Tips for Movers and Clients to Facilitate a Successful Move (house to apartment)

This post is a "off the top of my head" list of tips to improve the chances of a successful and painless moving experience (for both clients and moving service providers).

1) Don't save money on boxes. Buy new boxes, buy Home Depot boxes. Old, used boxes like to fall apart, and it's better to spend a few bucks more on these rather than spend extra time repacking boxes that fall apart while being carried

2) Don't procrastinate the organizing part of the move. De-cluttering and organizing for a move can be very challenging, especially for people that have a lot of possesions. Get help and get on it quickly, you don't want to be having to decide what to keep or throw out on the moving day(s).

3) Hire extra labour. Yes, people will get fewer hours, but at the end of the day you never know when people will get tired or have to leave. It's better to have excess labour to make the work go faster and keep morale high.

4) Place things properly in the truck. Be mindful of fragile items and try not to stack anything on top of them unless they're well protected. Understand that the truck can cause items to fly around, so drive slowly and stack in such a way that everything won't collapse if there's the need to stop suddenly. For smaller moves, use ratcheting straps held to the wooden sides of the truck to hold items in place.

5) Have a clear understanding with building management. If you're moving into an apartment, the maintenance staff that are there to help you with the move (by keeping maintenance doors open and elevators booked off) should be kept in the loop regarding how long a move will take, so that there's no problems to the movers on the moving day(s).