Consolidated moves: benefits and advantages

High costs are one of the main problems people face when preparing for a move. And while there are many different ways to lower your moving costs, consolidated moving is probably the most effective way to cut your expenses. Naturally, there are many pros and cons of consolidated moves and in the following article, Centennial Moving Canada will show everything you need to know so you can decide whether this type of move is good for you or not.

How consolidated relocations work?

When a moving company gets multiple bookings on the same or similar route it might propose to customers a consolidated move. This means that it will transport all the items from all the customers all in one take. Or it might load a truck and pick up a few more loads that are on the same route along the way. This is usually done during international relocations. But it is also a quite common practice done by long distance and province to province movers in Canada. For this, moving companies usually use shipping containers, however, in some cases, if all the items can fit into a regular moving truck, it can be done that way as well.

Movers combine multiple shipments into one

Benefits of consolidated moves

Now, it is quite obvious how consolidated moves benefit movers but you are probably wondering what are the advantages for you as a customer and whether there are some disadvantages. Let’s first talk about the advantages:

• Lower moving cost
• Increased safety of your items
• Better quality control
• Simplicity
• Eco-friendliness

A consolidated move is the best way to lower your relocation costs

As we already mentioned, cost-effectiveness is the biggest advantage of consolidated moves. When people think about cutting moving costs they usually start using free moving boxes, packing by themselves, or renting a moving truck. However, probably the most effective way to lower your moving expenses is to turn to consolidated moves. Typical relocation services Canada teams and long-distance moving companies offer costs somewhere in the range of $4,500 to $6,500 depending on the size of the home, distance, weight of the inventory, number of movers, etc.

On the other hand, when it comes to consolidated moves, the price will be calculated by the volume of your inventory or how much space your items will take inside the moving container. That is why it is not easy to calculate exactly how much exactly you can save on consolidated relocations. Still, some estimate that a combined move can cost up to 3 times less than a regular one while some say that you can save around $500.

Fewer chances of your items being damaged

Another advantage of joined moves is the increased safety of your items. The most common way items get damaged during a move is during transport, while they are in the back of a moving truck and start falling, rolling, and tumbling. This is either because the truck trailer is half empty and there is a lot of room where your items can freely move around or the items are not properly loaded and secured.

Your boxes will be safe during consolidated moves.

With consolidated relocations, you do not have to worry about this. 99% of the time, a shipping container or a moving truck will be fully loaded. So, your items will not be able to move even without strapping them. Moreover, long distance movers in Canada that do consolidated moves are experts in loading containers and trucks, particularly because of better space management. So you can be sure that your items will be completely safe during a move.

Better quality control

When it comes to quality control, there are several aspects of why consolidated moves are better than regular ones. First, you can choose to load your items into a shipping container on your own. This will allow you to stack your boxes and items exactly how you intended to. This way it won’t happen that items with fragile items end up at the bottom of the pile or that heaviest boxes end up at the top. Some moving companies will provide you with custom packaging for certain items, which will also increase the safety of your belongings. Think about these aspects when deciding whether you or your movers will load the items into a container.

Another good thing about these types of moves is that only the best moving companies offer this service. So when you are looking for reliable cross Canada moving solutions, one of the clues will be whether they offer joined moving options. If they do, you can be sure that you have found true professionals.

Simplify your relocation

Even though consolidated moves look more complicated they are in fact simpler for the customer. You can simply book the service online avoiding in-home estimates that standard relocations require. Then, a moving company comes to pick up your belongings (that you can load on your own if you want) and transports them to a designated warehouse of your home. Many moving companies that offer this service also provide additional conveniences like a virtual tour or volume calculator and allow you to track the shipping container from the comfort of your home throughout the trip.

One of the biggest advantages however can be seen with international relocations. Since a moving company is transporting a consolidated shipment it has to handle all the customs paperwork. This means that you do not have to deal with this part, which is one of the biggest problems people face when relocating to another country.

