By Jeff Walker
Today is the day you’ve been waiting for, time to move into your new home. You’ve prepped, you’ve packed you’ve made sure everything was loaded carefully on the truck and now it’s time to reverse gears and put everything away. And while most everything should seem obvious at this point (what else do we have to do, but get everything inside), there may be a few things you haven’t thought about during your Do-It-Yourself Move.
Time
Everything went pretty smoothly when you loaded the truck, right? After all, you had plenty of help
to get your items out of the house and loaded on the truck. While it may be relatively easy to get help at your point of origin, you may not have that help available at your destination. If you’re moving to a new city, chances are good that you won’t know anybody, and your beer swilling buddy who you bribed to help you load suddenly had plans the day you arrived at your new home. It could be that he had a change of heart after loading, or it could be he just didn’t want to have to take a bus home after you were done loading and the beer wore off.
If you’re like most of us, you’re going to have to do this part yourself. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it generally takes about half the time to unload than it did to load the truck. However, if you do find yourself in a position where you will have your equipment longer than anticipated, be kind and let your mover know that you’re going to need that truck for another day. This way, he doesn’t schedule the equipment for another move when you still have his van sitting in your driveway. The best thing to do is understand that it could take a little longer at your destination and to plan ahead, making sure you rent the equipment for an extra day, if need be. If you find yourself finishing early, check with your rental equipment company to make sure that you will only be charged for that extra day if you keep the equipment, and don’t get caught up in thinking that just because you finished a day early that it won’t still cost you the same. Make sure your contract specifies the conditions of the rental clearly so that both you and the company you chose to use has a clear understanding on time and payment.
It’s not Mine
While it may seem like the equipment you’re renting, be it a van or a container is yours while you have paid for it, it isn’t truly yours. Make sure you take care of the equipment during your move and clean out the area you use after you are done. If you don’t, you may find some extra charges on your bill for someone else having to clean up after you. Make sure that any trash that has accumulated inside the moving van is removed, and remove any rubbish or trash out of the container when you are done unloading. Common courtesy can go a long way and you’ll insure that the next person who uses the equipment will have a fresh start.
One of the most common things people forget to do is to check the gas levels when they pick up 
their truck and when they drop it off. Most rental companies, be it car or moving van will specify somewhere in your paperwork how much gas is in the vehicle prior to letting the vehicle go. Make sure you take the time to fill up the gas tank to the level specified. If the level hasn’t been specified, make sure you check the level before you leave the lot, and that you and the renter of the vehicle agree on the amount of fuel in the vehicle. Once you are done unloading your move, make sure you fill the tank to that level so you don’t get charged for any gasoline that you have used, but not paid for, because your bill will more than reflect the cost of the fuel that you should have placed in that tank.
Devil’s in the Details
Just like anything in life, things go well when you pay attention to the details. Taking the time to plan your do-it-yourself move will insure that problems that do crop up aren’t insurmountable. Having and implementing a good plan while packing can save you time and headaches at your destination, and using the right equipment can have you moving like a pro. While we haven’t gone into a lot of specifics in this series of articles, we have given you a broad sense of what to do during your move from the planning stage to what to do after your move is completed. In future MovingScam.com articles we’ll try address some of the specifics and give you some helpful tips to insure your items reach their destination in one piece.
Related Articles:
Customer Service Part 1: What is it?
Consumers Guide to the Review Verification System
How to Find a Reputable Moving Company
