When was the last time you played Twenty Questions?
Not enough time for playing games, right?
You must be too busy planning your interstate move and looking for reputable and affordable interstate moving companies.
That’s okay.
But get this: NOW you have the truly unique chance to find the best interstate movers while playing Twenty Questions.
You don’t believe it? Well, believe it you must.
Which are the best interstate moving companies?
Here are the 20 questions that will show you the magic answer:
Ready? Here we go:
1. Why do you need good interstate movers?
You must have heard or read a number of horror moving stories: dark tales where ending up unfairly overcharged by professional moving companies seemed like the “best” thing that could have happened to the protagonists.
Moving house is a notoriously expensive and rather stressful event in a person’s life.
So, wouldn’t you rather have an affordable and problem-free move to another state?
Wouldn’t you rather have experienced movers who just know how to protect your prized furniture and the rest of your valuable possessions?
Of course that you would.
And to have all that, plus much more, you will need to find and hire one of the best interstate moving companies on the market today.
How Much do Movers Cost?
Save up to 40% on your upcoming move and get a quote from reputable moving experts.
2. Can’t you just move to another state by yourself?
Yes, you could move to another state by yourself if your new home was located just across the state line, you didn’t plan to take any specialty items with you, you had good friends to rely on, and you felt confident about renting and driving a moving truck across lands unknown.
Much more often though, moving to another state involves moving distances of hundreds or thousands of miles – a fact that will cause self-moving costs to skyrocket and self-move risks and dangers to get out of control.
Factor in the hidden and forgotten costs of moving house without any professional assistance and you will soon understand why you should think three times before proving to yourself that you can manage an out-of-state move on your own.
How much will the service of professional packing cost you? Get a quote from full-service interstate movers to find out.
Unlike local movers who usually charge their customers by the hour, full-service interstate movers calculate the cost on the basis of four critical price factors:
distance between the two homes,
total shipment weight,
specialty items for packing and moving, and
additional moving services.
Other additional or unforeseen factors can also affect the final cost.
As you can see, the interstate movers cost is formed on a case-by-case basis, which basically means that there’s only one good way to know how much your cross-country move will cost – to have top-rated movers come to your residence for an on-site household inspection and moving cost calculation.
The thing is that you won’t have a good idea of how much money you will pay for professional moving services until a moving expert gives you a precise estimate in writing with all your individual expenses calculated.
Use our Moving Cost Calculator to get that crucial initial contact with licensed professional interstate moving companies that service your route and can accommodate your out-of-state move.
5. How to find interstate movers?
Finding interstate furniture movers is relatively straightforward – it’s choosing one of them to be your partner that will prove to be the harder part later on.
As mentioned in the answer to the previous question, filling out the interstate move cost estimator at the top of the page is, by far, the easiest way to get in touch with professional interstate movers.
Another great way to find interstate moving companies is to poll friends, neighbors, and colleagues at work for good suggestions – anyone who has been satisfied with the services of a cross-country moving company can actually direct you in the right direction.
In-home visits from moving company representatives serve several important purposes at the same time:
you will get all household items inspected, including the ones that will require special packing and handling care;
you will have all potential Moving-day issues assessed, including narrow hallways, multiple flights of stairs, tight corners, lack of a building elevator, and so on;
you will have all your burning move-related questions answered;
you will have written moving estimates issued to you that should reflect the final cost of your interstate move.
Important: Don’t agree on estimates done over the phone or via e-mail – you must have on-site inspections for accurate price estimation.
7. How to compare interstate movers?
Don’t forget to request in-home surveys from top-rated interstate moving companies.
Representatives from several different interstate home movers have visited your place in person and have provided you with accurate interstate move quotes.
Here comes the trickiest part – how do you select the winning bid now?
When holding the cost estimates in your hand, it’s time for a comparative analysis that will leave only one winner – you.
The price is important, of course, but take a closer look at the offered extra services and their respective rates.
Additionally, you should definitely use our groundbreaking 25-point movers comparison chart that will help you make the right choice.
8. Why should you care about interstate movers’ reputation?
The best state-to-state moving companies out there realize how important online reputation is for the growth of their business – they know that good reputation is their most dependable tool to bring in more customers in the future, hence more profit.
The most reputable interstate moving companies have long realized the truth that leaving customers happy by offering them high-quality services at reasonable prices is a long-term investment that will pay off tenfold down the road.
This is exactly why choosing one of the highest-rated interstate moving companies should be enough to guarantee a problem-free experience for you and your family (including your pets).
9. Why should you read reviews of interstate moving companies?
If getting suggestions about reputable interstate movers from reliable sources (understand friends) didn’t work, then you should definitely check what other people think about the moving companies you’re currently reviewing.
Customer reviews and performance ratings will give you a clue what to expect from your future partner, and will hopefully tip the scales one way or another if you can’t seem to decide which way to go.
Interstate movers reviews should be the referential step you take towards eliminating interstate moving companies with exceptionally low ratings, but your final decision should not be based only on other people’s move-related experiences.
10. How to check if your long-distance movers are properly licensed?
It’s useful to know that all interstate moving companies must be licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation in order to operate within the country. Once licensed by the Department, each licensee receives a USDOT number – the proof that such a moving company can be trusted by customers as the movers have already met the strict requirements set up by the Government.
Don’t hire an interstate mover before checking to see if they have a valid USDOT number. To complete the simple online check, all you have to do is follow this link.
