2021 Long Distance Moving Review: Should I Move With northAmerican?

 

North American Moving Services, also known as “northAmerican” or “North American Van Lines“, is a full-service moving company with experience and a breadth of services, but it also offers the personal touches and ability to negotiate, typical of a small business.

Like its competitors, Mayflower and Allied, it now provides a pick-and-choose menu of options to help you plan your long distance move. Yet overall, it remains known for its full-service package. The crew packs your stuff, dismantles furniture, puts it on the truck, takes it to your final destination, puts back together furniture, and unloads your boxes into the appropriate rooms in your new home. Phew! Not too shabby! (Have you read our picks for best moving companies?)

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Does North American Van Lines operate during COVID?

North American Van Lines is not only operating during the coronavirus crisis, it is busy, even in the traditionally slower winter months. In fact, you’ll have to call as early as possible to get on the schedule for both your estimate and move. In the meantime, you can learn about the new safety precautions North American has put in place to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, at this time, you can only get an estimate through online, video, and virtual estimates to ensure proper social distancing.

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PROS

• Get a lower price with a little conversation and flexibility
• 88 years of experience and a reputation of reliability
• Widespread availability
• Great customer service

CONS

• You can still end up with empty pockets
• Getting a base estimate is a hassle
• Experience varies by location

Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of North American interstate moving services, based on my first-hand experience. 

What Types of Moves Does North American Van Lines Do?

• • Household Moving 
  • Corporate Relocation
  • International Moving
  • Moving Resources
  • Moving Services
  • Local Moves
  • Interstate Moves

What Other Services Besides Moving Does North American Van Lines Do? 

Here’s the whole menu, from their website:

• Local, Interstate, and International Moving
• Full-Service Packing
• Fragile-Only Packing
• Assistance with Self-Packing (such as determining quantity and type of boxes and supplies)
• Boxes and Moving Supplies
• Appliance Disconnection and Reconnection
• Loading and Unloading
• Storage
• Auto Transport
• Custom Crates
• Crane Vans for Large Items
• Transportation and Shipment Tracking

You can pick and choose from these options to fit your needs and budget. (You might not need services like appliance disconnection and reconnection.) But the company is best known for its full-service package, which also includes the packing, loading, unloading, and transportation. 

What Insurance Does North American Offer? 

For the protection of your stuff, North American has four options: 

• Maximum Value Protection (MVP) with $0 deductible 
• MVP with $250 deductible 
• MVP with $500 deductible 
• Basic Coverage

Your homeowner’s or rental insurance may cover your move, but if not, you can turn to one of the options offered by North American. The basic coverage is only for $0.60 per pound per article if something is lost or damaged while moving. This means you could get a bad deal if say, something expensive like a personal computer gets broken in transit. With full MVP, anything lost or destroyed would be repaired or replaced. 

“For an interstate move of a 3-bedroom home in early December with all (my) stuff, my cost was $8,700…”

If that’s not possible – like if Grandma’s serving platter is no longer for sale anywhere – you’d get a cash settlement for the current market replacement value. “The cost of full value may be subject to various deductible levels of liability that may reduce your cost,” according to the website. You can ask your moving coordinator for more specifics. 

How Much Does North American Cost? 

Interstate or long-distance moves tend to cost between $2,000 and $5,000 per move, according to HomeAdvisor.com, and that’s roughly what you can expect to pay. North American’s prices are on par with competitors, which means its full-service package can be break-the-bank expensive. 

Here’s what is taken into consideration when you are given an estimate: 

• Distance of your move – How far does the driver have to go to get your stuff to the final destination? 
• Amount of packing – How much stuff will the staff have to box for you? How much loading and unloading will staff have to do at both destinations? 
• Weight of your stuff – How much will the entire load weigh? 
• Miscellaneous – Will you need add-ons like auto transport? Will you need van transport because a big truck can’t be parked on your street? 
• Insurance coverage – Additional coverage will cost you more.
• When you are moving – A move in the summer, which is peak season, is going to cost more than a move in the winter, which is usually slow for those in the moving industry.  

Quotes will be different based on the pricing set by your local agent, and the size (weight) and distance of your move. Full-package estimates from northAmerican will always include:

• Labor and Transportation
• Packing
• Valuation
• Miscellaneous

What’s “miscellaneous”? It refers to a lot of things, including upsells and fees. You can control what kinds of miscellaneous services or overcharges fall into that category if you plan well. 

