The most common reason customers are often not happy with their interstate movers is due to the time it takes for a delivery. For this reason, we want to go over how the interstate moving industry works so that customers moving out of state can manage their expectations and schedules to prepare accordingly for a move.

Responsible moving companies will inform their customers that deliveries can be expected within a certain window. In other words, unlike a product business that can promise a delivery date, the moving industry is a service business that provides a range of possibilities that cannot be perfectly forecasted. A range is thus provided, and good moving companies work to provide service within that range, but can’t always ensure it, especially if the move is cross country or during peak season. Generally, moving out of state is easier, cheaper, and more timely in the winter when demand is lower. During the spring and summer, when demand spikes, there is often more demand for movers than their is a supply of space on trucks nationally. This can create delays.

It’s not easy on the moving companies either–it doesn’t help them to have customers goods stuck at their warehouse. In fact, they incur significant costs warehousing goods that are not moving, so their incentive is to get shipments out as fast as possible.

It is common to think, “Well, why wouldn’t they just put it on their own truck and plan the trips ahead of time”. The answer to that is that they do! However, no moving company has trucks going everywhere; it’s not possible. So, for moving companies that offer national service, they accomplish out of state moves through a mixture of their own trucks and crews, and those available as part of a network of carriers. This is, fundamentally, what makes interstate moving possible. But even with this network, there are times when supply can exceed demand.

Generally, if you’re goods are received within a reasonable period of your delivery window, that’s good, but you have to plan for it. If you are without a bed, or a pillow, or your massage table, you may want those things sooner, so every day your shipment is delayed feels like an eternity. The only thing you can do about this is plan ahead–once your goods are picked up, it can be a while before you see them next, so preparation is the key. Your moving company is not going to buy you a new bed or a trip to the chiropractor. All they will do is arrange for the pickup and shipment of your goods, and work hard to transport your items safely from one location to another.

Another common frustration of interstate moving is what’s known as a “shuttle fee”. We’ll address that in a different article!