotation process make sure that you have the following information to have before you get on-line
· Zip code of the place where you are moving from
· Zip code of the place you are moving to
· The number and size of rooms you have in your house.
Make sure you also obtain quotes from your local business pages and recommendations from family and friends to get and overall
The process in detail.
Self service trailer rental moving companies provide you with a service whereby you can pack a trailer according to you own timetable. When you are finshed packing in most cased you simply call a toll free number to have it picked up by a professional driver and driven to your new house.
Most companies will supply you with as many trailers as you require. Some trailers can be as large as 28ft in lenth and this should be an important part of your requirements gathering in an effort to minimise you costs.
The advantages of self-service trailer rental moving companies
The advantages of self-service trailer rental are many compared to moving truck and traditional moving services. They can be summarised as follows.
· Self-service trailer rental is likely to be more priced more competitively as it takes away the hourly variable cost associated with a traditional moving company.
· There is no need to be concerned or worried about the fixed cost of insurance or additional licensing associated with hiring a moving truck
· Any over-riding concerns that you may have regarding driving a moving truck are no longer a problem as this is taken care of by a professional.
The disadvantages of self-service trailer rental moving companies are as follows.
· As you will not be driving the truck the truck you will be dependent on the schedule of the moving company.
· As you will be lifting and moving the boxes yourself there is the potential for personal injuries
· Certain self-service trailer companies might make an additional charge for trailers weighing over a specified weight (you would normally be informed of this condition beforehand)
Comparing self service trailer rental moving companies
As with any comparison of moving companies, it is important not just to consider cost alone. In addition the following factors should also be be taken into account:
· Quality - Do any of the self service movers abide by any recognised quality standards?
· Experience - How years have the self moving company been in business, when you talk to them to they come acrross as knowleagble?
· Customer Service - If things go wrong, is there a toll free numbers to call. Is there a complaints procedure? Can you get through to someone quickly or are you just faced with a website form to fill out? What response times do they claim for resolving issues and are they realistic?
· Reputation - Does the self service mover have a good reputation that they can substantiate with "real" customer endorsements.
· Value added services - Does the self service mover provide any service which makes it stand out from the crowd?
Conclusion
Self service trailer rental moving companies are not necessarily for everybody. However that said, they do offer a very viable third option to do-it-yourself moving for those movers who want to avoid driving a large moving truck. Remember, it is always a good tip to ring your local moving company first and ask questions. They are likely to be more helpful and have knowledge of the local area compared to the larger moving companies.
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