Although you aren’t required to help with any of the heavy lifting during your move, it is necessary that someone be on hand to help with questions, concerns, and other issues related to loading the truck. This is especially true if we’ll be packing up the contents of your home as well as loading them, since we want to ensure everything you need is packed safely and recorded in our inventory list.
Most of the hard work associated with moving takes place in the days and weeks loading up to the big day. Buying and selling homes, coordinating new jobs, purging your house of unwanted junk, packing everything up to be loaded onto the moving van… by the time moving day actually arrives, you’re probably exhausted.
We don’t blame you, and we’re happy to take care of this part of the move so you can focus on arriving at your new home rested and ready to unpack, organize and decorate. While you might be feeling tempted to leave a friend in charge or wait just long enough for the movers to arrive before you hit the road, we do require you to put in a little more work before you head out.
Until the last item is loaded and you sign the paperwork giving us the all-clear to go, your presence is required at a move.
Why You Need to Be Present at a Move
Although you aren’t required to help with any of the heavy lifting during your move, it is necessary that someone be on hand to help with questions, concerns, and other issues related to loading the truck. This is especially true if we’ll be packing up the contents of your home as well as loading them, since we want to ensure everything you need is packed safely and recorded in our inventory list.
This inventory list is the main reason you have to be present until the truck rolls away. This is our master checklist, the guide that tells us exactly what is on the truck and what needs to be unloaded after we arrive. If anything goes missing or is damaged in transit, this list is the only evidence that you—and we—have that the item was loaded in the first place.
Because this list needs to be as intact and accurate as possible, we don’t have you sign it until the truck is ready to go. By leaving early, you wouldn’t be able to confirm the list, and would therefore have no recourse if something ended up not arriving when or where it was supposed to.
Additional Considerations
It’s also a good idea to be on hand since we can’t be responsible for the physical structure of your home in your absence. It’s up to you to do a final walkthrough to make sure everything is in order in your empty home, and it’s up to you to lock the doors and secure all windows before saying your final goodbyes.
You also have the final word in items being left behind. You may not wish to take appliances, or you may have promised the new homeowner that you’ll leave some pieces of furniture behind, so you need to be there to ensure these things don’t get packed accidentally.
We know you’re eager to get on your way, but please bear with us while we finish loading the truck and get ready to head out. You’ll feel much better knowing everything is secure, and you’ll still have plenty of time to hit the road and enjoy the drive!