11. How to make sure your state-to-state movers won’t cheat you?
Don’t say YES to an interstate mover before you’ve done your bit of research.
To make sure you never have to go through a nightmarish moving story, the very first step is to check the USDOT numbers of the companies that have provided you with cost estimates. /see previous question/
Finally, remove any lingering trust and reliability doubts by checking your future relocation partners with the Better Business Bureau /BBB/.
While there, you can also read customer reviews about BBB-accredited interstate moving companies as well.
12. What questions to ask interstate moving companies?
You will learn a lot about just how professional and reliable interstate movers are from the way they communicate with you in person, over the phone, or via e-mail.
Are they courteous and respectful? Or maybe plain rude and disrespectful?
Do they answer your questions in full? Or does it seem like they try hard to hide something from you?
There isn’t a single reason why you should choose to hire a professional moving company that seems shady and acts unprofessionally. After all, you’re paying good money to get high-quality moving services, and you shouldn’t settle for less.
Don’t forget to ask interstate movers the hard questions.
13. What services do full-service interstate movers offer?
Full-service interstate moving companies offer a wide range of additional services to meet the demands and requirements of their customers. In addition to the usual set of accessorial services such as
packing + delivery of quality packing materials
unpacking + recycling of packaging materials
disassembly / re-assembly of large furniture
handling of special household items
crating of high-value articles
hoisting (rigging) of bulky and heavy items through windows
shuttle service
Speak with the residential interstate movers to figure out what type of services you will need for your out-of-state relocation.
14. Should you hire professional packers for your out-of-state move?
Oftentimes, you will be able to save a good amount of money if you choose to pack up your home by yourself, but that is not always possible for various reasons – you may not have enough time, you may own too many specialty items, you may not have friends willing to give you a hand, or you may lack the experience or confidence to do it on your own.
Professional packers will charge you for the packing service, of course, but they have been trained to work fast and know how to protect all types of household items.
Moreover, professional packers and movers will be liable if anything they have packed gets broken or damaged while in their possession.
Even the best interstate moving companies won’t normally agree to move your lovely collection of house plants.
It’s important to keep in mind that some items are deemed dangerous to be transported by household goods carriers.
In other words, your interstate moving company won’t agree to transport things that fall into that list of hazardous items.
To save valuable time, you should ask your long-distance mover for that list of non-allowables before you begin packing up your things. If professional packers will do all or part of the packing job for you, then it’s your responsibility to dispose of those items forbidden for transport.
Generally speaking, such household goods include flammable, corrosive, or explosive items, plus perishable food, pets, plants, and irreplaceable high-value articles.
If you find yourself worried about whether you are supposed to tip interstate movers or not, then there’s a simple answer that will put your mind at ease: are you satisfied with their work? It’s that simple, really.
If your movers arrived on time, were friendly and respectful, acted professionally, worked hard and quickly, treated your possessions with care, avoided any property damage, and practically did all they were hired to do, then there isn’t really a reason why you shouldn’t show your appreciation by tipping each worker individually.
On the other hand, if you’re dissatisfied (to put it mildly) with the moving service you received, then you definitely shouldn’t consider tipping your movers.
17. How much to tip interstate movers?
Moving companies are part of the service industry, and tipping is the standard and universally accepted way for recipients of the service to show appreciation for a job well done. And assuming that all went really well, then how much should you tip your movers?
Percentages (15%-20%) of the final bill won’t work when moving to another state due to the high moving costs.
So, how much to tip movers for a long-distance move?
$5 per hour per mover is a good tipping formula you can follow, or about $40-$50 per day per mover.
Needless to say, you can always give your movers more if you’re really happy with their service.
The very first thing you should do to save money on your long-distance move is to hire cheap interstate movers – cheap as in affordable, not as in low-quality. Low-cost interstate movers do exist and the period of comparing the various moving quotes is where you can find them.
Secondly, the move distance is a constant value that is out of your direct control, but if you reduce the weight of your shipment, then you will save loads of money. This money-saving tip can’t be stressed enough: move only the items you intend to use in the future.
Are you ready for your long-distance moving company?
There are scores of tasks for you to complete before your interstate movers show up on Moving day.
Our Week-by-Week Moving Checklist will help you stay in complete control over your preparation period, plus it will keep the notorious moving stress from reaching unhealthy levels.
Among those pre-move tasks, here are the top 3 ones that you must complete no matter what happens (very important!):
Request in-home visits by representatives of the best-rated interstate moving companies, then have them provide you with accurate moving estimates in writing.
Inventory your entire home, and sell (either online or at a garage sale), gift, donate, or recycle anything that you won’t ever use again.
Pack whatever you can yourself to save on professional packing services. Leave specialty items to professional packers.
20. Which are the best interstate moving companies?
If you’ve read this far, then you already know exactly what to do to find the best interstate moving companies.
Once you find them, you also know how to request price estimates, how to compare interstate movers and their respective offers, how to make sure they are licensed, reputable, and reliable, and finally – you know what to do to save money until the hired moving crew knock on your door on Moving day.
I’m so glad I read this before looking for movers. I didn’t realize some companies were only brokers. Now that I know to ask, I won’t have any sort of misunderstandings. I’d rather go straight to the source for help on this one, especially since it’s a long move.
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I’m so glad I read this before looking for movers. I didn’t realize some companies were only brokers. Now that I know to ask, I won’t have any sort of misunderstandings. I’d rather go straight to the source for help on this one, especially since it’s a long move.