Moving? Weight or Volume?

Weight or Volume?
By: Jerry Zaf

Anyone that has ever experienced a long distance move out of state knows that a moving company will calculate the cost of you move either by weight (pounds) or volume (cubic feet). 

Just to give you some background information, about 10 + years ago, the only way to moving companies calculated the cost of a long distance move was based on the total volume loaded or cubic feet. Many customers were taken advantage of  by moving companies who basically "stole" extra space on the truck and charged the customer more by making their load seem a lot bigger than what it really was. Moving companies preyed on the customer's trust by either poorly stacking the job or in some extreme cases added a lot empty boxes to the load to make it appear larger. Unfortunately some companies still operate this way and these unethical practices can cost the customer thousands of dollars.

In order to make the calculation process more honest, the American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) came up with the idea of calcuating the moving cost based on weight. The idea is simple: weigh the truck empty, load the customer's belongings, weigh the truck after and voila the actual weight is calculated. Or so you think! Moving companies found a way to beat the system here too by again taking advantage of the customer's trust. They would often come to the customer's house with almost empty fuel tanks and then before going to the final weighing, would fuel up the tanks. Full fuel tanks can add 200-300 pounds. Sometimes they would even have all the movers stay on the truck at the final weighing adding again more weight to the truck and more weight to the customer's bill. 

So, what is the best way to go: weight or volume???

I'm afraid to report that neither one is better than the other. But you can avoid being scammed by being involved in the process every step of the way. If you go by cubic feet, don't be afraid to watch the movers loading the truck, check it out, watch how they stack it. If they see that you are keeping a watchful eye, they will less likely look to pull a fast one one you. If going by weight, make sure you go to the weigh station before and after. Ask questions, let them know that you know what you're talking about!

And as always, do your research! Check out DOT information and BBB information on these companies! 

My next post will touch upon why some companies feel the need to cheat to make it.

http://www.houstonfinestmovers.com
http://www.dallasfinestmovers.com

 http://www.fortworthfinestmovers.com