Pack n Send Blog

There are many things to consider when planning your household move. Of course some of these items may also apply to a business move, but in this article we will offer list of items that you need to complete when moving your home. Decide what day you would like to move.  It may be less expensive to hire movers to move you during the week. 

Do you need help packing or unpacking?  Decide this early on so that you can schedule
packers before your move. Let your current utility company know the date that you
would like your service transferred. This will include your cable or satellite provider.  Your cell phone provider may also need to change.

Notify your gas, water, and trash pickup and electricity provider of your impending move.  Internet providers will also need to be notified.  

Set up these services at your new location ahead of time. If you have local phone service you will need to notify them as well. If you have a security system, please notify them about your impending move.  You will also want to set them up at your new location. 

Months before you move, you may want to keep a record of the places where you will need to submit a change of address.  Besides magazines, think Doctors offices, dentists and friends.  Look at your Christmas card list as a starting point for the friends list.

Here are a few other places you may want to notify. Other business you may want to provide with your new address.

CPA or tax preparer, Grammar Schools, High schools or universities you have attended, alumni associations you belong to, lawyers or attorneys, day care providers as well as babysitters, credit card companies and banks. Credit bureaus, car companies for warranties, any warranty companies for warranties you have purchased, DMV-Department of Motor Vehicles.

We recommend the DMV since your yearly car registration will be mailed directly to your home. Also your driver’s license renewal will be mailed to you.

Notify your lawn maintenance company, any health clubs that you belong to.  Change the address on newspaper subscription. If you have a personal card that you hand out at
events, you will need to make up a card with your new address.  If you are moving for a new job, you will also need to make up new business cards. 

Traveling?  You will need new luggage tags.  PTA- parent teacher associations may need to be notified. A veterinarian or pet sitter will need your new address. If you use doggie day care, they will also need your new address. If you are moving to a new area, try and get your vet records and ask them to recommend a veterinarian in your new area.

While this list may not be every place that you will need to notify before you move, it will give you a head start on the notification process.

If you are moving out of town, there are many options available to you. Besides your regular blanket wrap move, you may want to consider   freighting furniture. Why is this a good option you may ask?

If you are a self mover, you can save the expense of renting a truck.  A company can come out,  and pick up your furniture. They can then wrap it, and put it on a pallet for freight shipping. The furniture can then be delivered to your curb in your new city. You can even request inside delivery.

This saves you on loading and unloading your furniture. You can even have your  car or truck
transported to your new city.

If you have questions about furniture freighting, crating or freight shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send in Houston at 713 266
1450.

As gas prices are rising, it is a good idea to look at alternative ways to move homes, offices and various items.

If you plan on moving out of the city and do not have an entire truck load of furniture or boxes, why not look at freighting your furniture?

 While not every company offers this option, it is a sound way to move valuable items.  For a few pieces of furniture, they may be loaded onto a standard size pallet.

 For larger items, look for a company that can build a custom platform and wrap and load your furniture onto the platform. You want to make sure that the company has experience protecting the furniture as they place it on the pallet.  We recommend using non- see through stretch wrap so that no one can see the items that you are shipping.

 The only downside to furniture freighting is that the pallet or platform is delivered to your curbside, and you are responsible for unloading.  Our opinion is that if you are saving money and able to handle the unloading, it is a great alternative.

 Some companies can also offer small load blanket wrap moves, with no minimum amount of weight, furniture or money spent.

 We recommend that you find a company that can offer both options so that you can analyze the best move for your situation.

 For more information about  “ a small move”  please fell free to contact pack n send inHouston at 713 266 1450.

 With larger ships coming into and leaving the Panama Canal, east coast US ports are struggling to improve their shipping capabilities. Ports will need 50 feet of water to navigate when ships are fully loaded.

 Ports like Savannah, New York and Miami are working in expansions so that they can handle new larger ships. Federal monies will be needed to complete these projects. This is at a time when “earmarks” for one state over another is frowned upon.  Widening and deepening ports along the US east coast is good for both jobs and the nation as a whole.

 The government does not anticipate that every east coast port will need to have the deeper depth as well as wider dimensions.

 Any improvements to United States shipping will help the US economy as a whole.  Dredging and widening these ports will also mean more us jobs.

 Pack n send tries to keep our customers informed about freight forwarding from Houston, Cargo shipping from Houston, and shipping and packing from Houston. As we watch the Port of Houston grow and improve, improvements to east coast ports can only help the US economy.

 For information about shipping from Houston, and the Port of Houston, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

When looking for a company to ship your furniture, either domestically or internationally, look for a shipping company that will give you shipping options. Make sure that they can crate your furniture or palletize it and ship it with freight companies. You also want to make sure that they offer an option  of blanket-wrapping domestically so that it can be sent with movers. Check to see if the company you are using has a minimum pound or size limit. You need to look for a company that will let you ship even a single piece of furniture.   

