Shipping furniture across country via freight can be a little more complicated than some would like to think. Whether it's moving it within the city or across country, it can still be daunting. There are some tips that can help make this task a little easier to handle.
Do Your Research
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One of the most important tips... do your research first. Finding the right shipping company that can ship via freight for your shipping needs is of the utmost importance. You want a company that's reliable. You want to find a company that's within the price range you've set for yourself.
Take Inventory/Inspect Furniture
2. Make sure you have a list of things that are being shipped. This will help remember exactly what was shipped if everything isn't being shipped. If you hire a professional freight preparation company to pack for you, the company picking up your items should prepare a list of the items that are being picked up.
3. While making your list, thoroughly look over furniture. Make note of any dents, marks or anything that stands out; you can also take pictures. This will allow you to remember any marks or damages that were on the furniture before the shipping occurred.
Get Your Furniture Ready For Freight Shipping
Next you want to get your furniture ready. Depending on what you're shipping there may be quite a bit for you to prepare if you are packing the freight on your own. Here are some of the general things that may need to be done:
4. Remove any feet and/or fragile pieces
5. Dismantle furniture if possible.
6. Wrap the furniture up: you can use Styrofoam sheets, shrink wrap, bubble wrap or moving blankets.
7. Put the furniture in a wooden shipping box or thick corrugated cardboard box. Plan on adding 5"-8" of packing materials. Add one by fours to the outside of a pallet to prevent moving during freight shipping.
8. Cushion the furniture. Cardboard and 1 inch Styrofoam are good for some items. You may need to block and brace certain items to prevent them from moving. Styrofoam sheets also will help when cushioning some items.
Of course, if you decide to have a professional shipping company do all of this work for you; you can make one call and ask them to do all of this work for you. Since they are the packing and shipping experts, they will be able to professionally pack all of your items.
Photo By: Elissa Merola
9.When packing, place the heavier furniture in first and on the bottom. You may want to turn tables upside down when loading them onto a pallet. This allows you to be able to stack smaller items on top of the large furniture. If you're going to stack items on the furniture make sure you cover the furniture with moving blankets or pads so the furniture is still protected from any damage that could possibly happen during shipping
10..Professional movers will use sheets of cardboard, Styrofoam sheets or bubble wrap, depending on the item that they are loading onto a pallet. It is also reoommended that you use one by fours on the outside of the pallet to prevent your items from moving during freight shipping.
Shipping furniture across country doesn't have to be a headache. If the above tools and tips are followed you should have an easy time preparing your furniture for shipping. Shipping furniture across country is something that's doable and easy to prepare for.
Should your move take you internationally or overseas, there are a unique set of factors to take into consideration, read on the differences between international shipping and domestic shipping.
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