Posts Tagged ‘Global Relocation Services’

Speed Is Essential for Corporate Relocation

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

When a company decides to move their operations to a new domestic or international location, there is always a concern about speed. Managers and CEO’s are primarily concerned about business downtime, which can be a huge hindrance to making profits and can be a huge disruption to customers. The primary way to combat this is to make the move go as quickly as possible. This requires a lot of planning, manpower and strict attention to detail. When going ahead with such a corporate relocation, it’s a good idea to consult with a global relocation service that has expertise and extensive knowledge in the area of moving businesses.

There are a variety of approaches that can be taken for a corporate move depending on what type of operations need to be relocated. Moving a manufacturing operation will require a much different plan than simply moving administrative positions. For example, major manufacturing usually requires specialized machinery that can’t be re-bought due to enormous costs, so large machines will need to be physically moved to the location of the new operations. This may require special vehicles and transportation services that are not available to the general public.

Corporations usually take one of two approaches when it comes to employees and corporate moving. They either pay to have their old employees move to their new operations, or hire completely new workers to staff the new location. A corporation’s approach in this situation will depend upon the skill level needed, costs of relocating employees and general labor costs in the new country or region. Moving employees to new operations requires speed, as employees are almost always the lifeblood of any business. The quicker employees are back to work at the new location the quicker the company will be able to bring in revenue and please customers.

Save Money on Your Move to Alaska

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Moving to Alaska is unlike other domestic moves in a variety of ways. First of all, Alaska is thousands of miles away from almost all other points in the continental states. This means that moving to Alaska will involve a lot more travel than your typical domestic move. Alaska is also in a location that is hard to access by any other means than boat or airplane. This makes packing up a moving truck and driving it to your new home in Alaska much more difficult than it would be in other moves.

It is possible to drive a moving truck up to Alaska, but there are much easier options. Driving will require two border crossings, multiple nights of hotel/motel stays, possible bad weather and a host of other issues that can make driving very difficult. A relocation service that has Alaska moving services can help set up a move that will save you money on highly expensive moving trucks and travel expenses. Relocation services can do this by coordinating various modes of transport for your household goods that don’t rely on expensive cross continental highway travel.

Using a relocation service for your Alaska relocation will also free you up personally so that you can travel more comfortably and with less stress than you would by driving a truck across the often harsh Alaska Highway. A global relocation service like Unipack will move your household goods door to door from any location in the U.S. to your new home in Alaska, often at a drastically reduce price than you would find if you tried to move yourself.

Storage and Moving Solutions

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Moving is a great opportunity to go through all of the stuff in your home and find out what you need and what you don’t need. It’s inevitable that you’re going to find a lot of things that haven’t been used in years and would be better off somewhere else. It’s also likely that you’re going to find things you really want to keep but that you will have no room for in your new home. This can be antiques, furniture or lots of other large items that you treasure but simply can’t come with you.  This kind of situation is ideal for storage solutions.

Storage companies have a variety of different services to help people move their stuff into their storage unit. Some companies can send a portable structure to your home for you to place stuff in until you have it picked up for long term placement. You can also rent units from storage facilities where you bring the items in yourself.  Either way, you will need to have the time in your schedule to set up your storage situation apart from the rest of your domestic move. That is where a relocation service might be able to come in and take the burden off of your hands.

A relocation service that helps with domestic moving can take care of all the transportation of your household goods so that you can focus on getting things into storage and other important activities related to your move. You can also hire people to help you move things into storage, meaning even more time for you to focus on more important things. Either way, getting the assistance of a global relocation service will save you a ton of hassle on all of your domestic and international moving and will make the experience of moving easier than you would have possible imagined.

How to Avoid Moving Scams

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Moving, no matter how far it is, can be a stressful experience for all parties involved. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the moving business who take advantage of this and try to scam innocent movers out of lots of money.  The following are some tips on how to avoid scammers and save yourself tons of money and hassle in the long run.

-every legitimate moving company is licensed but not every licensed company is legitimate. You should look beyond just a license to find a good company to trust with your move.

-beware of a company that asks for an initial security deposit. A legitimate moving company will never ask for money upfront.

-always get all of your agreements in writing. Verbal guarantees are useless and will never stand up in court should you encounter a problem.

-an indicator of a potential scam is if the moving company tells you that they don’t need to visit your home to get an accurate estimate. Expect costs to be significantly greater than quoted from these places.

-don’t trust a moving company that doesn’t have an office. Visit the offices and take a look at their trucks. How well everything is maintained will be an indicator of how well your stuff is treated during the move.

-research potential moving companies with the Better Business Bureau. It’s not a guarantee for a reliable company, but it’s a good place to gain more information.

-never do business with a company that accepts only cash, postal/money orders or certified bank checks. It’s a sign that you may be working with a rogue mover.

How to Find Good Auto Shipping Rates

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Auto shipping rates aren’t easy to find on the internet, so if you are trying to ship a car it’s best you do some research. There are a number of auto transport companies that will give you a quote, but only few deliver the quality and service that goes along with shipping a vehicle. Auto shipping rates can fluctuate with gas and oil prices, so always keep in mind that if you receive a quote for a car and that quote changes two weeks later it’s probably due to a change in gas prices. After searching auto shipping rates make sure to find companies that have a background in reliability and service. Many companies promise, but so few deliver.

Unipack’s goal is to give you service, quality and communication you can depend on. If you are merely looking to find the cheapest auto shipping rates we may just have them. We run a tight ship, which allows us to give our clients the best prices. Don’t hesitate to ask for our vehicle transportation rates as we believe that more times than not, they can’t be beat. Talk to one of our representatives and find out for yourself that you can find some of the best auto shipping rates along with the best service.