Ask if the company can pack small furniture and send it via UPS, FedEx, or DHL. If you are sending furniture via freight, make sure that the company can  pack the furniture completely and protect  it   on a pallet before freighting it.  

If you need to ship furniture overseas, check and see if the company has the capacity to send the furniture via cubic meters or via containers. See if the company has experience packing the furniture for international shipping. If you have delicate items make sure that the company has expertise in making custom crates with wood that is good for international shipping.

For more information on furniture shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

  Pack n send is reprinting this article from today’s Houston Chronicle. Since this will directly impact both incoming and out going ships, it is important to note that there will be cargo delays at the Port of Houston this week.

 By ZAIN SHAUK
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

A set of barges crashed into an electrical tower Sunday in the Port of Houston, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to shut down most of the nation’s second-largest maritime shipping complex, possibly until Wednesday.

A towing vessel pushing three barges of scrap metal through the Houston Ship Channel about 6 a.m. hit a 300-foot-tall electrical tower, which carries lines across the artery, said Petty Officer Richard Brahm, a spokesman for the Coast Guard. No injuries were reported.

The crash happened at the narrowest point in the waterway, leaving three-fourths of the port’s terminals inaccessible.

“Maybe if it was wider we could have got boats around it, but it’s not, so it’s a logistical problem,” Brahm said. “It’s a bad place for it to happen.”

There was no risk of electricity-related injuries or effects to the power grid, which is owned by Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, because lines in the area were deactivated prior to the crash for maintenance work, said Penny Todd, a spokeswoman for the company.

CenterPoint was in the process Sunday of moving equipment needed to clear the steel tower and cables from the waterway — work the company expects will be completed Wednesday, she said.

The 25-mile-long port complex is a major economic engine for the region and in 2009 handled more waterborne tonnage than any port in the country, according to the Port of Houston Authority.

About 60 ships carrying $322 million in goods and resources — ranging from crude oil to finished products in containers — move through the port each day, said Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

19 miles closed

Items shipped through the Port of Houston move to and from destinations in every state, which could mean delays for companies with vessels in the water.

Those ships will have to drop anchor and wait until the steel electrical tower, which was propped up by the barges after the accident, is removed.

At least eight ships were waiting in an anchoring area outside the port after the crash. Five others were waiting to leave.

The Coast Guard closed 19 miles out of the 54-mile-long ship channel, leaving more than 100 terminals — including those for oil giants Shell and Valero — cut off from the sea.

Further delays possible

The few accessible terminals are mostly for container ships and will not be usable by most companies that would need other infrastructure for loading and unloading or that had planned to arrive at terminals north of the crash site, said Tom Pace, presiding officer of Houston Ship Pilots, a labor association.

Three days of backups could result in further delays, even as traffic begins moving through the port again, Pace said.
“It’s going to take probably three days to get everything back to normal after that,” he said.

Crew members from the towing vessel, the T/V Safety Quest, were removed from the boat and tested for drugs and alcohol.

It was unclear how the accident occurred, but the tower’s location has long been known to ship pilots who work in the port, Pace said.

It was one of six towers in the channel, but was the closest to the preferred waterway for traffic.
“The one problem is the tower’s really close to the navigable channel,” Pace said. “That’s probably one of the reasons it had happened.”

For more information about shipping cargo and freight receiving through the Port of Houston, please contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

 Our services include:

Packing and crating

Domestic and international shipping

Pick up and delivery

Small moves- both local and long distance

Packing and  unpacking

Estate packing

Document shredding

Full value coverage

Choice of delivery method

Freight preparation

Container loading

Freight receiving

Turnkey eBay Service

Pack n send is located at 6214 Beverly Hill Street in Houston Texas.  We are between Fountainview and Hillcroft, at the light at Greenridge. 

We operate an 8400  square foot facility and are open Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 6 p.m. 

Se habla  Espanol. 

Please call us at 713 266 1450.

In the closing days of the 2010 legislative session, Delaware lawmakers took quick action to exempt some mobile two-way radios from a pending law that would have barred their use by motorists.

Legislation signed into law by Gov. Jack Markell on July 6 (HS 1 for HB 229) prohibits Delaware drivers from using hand-held cell phones or other electronic devices to hold conversations, send text-messages or access the Internet. The legislation also outlaws the use of two-way radios in moving vehicles.

Schwartzkopf said that, while police and first responders were excluded from the original ban, he was embarrassed to admit that he forgot transportation workers and others still use the dated, but proven, technology.

