Moving Glossary

The Moving service domain is full of many technical terms that people should be aware of. This will help you all to know and understand the terms and conditions of the movers with ease. At the same time it will add up to your knowledge, Ok! Seriously you need to aware of some technical moving terms. Here we bring you some of these terms together in this Moving Glossary.

A

Accessorial/Additional services : Services like packing, unpacking, multiple stops and others which are not included in transportation service. You need to pay additional charge for them.

Agent : An authorized moving service provider who is liable to handle your bookings, transportation and other moving services.

B

Bill of lading : It is the receipt which the customer gets as the contract for the transportation. It has the signature of customer acknowledging the items carried on the vehicle for transportation.

Binding/non-binding estimate: The binding estimate is the agreement which is made before moving between the customer and mover based on the estimate listing the items and other services. A non-binding is not binding for the carrier and it’s an approximate estimation which is produced by the mover based on proposed shipment and accessorial services. The final charge depends on the actual weight of the items and services.

Bulky article: There are some items like big TVs and glass ware that require additional care and precaution. Such items are called bulky articles and there is an additional cost charged for packing and moving such items.

C

Claim: It is the statement of delay, loss or damage done to an item in the shipment while it is in the custody, control or care of the mover or its affiliated agent.

COD or Cash on Delivery: It refers to such shipments where payment is made after the delivery of the movables to the customer. For such kind of delivery customers need to pay with traveler’s check, in cash, money order or by cashier check. Personal checks for COD payment are not accepted.

D

Destination agent: The agent who is liable or responsible to be present at the delivery side when the shipment arrived to assist the carrier’s driver.

Diversion: The changes made in the destination by the customer when the shipment is in route, then the additional charge is calculated from the origin of the diversion made taking it as starting point.

E

Exclusive use of vehicle: As per the requirement a customer may request the delivery of any exclusive unit of shipment subjected to availability of the carrier. The charges will be calculated based on the actual weight of the item as compared to specific minimum weights.

Extra labor: In most cases the professional help provide to the customers is limited to a time period. For any other service which is not listed in the charge list an hourly labor charge is applicable. Some such activities involve removing items from attics, packing or unpacking, etc.

F

Fuel surcharge: There is a percent adjustment in the mover’s tariff to aid the transportation charge changes due to increased cost of fuel. The surchargecan be changed monthly as it often based on the national average cost of diesel as per a region.

H

High -value article inventory form: This form is used by the movers to list the valuable items in the shipment which have more than $100 per pound value. This is done to adjust the insurance and other service conditions accordingly.

I

Insurance -related general increase or IRR surcharge: This is the surcharge which is used to adjust the transportation charge according to increased cost of liability insurance expenses or carrier and operator.

Inventory: It is detailed list of the shipment items and their condition before they are loaded in the carrier.

M

Method of payment: This is referred to the mode in which payments are made. Payments are done is cash, money order, traveler’s checks, bank cashier’s check or through a credit card. In case of credit cards the payments must be pre-approved and in most cases personal check is not acceptable.

N

Non-allowables/ Prohibited items: These are the items which are not approved to be moved by the service provide like propane tanks, chemicals, etc. Also there is no liability on carrier for perishable food items and beverages.

O

Order for service: It is document that provides authority to a mover to transport customer’s household items.

Overtime loading & unloading service: If the customer requests loading or unloading on a date which is a weekend or a holiday then he/she is liable to pay extra charges. This also holds for conditions where the loading or unloading job is to be done after working hours.

R

Reweigh: There can be reweighing of the shipment to determine the actual transportation cost. If the carrier reweighs the item then the concerned authority is liable to change the charges. If customers requests for reweighing then he/she should sign the agreement to bear the charges incurred.

S

Shuttle service: The shuttle services are used where the normal carriers cannot make the deliver or pickup due to physical constraints like narrow roads or bad weather. For such shipments smaller and special carriers are used and their charge is as per the terms and conditions of the movers.

Survey: It is performed by the mover to provide an estimate to the customers based on the properties to be moved.

T

Tariff: It is a documentation that contains the rates, rules and regulations and terms and conditions of the services performed by the mover.

V

Valuation: It is a tariff-based protective coverage provided to customers for their items when they are in control, care and custody of the mover. Valuation should not be mistaken as insurance.

W

Waiting time: It is the time which is incurred when the delivery or the pickup is made at the customer’s site. There can be additional charges for waiting time as well.

Weight additive: There are some items which are lighter in weight but occupy mush space like boats, boat trailers, etc. therefore to compensate for such inequity there is a tariff called weight additive.