Tag: DC Moving

Changing Address Checklist

Posted on by olympiamoving

Change of Address Checklist

There are so many details to take care of when you’re moving.  One of those details is managing address changes for your mailings and services.  Below is a comprehensive change of address checklist to help you make sure you didn’t miss anyone.  Another tip: check out Updater.com.  This website offers an easy form for you to fill out, print out, and bring to your post office.

1. Friends & family  (Here are some cute ecards to help!)

2. Government & Public Offices  (For downloadable PDFs and direct links to change-of-address forms for important government agencies, click here.)

  • Post Office
  • Income Tax / IRS
  • Social Security
  • Vehicle Registration / Driving License
  • Re-register to vote
  • Family Support
  • Veteran Affairs
  • Pension Benefits
  • Unemployment Insurance
  • U.S. Customs and Immigration Services
  • Do Not Mail and Do Not Call National Programs

3. Utilities & Services

  • Telephone (Land line & mobile)
  • Television / Cable
  • Internet provider
  • Electric
  • Gas
  • Fuel
  • Water
  • Water Delivery / Treatment
  • Garbage
  • Sewer

4. Finances

  • Banks
  • Loan Institutions (Car, student, mortgage, home equity, personal loans, and more)
  • Credit Card Companies
  • Paypal
  • Insurance Agencies (Auto, home, medical, dental, disability, life)
  • Charge Accounts
  • Pension Plans
  • Accountant / Tax Consultant
  • Investment brokers (your IRA, financial adviser, or other investment managers)
  • Credit reporting agencies

5. Institutions & Providers

  • Employer
  • Your children’s schools
  • Daycare providers
  • Church
  • Attorney
  • Physicians / Doctors / Eye doctors / Veterinarian
  • Professional Memberships / Licensing Boards
  • Civic organizations
  • Kid’s activities
  • PTA, neighborhood association, other community groups
  • Health clubs
  • Social or country clubs
  • Alumni groups

6. Home Services

  • Pool Services
  • Lawn / Garden Services
  • Housecleaning Services
  • Pest control company
  • Delivery services

7. Periodicals

  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Online delivery subscriptions & shipping addresses (i.e. Amazon.com, Netflix, Ebay)
  • Book and Music Clubs

Be sure to check out the Moving Tips & Resources section of our website for other ways to ensure a smooth moving experience!

When is the Delivery Date for My Interstate Move?

Posted on by olympiamoving

Wheaton Moving Partner Olympia Moving and StorageCoordinating the timing of deliveries for interstate moves is often the trickiest part of the relocation process.  Many moving newbies often imagine the truck and crew driving directly from their origin home to their new home.

When your moving consultant gives you the estimate for your interstate move, the delivery date will always be listed as a delivery spread.  The truck will arrive at your destination address between these dates.  Delivery spreads can range from 1 to 14 days for interstate moves.  This is standard practice across the industry.

Your moving company cannot guarantee a delivery date because there are almost always multiple customers’ shipments on each truck.   Moving would be much more expensive for both the customer and the moving company if a driver was bringing just one customer’s things from Virginia to California.  If a driver also picks up a customer going from Virginia to Arizona and another from Arkansas to New Mexico, the move is much more cost effective for everyone.

However, the timeline of moving can be unpredictable.  Between the day you book your move and your delivery day, the vanline could add more customers to your drivers’ itinerary, or the pick up or drop off of another customer’s items could take more time than expected.  Therefore, it is very difficult to know the exact day of the driver’s arrival in advance.

There are many factors that affect the length of your delivery spread, the most common being:

  • The distance between your old and new addresses (the more the miles, the longer the spread)
  • The time of year (delivery spreads tend to be longer and more unpredictable in the busy summer months)
  • The weight of your shipment (the more things you’re moving, the shorter the spread)

The driver will call you 1-2 days in advance to let you know the exact date of your delivery.  Meanwhile, your moving coordinator will do their best to keep you updated on the delivery date.   However, even the coordinator often does not know the exact day of delivery, even after the crew has picked everything up from your former home.

