A moving company, also known as a removalist or van line, is a company specializes in assisting individuals and businesses with relocating their goods from one location to another. Moving companies may offer additional or all-inclusive services for relocations, like packing, loading, moving, unloading, unpacking, and arranging of items to be shifted. Additional services may include cleaning services for houses, offices or warehousing facilities.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007, 40 million United States citizens had moved annually over the previous decade.[1] Of these movers, 84.5% relocated within their own state, 12.5% moved to another state, and 2.3% moved to another country.[2]
The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest household goods shipper in the world with the Personal Property Program accounting for 20% of all moves.[3]
A 2020 OnePoll survey showed that 64% of participants consider their recent move to be one of the most stressful events they have ever encountered.[4]
In the U.S. and Canada, the cost for long-distance moves is generally determined by several factors:
Some movers also offer consolidated shipping, which reduces costs by transporting several clients' items in the same shipment.
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the price is based on the volume of the items rather than their weight.[5] Some movers may offer flat rate pricing.
The use of truck rental services, or simply borrowing similar hardware, is referred to as DIY moving. Individuals or families may rent a truck or trailer large enough to transport their household goods. They may also acquire moving equipment such as dollies, furniture pads, and cargo belts to facilitate the move and protect their belongings.
The moving process also involves finding or buying materials such as boxes, paper, tape, and bubble wrap with which to pack boxable and/or protect fragile household goods and to consolidate the carrying and stacking on moving day. Self-service moving companies offer another viable option: the person moving buys space on one or more trailers or shipping containers. These containers are then driven by professionals to the new location.