Only the most versatile and reliable movers offer this service

Consolidated relocations are an environmentally friendly solution

One of the things that we need to think about in this day and age is our environment. And that is also one of the things where joined moves have the edge over traditional relocations. For example, if two families are moving to USA from Canada they usually use at least two moving trucks. When it comes to consolidated relocations, one truck or container can handle the move for several families. Unfortunately, 99% of the trucks still work on fossil fuels. So let’s take a look at a few examples of how much fuel consumption we are talking about.

• Moving from Ontario to California (4,000 km) – a standard diesel truck can consume up to 1,200l of fuel
• Relocating from Manitoba to Ontario (2,640km) – a standard diesel truck can consume up to 792l of fuel
• Moving from Calgary to Nanaimo BC (1,052 km) – a standard diesel truck can consume up to 315l of fuel

Downsides of consolidated moves

Now that you learned all the benefits of consolidated relocations, you should also learn a little bit about the disadvantages. Naturally, consolidated relocations are not for everyone. If that would be the case, everyone would move using this method. It is also important to understand that the cons we will talk about are usually reserved for the worst-case scenarios. Moving companies that offer this type of service will do everything in their power to avoid these problems. Here are the cons of consolidated relocations:

• You cannot choose the exact date of the delivery
• You might need to pick up your items from a warehouse
• Your items might get mixed up

Your items might take 3 to 21 days to arrive

One of the biggest disadvantages of consolidations is the inability to choose the delivery date. As we already mentioned, moving companies that offer this type of service won’t start their moving truck until they load it to a certain point. Moreover, they will usually need to make several stops along the way in order to pick up the items from all the customers. And that can take somewhere from a few days to several weeks.

Your items might need a few weeks to arrive

A standard relocation can take somewhere from one to three days to complete. On the other hand, consolidated relocations can take somewhere from 3 to 21 days to complete. That is probably the biggest problem with these types of moves and the number one reason why people avoid consolidations.

In some cases, your items will go to a local warehouse instead of your home

Some moving companies offer door-to-door delivery. However, in a lot of cases that is just not possible. There are simply too many dates, destinations, and other factors that need to match up in order for your items to be delivered to your doorstep. That is why most moving companies will deliver your items to a designated warehouse. They will unload your items there and wait for you to come and pick them up. And that can create additional problems.

If you have a large inventory that is going to a warehouse, you need to find a truck that will now transport your items from a warehouse to your home. If you rent a truck for this purpose, you will need to load and unload your items by yourself. You also need to be available when your items arrive to do so immediately. However, since delivery can take several weeks to complete it can happen that your items need to stay in a warehouse until you are ready to pick them up, which further increases the chances of damage and loss.

In some cases, your items will arrive at a local warehouse

Your boxes might end up at the wrong address

Having items from multiple customers in one truck or container inevitably increases the risk of things getting mixed up. Now, movers will separate the load from each customer by a rope or tape. However, it is not uncommon that boxes end up at the wrong address. That is why, when preparing for a consolidated move, it is very important to label your boxes visibly. This means large stickers from all sides of the box. If you are not sure that you can do it, ask your moving company whether they offer packing services. If they will do the packing, they will surely mark your boxes properly and the chances of your items ending up somewhere else will be minimal.

So how do you book consolidated moves?

If you are considering transporting your items in a consolidated shipment, first you need to find a moving company that offers that type of service. Go online and search for moving and shipping companies in your area and see what they offer. It is also important to know that with most moving companies this is not a part of standard practice. So you might not find a consolidated relocation as a standard service.

Go online and find a shipping container that you will share with others

That is why we suggest that you call your favorite movers nevertheless and see whether they have a similar move in a similar period when you plan to move. They might be able to organize a consolidated shipment regardless of whether they have this service or not. Naturally, a lot of it will depend on the other customer and whether they will be ready to share their moving truck in exchange for lower costs.

If you can handle a few setbacks you are in for the cheapest move ever

And that is all you need to know about consolidated moves. As you can see, there are many advantages and disadvantages. So it all depends on your situation. If your main goal is to lower your moving costs, you might need to deal with some other issues like getting your items from a warehouse to your home by yourself. Nevertheless, if you end up shipping your items this way, one thing is for sure, your relocation will be cheap.