The best way to control your delivery date is by changing the date you can control:  the loading date.  If you change the loading date, the dates of the delivery spread will also change correspondingly.  However, it is not advised to change your loading date after you book your move.

It is also a good idea to remain flexible during the delivery spread dates so you are free to accept the delivery on any of those days.  If there are any days in the delivery spread that you will be unavailable to meet the movers for whatever reason, always make a back up plan at the time of booking for someone else to meet the truck on those days.

Click here to read more tips for interstate moving.

Moving in the Cold and Snow

Posted on by olympiamoving

Avoiding the snow is one of the reasons most choose to move in the summer.  As year round movers in Boston, MA and Washington, DC we’ve seen our share of Nor’easters and chilly days.  Our crews are tough and always persevere through whatever Mother Nature throws our way, but customers can take a few simple steps to make the movers more comfortable, expedite the move, and even save a little money while moving in the cold and snow.

Keep in touch with your movers.  If you know some brutal wintery conditions are coming your way, feel free to call your moving coordinator with your concerns.  If you have the flexibility, it might be possible to shift the dates of local moves and services to avoid the snow.  It is extremely rare for Olympia to close the office due to weather, and we will certainly contact you with as much notice as possible if this is the case.

Shovel before the crew arrives.  Our crew members are more than happy to do all the necessary shoveling for you, but adding the task of shoveling adds time and money to your move.  If you want to avoid those charges, it’s best to get rid of the snow before the truck arrives.  Be sure to clear a spot for the truck to park, either in the driveway or street, as well as pathways for the crew between the truck and the entrances.

Salt the pathways.  It is extremely important for the crew to keep their balance while they are carrying your precious furniture in slippery and icy conditions.  The crew will bring salt, but the sooner the pathways are salted, the sooner it is safe for the crew to start loading the truck.  Therefore, like shoveling, it’s helpful to put salt down prior to the movers’ arrival.

Turn down the heat.  As the crew comes in and out, the door will be open to the cold air for a good portion of the move.  Additionally, it’s uncomfortable for the bundled up movers to come into a toasty house from the cold.  By putting on a jacket and turning down the heat, you’ll save a little money on wasted heat and put the crew at ease.

Floor protection.  Snow, mud, slush, and salt can lead to a mess under movers’ boots.  Therefore, in the winter, we always put down extra floor protection to protect your home from a mess.  If you have extra mats, put them by the door to help the crew clean their boots before entering your home.

Go for a Dunkin’ Donuts run.  Chilly movers will never say no to warm coffee!

Moving in Apartment Buildings

Posted on by olympiamoving

After 20 years of moving in metro areas, our moving crews have a lot of experience moving in and out of apartment buildings.  Unlike a single family home, apartment building management often have rules in place to ensure that moves in and out of the premises are smooth and successful.  Following is a checklist to make sure that you’re cooperating with the management of your new (or soon to be former) home.

  • Talk to your building management.  This is the first step to ensuring you know what needs to be done before your move.  It’s best to check the rules with both your origin and destination apartment buildings even before you call the moving company.  This helps move along the planning of your move.  Ask reception, the sales office, and management company of your building what they need from you and your moving company before move day, as well as any moving advice.  After all, they see residents make moves in their building almost every month, so they’re experts!
  • Make an elevator reservation.  Most buildings require an elevator reservation for moving day.  This gives the building notice to prep an elevator for moving, and ensure that multiple companies are not booked for the elevator at once.  Ask your moving company for the crew’s arrival time well in advance so that you know which time slot to reserve.  Even if you don’t need the elevator for your move, some buildings still require a reservation for the moving company.
  • Get details on the loading dock.  Many buildings in urban areas have a loading dock for moves and deliveries.  Check what size truck will fit in the loading dock and whether you will need a reservation to use it.
  • Check if you need a parking permit.  If you live in an urban area and your building does not have a loading dock, you will likely need a parking permit for the moving truck.  Ask your moving company to obtain one for you (they typically need at least a week’s notice), or learn how to obtain one yourself here.
  • Ask your moving company for a certificate of insurance (COI).  All professional moving companies will be able to provide your building with a certificate of insurance.   This document proves to your building that your moving company is insured, and will be able to pay if any damage to the building were to occur.  Be sure you’re asking your moving company to provide this document at least a few days before the move, since the moving company will need to get the template from the apartment building, request the document from their insurance company, then return it to the building.
  • Give your moving company the access details.  Usually, loading or unloading the truck takes longer in an apartment buildings versus a single family home.  Be sure to tell your moving company which floor you are located on, the distance of the elevator from the loading dock, and the distance of the elevator to your front door.  This will help  your moving company give you a more accurate estimate and prepare the crew on moving day.