Ultimately, flexibility regarding when you move and a willingness to take on some of the chores yourself could significantly bring down the price. In addition, should your stuff weigh less than the estimate, northAmerican van line will go with the lowest cost.

How My North American Van Lines Estimate Went

To minimize the spread of the coronavirus, I signed up for a virtual home tour with my local North American agent, which is called Beltmann Relocation Group and is the company’s largest location. 

Their pledge is to “Be the customer by striving to understand customer expectations and meeting them consistently.” I definitely got the sense that the rep with whom I spoke was trying to fulfill the promise. He was courteous, provided a detailed explanation of the estimate, and tried to help me get a lower price. 

“Ultimately, flexibility regarding when you move and a willingness to take on some of the chores yourself could significantly bring down the price.”

We conducted the tour over What’sApp Duo, but we could have done it on Zoom (It’ll be up to you). I could have also provided a video if a live online call was not possible. 

Quickly, we got into the weeds…literally. I brought my phone outside to my front yard to show him the entrance and parking area. Knowing that my town is very much a city, he was simply confirming that parking would be a problem. He’s right, but he had solutions for getting around it (a smaller truck that would make more trips) and had experience with this kind of situation. He also took note of the size of the home. I was able to get a price – and less sticker shock – by the call’s end. 

My own northAmerican estimates for full-service packages included: 

• Weight of the load
• Packing and unpacking
• Assembly and disassembly of furniture
• Loading and unloading
• Transportation
• Liability coverage (MVP with $0 deductible) with maximum protection of $50,000 
• Miscellaneous

For an interstate move of a 3-bedroom home in early December with all that stuff, my cost was $8,700, which is more or less in line with their competitor’s prices.

The rep brought the cost down by $400 by offering me a limited-time discount. If I was willing to move in January instead, I could bring down the cost another $300, so my grand total would be about $8,000. If I opted for the basic coverage instead of the MVP with $0 deductible that the rep automatically includes in the estimate, then I would bring down the cost to about $7,960. This was all based on transporting 8,000 pounds of stuff. 

The ability to bring down the cost that much was a huge relief. I know it’s still a lot of money, but it’s less than it could have been and less than some competitors. Also, I still would be doing little more than overseeing the move and labeling boxes. That’s not too shabby if you ask me. 

Pros of Moving with North American

They give you room to bring down the cost of your move. 

The representative who conducted the home tour was helpful and willing to work with me to reduce the price. He kept saying he wanted to help and win my business. Then, he actually unlocked a discount to decrease the price by $400! With added flexibility you can also save. Ask and ye shall receive, especially if you can move at a different time and there are deals available. 

With 500 locations (!), you can probably find an agent near both destinations. 

North American has widespread reach, so you should be able to find an agent near your starting and ending points. 

Great customer service.

Moving is not always pleasant. But when you can rely on the customer service representatives and the staff with whom you are working, it eases some of the tension. My rep helped me lower the cost and was willing to go the extra mile to win my business. He also answered all my questions and tried to address any concerns that I had. That is a great way to get an edge on the competition.

Cons of Moving with North American

You might break the bank. 

No matter how you look at it, full-service moving packages are expensive. Even the cheapest route offered by North American has me paying in the neighborhood of $8,000. That’s super expensive. If you have the money, however, it’s a worthy luxury. After all, you save your back and your heart by reducing stress levels. 

The timeline to get an estimate is a turn-off. 

You have to jump through hoops with scheduling a date for a home tour and then go through with it. Then, you sometimes even have to wait for the written estimate to be certain of the breakdown. In a world where we’ve become used to immediate, easy answers, this is a hard pill to swallow.  

Experience varies by location

You will have to do your homework. Each North American location is run by a different company. With agents all over the country, you will find the experience will vary from place to place. Check out reviews about your local agent to find out what your experience might be like.  

Should You Choose North American to Move?

A full-service move is a big investment. It’s worth it if you can afford it. After all, who wants to lose days of their lives packing and unpacking? And North American offers competitive prices for full-service packages. 

Are they better than other long distance movers? You have to consider the cost and the drive of the local North American agent working with you. In my case, the agent was the largest among North American’s roster, which made them skillful at dealing with multiple clients at a time. Your (literal) mileage may vary.

You also need to be about six weeks away from your move date to consider hiring North American right now because the company is super busy. You will need time both for getting an estimate and scheduling your actual move. 

Obviously, choosing one company over another is a personal decision. But if you can afford a full-service move and have a reputable North American agent to work with, they may be willing to undercut other van line quotes in your areas.

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 For more info, check out Moving101 and our picks of long distance moving companies.