The Movers’ Zone – Tough Decisions

Written and submitted by Timothy Brady

You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension of not only sight and sound, but of moving. Making a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of furniture, odd objects, and interesting people. That’s the signpost up ahead: your next stop … The Movers’ Zone!

There are times in every mover’s career when tough decisions need to be made. And then there are those times where you’ve entered the Movers’ Zone.

The Van Operator received the call from dispatch: “Large COD PBO shipment, anticipated to require the entire trailer.” This particular shipper was moving from Tennessee to Cardiff-by-the-Sea, north of San Diego, California. ‘Cardiff’ is a beach community bordering Solana Beach, with exclusive, gated communities right on the coast and tight weight restrictions for vehicles entering them. This is due to the perilous nature of the shoreline cliffs, and weight can be restricted to below 10,000 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight.

When the Van Operator arrived at origin, a 20-acre country estate just outside of Franklin, Tennessee with his crew of four, the first challenge he noticed was the shipper’s driveway. From the end of the cul-de-sac, the drive wasn’t much more than a Jeep track alongside a fence. This “drive” went about 200 yards to a 90-degree turn with a typical 4″ thick, non-reinforced, wide concrete residential driveway. The distance from the Jeep track down the concrete driveway was 220′. The Van Operator studied the COD estimate provided by the origin agent carefully, but there was no mention of a shuttle or any long carrys.

That Middle Tennessee area had just gotten almost three inches of rain in the previous two days. It was questionable whether the Van Operator could get his 75′ tractor-trailer backed up the Jeep trail to the concrete drive. The Jeep trail was just barely wide enough to keep the tractor and trailer tires on the graveled portion of the dirt track. So the Van Operator decided to survey the rest of the house before trying to back up the Jeep trail to the driveway.

He met the shipper at the garage door and started the typical survey of ‘what stays.’ As the Van Operator began the walk-through, the shipper casually said, “Figured you’d back up the dirt drive and then back your trailer onto the concrete driveway. You’ll be right in front of the garage doors to load.”

The Van Operator responded, “Sir, with all the rain you’ve had here over the last couple of days, I’m not sure we can even get the tractor-trailer backed up the dirt drive. I’ll have to see if I can do it and not lose traction; the ground’s pretty wet and with the clay-type soil here, it’s very slick. As far as the concrete driveway, that’s not possible for two reasons. One, to blind-side back to get the trailer lined up on the drive without taking out all the fence on the left side, I’d need to swing wide into the yard. As wet as that ground is, not only would I lose traction, I’d sink in, possibly to my axles. The second reason is, your driveway isn’t designed to handle the weight of a semi, especially with all the rain. The truck would demolish the driveway.”

Shipper: “It’s going to make a very long day for the five of you.”

Van Operator: “True, but we do whatever it takes to get the job done safely and without damage. Now, are you aware there’s an added cost for the extra distance over 75 feet we have to carry your belongings? There’s a fee based on the total weight of the shipment for each 50 feet beyond the first 75 feet. My estimate is that it’ll be two long carrys. Should I call the agent so they can calculate the cost?”

Shipper, with voice raised: “I’m not paying extra for any long carrys or anything else beyond the cost of the move! Just because you can’t get that truck close enough to the house isn’t my problem!”

Van Operator: “Then I assume you’re not aware the address you’re moving to in Cardiff has weight restrictions whereby tractor-trailers aren’t allowed in the gated community. It requires a shuttle, a small box truck into which we unload your belongings to get them to your new home. In fact, I delivered to one of your new neighbors in that same community about six months ago. I’m very familiar with the requirements to deliver there.”

Shipper, with voice raised even more loudly: “So you’re telling me it’s not only going to cost me more on this end to get the truck loaded, but on the other end for delivery?”

Van Operator: “Yes, sir. Your estimator should have pointed out the long carry across the driveway, but there’s no way he’d know about the weight restrictions in California. Tell you what, let’s continue to see ‘what stays’ and let me see if I can think of a solution that’ll save you from having to pay for both the shuttle and the long carrys.”

Shipper, a little calmer: “OK.”

They went from room to room; the shipper pointed out ‘what stays’ and the Van Operator placed orange stickers on each item. As they completed the living room, the Van Operator pointed to a very large mirror sitting in front of an equally large fireplace, over which it’d recently been hung. The mirror was about 8 feet long by 4 feet wide, with large gold oak leaves along the entire frame.

Van Operator: “The mirror is a ‘what stays’?”

Shipper: “Absolutely not. That mirror has been in my family going on five generations. Those gold leaves were handcrafted by my great-great-great-grandfather, who was a goldsmith.”

Van Operator: “Does your local agent have someone coming to crate it?”

Shipper retorts: “Crate? Crates are expensive. It can just get wrapped in some pads and we’ll deal with any damage at the other end.”

Van Operator: “What do you mean, ‘Deal with any damage’?”

Shipper: “The last two moves, my claimed damage was $12,000 and $14,000. The moving company paid without too many challenges. Wrap the mirror in pads and I’ll just file a claim for the damage which occurs. That’s what I’m paying for with my replacement value insurance, isn’t it?”

At this point, the Van Operator had one of those tough ‘mid-winter/few shippers’ decisions to make. Should he complete the move or pack up his crew and head back to the agent? (Hint: he and his crew were very relieved not to have to handle that mirror.)

When you enter “The Movers’ Zone”, you never know what new challenges you’ll face, and the tough decisions you’ll need to make. What would you have done?

To contact Brady go to www.timothybrady.com