Back to School with Olympia Moving & Storage

Posted on by olympiamoving

Olympia helping students move in

Boston and Washington DC are home to some of the most prestigious universities in the country. For many years, Olympia has been a proud service partner for a number of these universities. Whether it’s relocating faculty and professors or moving offices, Olympia appreciates our role in assisting the educational institutions in our markets.

As the fall semester approaches, Olympia is gearing up for another year of moving students into their dorms. Move-in day is exciting and hectic, but Olympia helps to ensure the process goes smoothly. This year we’ll be helping students move in at Northeastern University, Boston College, and numerous others. It will be a big relief for many parents to see an Olympia crew member ready to help them unload when they pull up to their child’s dorm!

Olympia has also worked with College Boxes for the past decade. At the end of every school year, Olympia picks up thousands of student boxes from dorm rooms and keeps them in our storage facilities for the summer. When the students return for the fall semester, they will find their boxes waiting for them in their new dorm room, already delivered by Olympia.

Best of luck to all the Boston and DC area students for a successful fall semester! Study hard!

How to Get a Parking Permit

Posted on by olympiamoving

As a moving company located in the Boston, MA and Washington, DC areas, Olympia does a lot of moves on busy and/or narrow streets without a lot of parking availability. Failure to obtain a required permit can delay the process and add significant cost.

If you live in the cities of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, or Somerville, chances are that you are going to need a parking permit. The same applies if you live in the cities of Washington D.C., Alexandria, or Arlington.

Olympia can arrange for the requisite permits for between $110 and $160 contingent upon the specific city that you live in, OR you can obtain these permits on your own. If you are going to request that Olympia obtain these permits for you, please provide at least one week of lead time. If you plan to obtain the permits on your own, we have provided some useful links below for markets in which Olympia conducts a lot of business:

Massachusetts:
Boston
Cambridge
Brookline

Virginia:
Washington D.C.
Alexandria
Arlington

Floor Planner

Posted on by olympiamoving

Floor PlannerAs indicated throughout the Olympia Site, the success of a move largely hinges upon planning and preparation.  The more prepared that you are for move day, the smoother the relocation process will typically be.

Aside from our Move Planner, we recommend a tool called Floor Planner to prepare for your move.  This tool allows you to design the layout of your new home, create 3-D maps, and play with some different ideas in terms of how and where to position your furniture.  It is very intuitive to use and, most importantly it is FREE!

This tool is also not limited to residential spaces, and can be a great resource in planning out office configurations.

Hoisting and Craning Services

Posted on by olympiamoving

With offices in Boston (MA) and Hyattsville (MD), Olympia Moving has to contend with a lot of tight stairways and small spaces.  The practical reality is that sometimes larger pieces simply will not fit, and therefore hoisting and/or craning is required.

Hoisting and CraningHoisting:  “Hoisting” or “hand-hoisting” is essentially a human crane.  When an item will not fit into a given space, it can be brought in or out through a window or over a balcony.  Typically a minimum of 3 movers is required to safely conduct a hand-hoist.  Two movers will be responsible for raising or lowering the piece, and one mover with a “tether strap” is responsible for safely guiding the piece away from any obstacles. To be clear, this is a delicate procedure that requires significant training and should NEVER be attempted except by a professional mover.

Craning: If a piece is too heavy (a piano) or cannot be safely hoisted, a crane will be used.  Depending upon the access on your street, a permit or police detail is often required.  Special training in prepping and rigging is necessary in order to become proficient in craning pieces of any size.

If you believe that your move requires a hand-hoist or a crane, please notify Olympia’s customer service team as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.