Moving industry goes into depression as Americans stay put on clarkhoward.com

Are you planning to move this summer? There's real price competition in the marketplace because so few people are these days.

Census Bureau numbers find that only 11% of Americans moved last year, down from the typical annual average of 20%, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Why the dearth of people moving? Homeowners can't afford to take the loss on selling their homes. The effect is that the moving industry is in a depression.

So you have real pricing power if you are moving this year. Renting a truck, hiring a mover, all will come cheaper right now.

In addition, the ways you can move have changed. You can either hire movers to pack up your possessions and then drive them yourself; or you can do it all yourself; or you can load up a portable on-demand storage unit and have a company move it; or you can hire a traditional mover to do everything for you.

If you move yourself, be aware that there's variable pricing for trucks based on the day of the week, the time of the month and other factors. It pays to shop around on the web or to call around for several quotes.

UShip.com offers a blend of price quotes and user reviews. You might also want to check Moving.org, the official site of the American Moving and Storage Association. The AMSA offers the ProMover program to help you connect with reputable movers.

Here are some additional suggestions for planning a move:

• Get a "binding estimate" in advance specifying the cost of your move. A simple "estimate" will not suffice.
• Buy replacement value insurance on your possessions separately in case something breaks. The current payout rate was set in the 1930s and never adjusted for inflation.
• Videotape your possessions before you start packing so there are no disputes about what you owned if something goes missing.

What others are saying

binding estimate
when you get a binding estimate make sure you dont add anything to the shipment after the sales person does the survay becouse when the driver shows up he will do a walk threw and compare the stuff to the cube sheet and whats not on it he cannot be moved or he will have to cuntest it the sales person will have to come back out the day of loading and do a new survay and have an udendum signed or if the driver feels the sales person missed the estimate by 10% he will cuntest it becouse the driver would be moving it for free it realy slows down the process and costs the driver a lot of extra time & money doing these bound shipments if the costumer refuses to sign the adendum the driver will leave and not move them that day so when it comes down to it if the salesman is bad at his job this realy creats a problem which most of the sales people out there cant estamate wheight very good there usualy a couple thousand pounds off either way just remember key word estimate it is a guess so i guess what im saying is the guy doing that hard back breaking work is the one taking the hit on everything not the big company and when you get a 65% dicount or higher on your move the driver is perty much working for nothing becouse after all his expenses on doing your move sometimes he just breaks evan so after he breaks his back doing that hard work making sure your stuff is safe being away from his family for weeks to months so your not going to get a very good move when theres a binding estimate involved and when file a clame make sure its a real one and not a false one just because it was put on the vanline van doesnt make it new again it was junk before and it will be junk after dont get me wrong somtime things happen but not very often theres more false clames than real ones
By jason @ 08/31/09 08:07:34 AMreport abuse
Relocations are Out?
NCSteve Wrote: "I am sure this is typical" - first I've heard of it. The engineering consulting firm I work for (~2,000 folks) is not eliminating relocation expense offers. The marketplace for good, experienced engineers is still pretty tight. Relocation expenses are peanuts compared to annual costs.
By MikeR @ 06/29/09 04:31:14 PMreport abuse
Relocations are out
My wife works in the HR dept for a very large private employer (5000+ employees) here in NC. They have all but eliminated their relocation department and will only offer out of the area employment to those who will move themselves - I am sure this is typical. In fact the HR group must seperate all resumes between local and out of town before beign reviewed with those from out of town receiving extra scrutiny
By NCSteve @ 06/29/09 01:46:57 PMreport abuse
Good for you
Cautious Cat, congratulations on buying those put options. you must be a multi-millionaire right now.
By z @ 06/28/09 11:10:42 AMreport abuse
Not Moving Either
2 years ago, my crytal ball told me that we would be having 2 things happen--like we have never seen before, or at least since 1973.

1. A really hard reccession/depression.

2. A break the records bad winter.
By Cautious Cat @ 06/26/09 08:22:23 PMreport abuse

binding estimate

when you get a binding estimate make sure you dont add anything to the shipment after the sales person does the survay becouse when the driver shows up he will do a walk threw and compare the stuff to the cube sheet and whats not on it he cannot be moved or he will have to cuntest it the sales person will have to come back out the day of loading and do a new survay and have an udendum signed or if the driver feels the sales person missed the estimate by 10% he will cuntest it becouse the driver would be moving it for free it realy slows down the process and costs the driver a lot of extra time & money doing these bound shipments if the costumer refuses to sign the adendum the driver will leave and not move them that day so when it comes down to it if the salesman is bad at his job this realy creats a problem which most of the sales people out there cant estamate wheight very good there usualy a couple thousand pounds off either way just remember key word estimate it is a guess so i guess what im saying is the guy doing that hard back breaking work is the one taking the hit on everything not the big company and when you get a 65% dicount or higher on your move the driver is perty much working for nothing becouse after all his expenses on doing your move sometimes he just breaks evan so after he breaks his back doing that hard work making sure your stuff is safe being away from his family for weeks to months so your not going to get a very good move when theres a binding estimate involved and when file a clame make sure its a real one and not a false one just because it was put on the vanline van doesnt make it new again it was junk before and it will be junk after dont get me wrong somtime things happen but not very often theres more false clames than real ones

By jason @ 08/31/09 08:07:34 AMreport abuse

Relocations are Out?

NCSteve Wrote: "I am sure this is typical" - first I've heard of it. The engineering consulting firm I work for (~2,000 folks) is not eliminating relocation expense offers. The marketplace for good, experienced engineers is still pretty tight. Relocation expenses are peanuts compared to annual costs.

By MikeR @ 06/29/09 04:31:14 PMreport abuse

Relocations are out

My wife works in the HR dept for a very large private employer (5000+ employees) here in NC. They have all but eliminated their relocation department and will only offer out of the area employment to those who will move themselves - I am sure this is typical. In fact the HR group must seperate all resumes between local and out of town before beign reviewed with those from out of town receiving extra scrutiny

By NCSteve @ 06/29/09 01:46:57 PMreport abuse

Good for you

Cautious Cat, congratulations on buying those put options. you must be a multi-millionaire right now.

By z @ 06/28/09 11:10:42 AMreport abuse

Not Moving Either

2 years ago, my crytal ball told me that we would be having 2 things happen--like we have never seen before, or at least since 1973.

1. A really hard reccession/depression.

2. A break the records bad winter.

By Cautious Cat @ 06/26/09 08:22:23 PMreport abuse

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Jun 26, 2009 -- Moving industry goes into depression as Americans stay put

What others are saying