Dear Esteemed, Valued, Stressed-Out Customer,

We know what you’re thinking. From the day you decided to hire a local moving company, you’ve been hoping that when moving day arrives, you’ll get a crew of polite, able-bodied movers at your door, ready and willing to serve you right in every way. Try not to stress about them. I’ve literally been on hundreds of moves. It’s gonna go great!

But here’s a secret: your movers actually do need your help… just not with the lifting.

The customer has a crucial role to play in helping things go smoothly, long before moving day. When a customer understands how to help make their own move a success, movers love it.

While we’re taking care of the lifting and carrying, here are things you can do that will go a long way.

Don’t try and help your movers lift

This is a tricky one. There are a hundred things you can do as a customer to help your movers; just please understand that none of them involve being a mover.

Wanting to help is not a problem. Bringing smaller items to the side of the truck and out of the path of your movers is fine. But in general, not knowing what you are doing can become a big problem. No one wants to explain how to maneuver a sofa down a cornered staircase – especially in mid-maneuver.

Besides, if something gets damaged, is it your fault or the movers’? Most moving companies disallow the customer from helping to lift heavy items for insurance purposes alone.

It’s best to just leave everything to your crew. If they need something, they’ll ask.

Tell us honestly what we’re up against ahead of time (we’ve seen it all)

Movers want to know upfront exactly what the job entails. This means a couple of things:

First, tell us every major item you need us to move ahead of time. Be as specific as you can. “A bunch of books” doesn’t mean anything. “Three six-foot bookshelves packed to the breaking point” gives us a much better idea of what we need to prepare for, in terms of both time and supplies to bring.

Have an aquarium? How big is it? If you have a piano, what kind is it? And make sure you say something about that dining room table with the glass top!

Protip: If you book your move through a reliable mover marketplace, this conversation gets automated for you.

Here’s a true story: Once, a customer told my crew he had four chairs in his basement. What he didn’t tell us was that they were massive beauty salon chairs, the kind that reclines and weighs two hundred pounds. Did it ruin the move? No, it’s not that we couldn’t handle them, but it consumed time and space we didn’t think we’d need, which impacted the hourly total and slowed everything down.

Other things your movers should know ahead of time:

• Is your driveway curved and steep?
• Are there low-hanging wires or tree branches around?
• How close to your apartment building can we park the truck, if we’re bringing one? (Forward-thinking customers who have a space prepared for the moving truck get loads of appreciation)
• Will it be a long walk from your door to the truck?
• Are there stairs or elevators involved?

Your movers will probably take the initiative and ask beforehand, but don’t be afraid and don’t hold anything back.

Be ready when the movers get there (labeling helps us work faster)

Getting ready to move takes a ton of time. We understand that. But there’s nothing that slows down a move more than a customer who hasn’t finished packing, or is still trying to decide what goes to their new home and what goes into storage, or is scrambling to wash the dishes and finish the laundry, or just woke up.

We can pretty much boil down preparedness to three things:

• Be packed. This is moving’s toughest, most time-consuming task. On move day, it’s worse. Get it done ahead of time (unless you’ve paid for us to do it for you, which will cost you more)
• Be sure. Know what you want the movers to take and what you want them to leave alone
• Be organized. Make it easy for your movers to know what they are and aren’t taking

The more organized the customer, the more efficient the move. A great strategy is to stick bright orange post-it notes on items the movers should ignore, or if possible, physically separate what stays from what goes. We love to hear, “Everything in this room goes,” or “You can leave this closet alone.” 

Designating a space that the movers can leave alone can be as helpful to the customer as it is for the movers, too. It can even be a single kitchen countertop instead of an entire room. Whatever it is, establishing a clearly-defined place for personal items that don’t go on the truck is one of the best things you can do for yourself and for your crew.

Clean your house before the movers arrive (and anything that could dirty a truck)

Movers don’t expect – and personally, I’ve never seen – a customer polishing the furniture and waxing the floors right before a move. At the same time, movers don’t expect – and this I have seen – rooms with floors half-covered in trash and filth. 

There are really two kinds of dirty that movers care about:

• Extremely dirty to the point our safety is in question (we can even opt-out in these extreme cases)
• Out of place hazards in our pathway, like cups or anything fragile

Messy or not, tell your movers – in fact, encourage them – to do what they need to do in order to keep from getting injured, like removing rugs, pictures, and hanging lamps.

The other kind of dirty involves items like toaster ovens, lawnmowers, and bicycles. If these things are dirty when they go onto the truck, they can get everything else dirty – including the truck and, eventually, your new home. (Some movers and almost all truck rental companies charge cleaning fees as well!)

Your pets need to be elsewhere

Pets need to be kept out of the way. Period. Dogs in particular may need to be kept somewhere else. “Oh he’s friendly,” one customer told me not long before their dog bit my co-worker.

Dogs (like little kids) may be all fun and smiles on a regular day, but strangers taking everything out of the house is not a regular day, and neither kids nor dogs understand, thus tend to act differently. (But at least kids don’t bite!) Even if you banish your dog to the fenced-in backyard, if he or she won’t stop barking, you may want to pay the kid next door to take your beloved pet for a long walk. Or, better yet, prepare them for their own pet moving day.

Designate a bathroom for us (movers are human too)

Customers sometimes like to remark how their movers are superhuman. We appreciate the compliment, but remember that we actually are humans. Designate a bathroom for us to use if and when necessary. Remembering to leave out a towel and toilet paper is helpful too!

Another note on humanity: please remember that if you are moving long-distance, the crew moving you into your new home might not be the same crew that moved you out of your old one. Likewise, your crew for your upcoming move won’t be the same as the crew of your previous move. If your previous move went horribly, or if moving out of your old home was a nightmare, remember that the crew in front of you now is not the crew you had before. (Don’t yell at us is all I’m asking.)

Appreciation comes in many forms

Appreciation must be earned. Movers know this as well as anybody. That said, movers are motivated when they are appreciated, just like anyone else. These things greatly help us:

Readily available water or sports drinks

I can tell you not just from being on crews but from having led them, motivation and attention to detail increases with something as simple as a few bottles of Gatorade. I’ve had customers offer coffee on cold days, first thing, and donuts too. But this is rare enough that movers would never expect something right off the bat. Besides, we’ve eaten breakfast. We’d rather get to work.

A lunch break

Do you have an all-day job? This means a lunch break, and movers will never be upset if you offer to buy them lunch. Pizza works. Sandwiches are great. 

Consider tipping

If your movers have done you right, then please do consider a tip. Tips are absolutely not required – that should be made clear – though this is a profession where it’s highly customary. (If you don’t know much about this, here’s how tipping movers works.)

Please leave them a review

Finally, among the very best things you can ever do for a moving company is to leave them a review on the website you hired them from. Whether it’s a site like HireAHelper, Yelp, or wherever is public-facing, an earned 5-star rating deserves to be shared with the world.

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Yes, you’re hiring movers so you don’t have to move all that stuff yourself. Still, as good as they may be, there’s room to help them be better. In the end, that benefits everyone, including how fast you can put moving day behind you.

Respectfully yours,

Kevin The Mover

Illustrations by Angie Hewitt