Next time you decide to ship a car, truck or boat keep in mind that Unipack’s vehicle transportation service offers some of the best auto shipping rates anywhere in the US. We challenge our customers to find a better quote from a reliable company. Don’t take our word for granted, try us and see why we are the best in the business.

Getting a Driver’s License When Moving Internationally

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

If you plan on driving when moving abroad, it’s advisable to get an international driving permit, even if you don’t plan on doing much driving. The permit is valid in over 150 countries and is translated into 10 languages. It’s necessary for driving but can also be used as a universal identification.  It’s a good idea to investigate the driving laws in your new country as soon as you arrive.  Each country has different rules set up regarding how quickly you need to get a new license after you arrive and what information you will need to provide to get one.

Some countries honor a United States driving license while others don’t.  You may also need an international driving license or international permit, which is a certification of license and is available in nine languages. A grace period is usually given when you arrive in a new country in order to give you time to obtain the proper permits and licenses. Be prepared to take a whole new test which may include a written exam, eye exam and actual driving test.

If you’re moving to a country, such as Australia or Britain, that drives on the opposite side of the road, you will want to get some good practice in before having to take the actual examination.  Even experienced drives may find some serious challenges in navigating roads that have a completely different orientation.

Some Facts to Keep in Mind When Moving

Friday, November 18th, 2011

The facts surrounding the moving industry can be a bit disheartening, but by examining some common misconceptions and potential pitfalls you can avoid a lot of the bad circumstances that trouble so many movers. Many problems arise from erroneous quotes given by movers. Most relocations end up costing more than double the original amount quoted. Many moving companies mislead consumers so much on claims that the customer ends up dropping it.

When it comes to insurance, Federal law mandates a minimum relocation insurance of 60 cents per pound per item on interstate relocations. Minimum covereage for local relocations can be half this amount.  Make sure to take these insurance prices into account when calculating risk during a move. Federal law also prohibits the practice of holding goods hostage to extort bigger payments from their customers.

As far as finding a good relocation service to help with your move, there are a few things to keep in mind. Check with the BBB itself to investigate claims made from companies that claim to be in good standing with the Bureau as they can sometimes be a lie. Most relocations involve hidden fees usually assessed after all your things are moved onto the truck. You can become less vulnerable to these problems is you familiarize yourself with common business practices of shady moving companies.

How to Protect Furniture When Moving

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

It can sometimes take years or even decades to build up a decent collection of furniture, and there is no reason that it should be at risk when you decide to move. Extra care and attention should be paid to furniture when moving to ensure that it arrives at your new home just as it left your old one. Protecting furniture while moving is all about proper padding, support and orientation. The following is a quick guide to show you how to properly protect your furniture during a move so that nothing will get damaged.

Proper padding is essential for making sure that your furniture doesn’t get scratched or cracked along the way. Many moving companies will provide furniture paddings that you can place in between items so that they don’t damage each other. Much of the time, however, they don’t provide enough to meet all of your needs. Old comforters or blankets you can find at garage sales will work just fine as a substitute for traditional furniture blankets. You can even use things like bubble wrap and newspaper to fill in spaces that leave room for furniture to shift during moving.

Properly protecting furniture when moving also requires the correct arrangement of items in the truck or transport container. This typically means that you want heavier items to be below lighter ones and that you want each individual item to have a low center of gravity. This may require you to flip certain items, like tables, upside down. It’s also good to break down any furniture as much as possible, as assembled furniture with detachable components can be particularly weak and prone to damage during transportation.

The Logistics of Moving Internationally

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Anyone who has traveled internationally knows how complicated the process can get. There’s customs, paperwork, connections, documentation and a host of variables that have to properly be accounted for. If simply traveling to another country is this complicated, moving there must be even more so. Before you can even begin to process of physically moving your goods, you need to make sure that everything is coordinated properly so that your goods won’t get lost or stuck anywhere along the way.

A great way to coordinate the relocation of household goods overseas is to contact a global relocation company that can make all of the proper arrangements. Moving household goods internationally requires the cooperation and scheduling of multiple transportation companies and moving services. This can involve trucks, trains, aircraft and cargo ships. A relocation service will be able to effectively arrange all of these services so that your household goods can be transported efficiently and as affordable as possible.

Moving to College: What You Need

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Moving away from home for the first time can be both exciting and intimidating. The key to success is to follow the advice of people who have done it before, be prepared. Most people who move out of the house for the first time miss the little things they have taken for granted. Establishing independence can be more about conquering the little things than the big ones. Below are some helpful moving tips for those who find themselves on their own for the first time.

Learn to Cook – students in college can be on a very limited budget. Eating out on a consistent basis can be very expensive even when sticking to fast food. Learning to cook can be a great way to reduce costs and still eat hearty delicious and healthy meals. Many students are limited by the space provided in their dorms or apartments, but most

The Little Things – there’s lots a little things that people can forget if they’ve never been the primary shopper in their household. Bathroom items like toilet paper, hand towels, plungers, brushes and even toothpaste can go unnoticed until you absolutely need them. Until a have a fully stocked kitchen, a person might feel like they have to constantly go to the store in order to get a an item they need to cook certain food.

Learn to Budget – the cost of living independently can rack up quickly. It’s a good idea to create a list of estimated costs and measure it against income. It may be necessary to cut back on certain creature comforts in order to survive and stay out of debt. The first few months will be unusually expensive as normal household items are stocked up on, but costs go down after awhile. It’s also a good idea to put a little bit of money in a rainy day account in case of emergencies.