4. Handling
The Move

On moving day, the movers came and quickly packed everything into a
moving van, to be taken
to their facility for packing into the lift vans. We had about 90%
already boxed, but since they only insure individual items they’ve
packed themselves we left our most valuable/breakable items for them to
pack. The movers work very quickly and the process feels very rushed
and chaotic.

Don’t be afraid to slow them down a little. Make sure a friend
is
stationed near the door, logging every item before it goes
onto
the truck. They have an inventory numbering system so track those item
numbers, plus the item description
and condition. It’s also a
good idea to have photos of items likely to be damaged in transit, if
possible
with the mover next to it. You will need all this information at
delivery to easily confirm that everything made it intact. Don’t try
to do this job yourself, as the movers will be asking you questions and
dragging you room to room as they work. The movers will be keeping
their own log, but we found that it was very messy and not useful for
us. Still they will want you to sign off on it, so don’t sign until you
are comfortable that you agree with what they have written. If needed,
you can write clarifications from your inventory log onto their sheets
before signing.

Next was the nervewracking wait to see if our stuff arrived and
in what condition. You should be able to track the shipment. Agree to a
method for determining where in
transit your load is, and check at regular intervals (1-2x weekly) so
you have no
surprises at the end. Some operators have website tracking, or you will
need to call the movers or shippers. Although our contract said 8-11
weeks, we were so pessimistic that we
didn’t count on things
to arrive within 3 months, and were pleasantly surprised when we got
the call in just under 2 months.

Hopefully you will have arranged for the shipper to manage customs for
you. You provide them with details of the contents of the shipment, and
they serve as your agent during a customs inspection. In our case, NZ
gives a lot of leeway to immigrants bringing personal goods, so we were
confident there would be no customs duties. If these are likely in your
destination, arrange in advance how those will be paid. New Zealand, as
an island, also has very strict agricultural (MAF) inspections of
incoming goods, so we indicated all MAF inspectable items in the
contents list. Be sure to research and arrange for any other unusual
steps on arrival. This prevents the need for you to be at the docks
when the ship arrives.

Our shipper was responsible for getting our goods delivered to our
destination after customs. So the ship came into Christchurch, and they
arranged for a ‘removal company’ (mover) to unpack the container into
their van and drive it to Nelson. They were also responsible for
unpacking into appropriate rooms. Since we were still renting a
furnished apartment, we didn’t want everything unpacked. Still, we
wanted to inspect the contents of specific boxes and also we wanted to
take advantage of their obligation to remove packing materials. So,
before they arrived, we reviewed the packing list and marked the things
we wanted unpacked, then designated a corner for them to pile up the
remaining boxes.

Just as with the pack up, the unpackers move very quickly. We divided
the tasks, with one of us holding the sheets, looking up the item
numbers as the boxes came in, and the other directing where to place
them and doing the inspection of unpacked items. Be sure to take photos
of anything
damaged. Our contract specified that once we signed off at delivery,
they were no longer responsible for the condition of any item. Before
the unpackers leave, you have to feel confident that everything is
okay, or that you have clearly documented anything that isn’t and noted
it on the forms before signing.

After all of the stress and confusion of going through this process the
first time, surprisingly our story does end on a positive
note. The NZ movers were very professional and helpful. Everything
arrived in the condition we had last seen it. We feel like we
were
just lucky since we weren’t as well educated as we should have been.
Hopefully your move will be equally successful and you can feel like
you earned it.

Resources

• The FMCSA site includes the actual regulation text but it’s
  not very user friendly
• If you are wondering if your house fills a few lift vans or
  a whole container, you can try this estimating
  tool to get a very rough idea.
• Here’s another less rigorous complaint database- listed by company 
• For more reading on this topic, MSN has this interesting
  article: Don’t Get Scammed By Your Mover