FMC #: 024223 * US DOT #: 3662762 - MC #: 01266993 * FF (Freight Forwarder) #: 049742 * CA Corp #: C3849674 * NVOCC (Non-Vessel Ocean Common Carrier) #: 019297NF * SCAC: PVLL; PV09 * Insurance #: GSC0602872 * Bond #: SC400130

There are two options when shipping your household goods.  Self load moves and full service moves.  Self load moves can be an option for those who don't mind packing and loading their own shipment and prepare it for trucking.  You can self load when using cargos and steel containers.  Self load option can not be allowed for lift van moves mainly because of liability issue.  The lift van itself empty is 300 pounds and we don't want it falling on you.  Full service means that the agent will pack, pad and wrap your shipment and load and crate into a lift van or load into a steel container. 

Full-Service Move Timeline:
The first thing to do for a customer’s full-service move is to set up a pre-move survey, where a person from one of our local partner offices comes to your residence or storage unit and estimates the weight and cubic feet of their shipment. They then relay that information to our company, in order to either verify our quote or requote your shipment. Our company can also suggest downsizing tips if the revised quote exceeds your budget. The customer then selects a moving date, which usually needs to be on a weekday. in most cases the customer is free to pack their own boxes, but packing is included in our quote to them. Also, for insurance purposes the boxes would need to be packed (or repacked) by the movers, in order to qualify the boxes for optional moving insurance. However, funiture can be optionally insured even if owner-packed boxes are not insured. Most moves only take a few hours to compete the pickup; larger shipments may take one day to pack and one day to load into the steel container. Soon afterwards, the customer is billed by our company, and after agreeing to pay the transportation invoice, the shipment is sent to their new destination. Depending on how far they are moving, this typically takes between 1-4 months (4-8 weeks for moves to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Canada, and 2-4 months to Europe, Australia/NZ, and Asia).

Self-Load Move Timeline
The first thing to do when performing a self-load of your shipment is to determine what size of move you need. The smallest self-load is on wood pallets that are 48x40 inches (larger ones up to 72x48 inches can be used as well). We always recommend to cardboard crate the palletized shipment, in order to cut down on the chance of damage and virtually eliminate lost items. Most or all of the palletized shipment will be boxes or plastic bins (totes), but some smaller furniture can be loaded as well. If you plan on moving a lot of furniture, the next size up for a self-load is a 20x8x8 foot steel container, which should easily hold the contents of a two-bedroom apartment, condo, or home. 40’ containers are generally $1000-2000 more than 20’ containers, and can hold up to a 4-5 bedroom home’s worth of contents. Sometimes the shipment can be self-unloaded in order to save additional money; most of the time the shipment must be delivered by a local warehouse if the container is bound for another country. The transit time for pallets and steel containers is roughly the same as for a full-service move: 1-2 months for domestic North American shipments (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada), and 2-4 months for overseas shipments to Australia/NZ, Europe, etc.

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Full service and self load options