Friday, May 17, 2013

Full Service Movers versus Renting a Truck



 

Working in the moving industry for the last several years the phrase “We’re going to do the move ourselves” hurts my ears and completely melts my brain every time I hear it.  For the most part, this decision comes very easily to people that have a million and one things on their mind and a mountain of expenses adding up when moving; and is also precisely why I cannot fathom why renting a truck seems like the logical solution.  Obviously, the key issue is money, money, money-this is absolutely not a secret.  No one person likes to look at a price tag in the three to four digit range for a service they can seemingly do on their own; however, the thought process here is faulty for so many reasons it’s almost impossible to address each one without losing your attention or completely throwing you in a panic attack!  Trust me when I tell you renting a truck will cost more in the long run when you add all the additional expenses together.

 

Is renting a truck cheap?  No, it is not cheap!  Here in lies your first expense.  What is included in the truck rental?  The answer is nothing-just the truck and you’ll even have to replenish the ridiculously priced and plentiful fuel that came in the truck.  Then, upon the rental they will begin to up sell you on services that really are necessary but certainly not included in the initial price of the truck rental.  Just to name a few:  insurance, moving blankets, boxes, tape, some even offer help with labor to load the truck.  And just a little side note, the insurance you purchase is not to covers your household items, it’s to cover potential damage to the truck you just rented and do not own.  If you’re not already in the four digit price range, you will be soon because you haven’t even driven off the parking lot!  So now you have the truck, minimal moving blankets to cover the finest furniture and insurance for this monster truck you’re driving; however, the expenses haven’t even started.

 

Who is going to load the truck?  Uncle Joe?  I highly doubt it; he will conveniently have a camping trip scheduled the weekend of your move along with all your other cousins and family members.  You are now faced with another expense of hiring labor to help you load the truck with all of your precious belongings you’ve worked so hard to acquire but you have to hire day labor that have never moved a piece of furniture and trust they’re not going to steal from you or break any of the furniture you have because frankly- they won’t care if they drop your 50” plasma TV down the stairs- they don’t know you and you certainly don’t have any recourse in such an instance.

 

Have you ever fueled a big truck?  Enough said.  Think about it.  It takes minimum $50 to fuel a small compact car; can you imagine fueling a large truck…and with diesel fuel?

 

Have you ever tried to drive faster than 55 mph in one of those things?  Good luck.  You will likely have to incur hotel costs for an overnight, if not two.  Quick short story, I have a very close friend of mine that rented a truck because she was moving from NY to TX, she packed it with everything she owned including precious, irreplaceable pictures, etc with no monetary value, she stopped for an overnight and the entire truck was stolen and to this day none of her items have ever been recovered.  Can you imagine? 

 

In closing, why would you do this to yourself when you can hire Condor Moving Systems, a full service moving company, to manage all of the above?  We own and operate our own trucks, we offer full protection coverage for your household goods (forget about damage to the truck- we protect YOUR items),  we use unlimited heavy duty moving pads to insure each and every piece of furniture is wrapped for optimal protection,  we have full time experienced professional moving crews, you contribute a very small portion of fuel cost that we include in the estimate, and last but not least; no one is getting away with a huge truck with the logo Condor Moving Systems all over the side of it; not to mention the truck is never left unattended when occupied with household goods.  Do yourself a favor and use Condor Moving Systems where one price covers it all!