Delaware will be breaking new ground when the law is implemented. No other state in the country prohibits motorists from using CB radios installed in their vehicles.

On the issue of hand-held cell phones, the First State will actually be the seventh state to enforce the prohibition on motorists. It’s already illegal for drivers to use the devices in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Oregon, and in Washington, D.C., as it is in the Delaware municipalities of Wilmington and Elsmere. Maryland’s hand-free cell phone law will go into effect on Oct. 1.

Additionally, 25 states have enacted laws prohibiting texting while driving.

Supporters of the Delaware law point to the increased distraction caused by cell phone use and the hazard impaired drivers posed to their fellow motorists and pedestrians.

 “This new law is about improving safety for everyone who shares the road. We hope we can reduce the number of drivers who text and e-mail while driving, and therefore, reduce the number of distraction-related crashes. Just as we’re keeping our focus as a state on creating more jobs, we want drivers keeping their focus on the road,” Markell said.

Violators would not accumulate any points on their licenses. Drivers would be permitted to punch in the phone number or activate the hands-free device, but then cannot have the phone in their hands.

The bill also allows drivers to use a hand-held cell phone to report an accident, fire, reckless driver or another emergency.

Sen. Karen E. Peterson (D-Stanton), who was the primary Senate sponsor of the bill, acknowledged that it was controversial.

The new laws go into effect 180 days from signature – on Jan. 2, 2011.

Portions of the article written by M.  Patricia   Titus,   

Coastal   Point  News have been printed here as a public service.

While pack n send specializes in freight preparation and cargo shipping, we are always looking for ways to keep our customers informed about new laws affecting drivers.

For information about shipping furniture on pallets, please call us at 713 266 1450.

If you would like to save money, why not let pack n send move your furniture via freight?  We load your furniture onto a pallet ship it via freight, and deliver it to your door step.  For one item or more than one item, this is a great option.

There are no dollar amount minimums, or pound minimums.

Whether is an estate that your are dismantling, a student going off to college or a relocation, this is an inexpensive way to move furniture and household items. New job? We can help you're your move easy.  We will set up the delivery with you the day before, so that we make sure you are on hand to see your furniture unloaded.

Corporations find furniture freighting as a very cost effective way to ship.  Documents, office files as well as furniture are a natural for freighting. We also offer overnight shipping of computers so that your office is up and running in a very short time period.

If your furniture is large, small oddly shaped or very heavy, we can pack and ship it professionally so that it arrives in great shape!

We have been packing and shipping since 1981, so please call us with any of your questions. Our staff answers each phone call personally. No answering machines to deal with. You can also email in your request for a quote. We can ship your items either domestically, or internationally. We even prepare all the international documentation.

If you need a high value item crated for your freight move, pack n send is the company to call.

Our phone number is 713 266 1450, and email address is sales@pack-n-send.com

President Obama Pushing For Higher Fuel Standards

US - Much lobbying from  freight trucking interests culminated in a White House meeting on Friday when President Obama signed a presidential memorandum before industry leaders including carriers, engine manufacturers and truck builders, directing the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop national standards for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions for heavy- and medium-duty trucks. The  (ATA), who recommended the benchmarks be adopted in their Sustainability Task Force (STF) recommendation two years ago, was well represented at the ceremony.

ATA Chairman Tommy Hodges, who chaired the STF for three years, said:

"I would like to thank the members of the Task Force, and the ATA Board of Directors, who created the Task Force in 2007. They had great foresight, and they have positioned ATA well to be at the front of the fuel economy issue. They have put ATA on the road to affecting a solution that is beneficial for the environment, the public, and for all of trucking.

"President Obama told us this morning that this could be a model of industry and government cooperation in developing beneficial regulations," Hodges said. "We set out in 2007 to have the trucking industry become leaders on this issue when the EPA would begin to regulate truck fuel economy. Today we reached one of our goals. ATA's members and staff have given the industry an opportunity to have significant input on this issue."

After a meeting with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson he continued:

"She acknowledged that the trucking industry has made huge advances in reducing the emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides from trucks. Unfortunately, some advances have come at the cost of a reduction in fuel economy and a slight increase in carbon dioxide output. Now we have the opportunity to fix that and substantially increase our fuel economy."

The intention of the ATA is to correct what they see as unproductive truck and combination weight categories, standardize the national speed limit at 65 mph, with governors to ensure compliance on trucks, update the interstate highway system and various other measures to make vehicles more productive.

President Obama himself said that products and technologies available today could improve fuel economy by 25 percent and that the new regulations should be completed in 2011 and go into effect starting with model year 2014 equipment. The move is considered an important first step toward a big reduction in emission levels coupled with a countrywide reduction in fuel consumption for trucks shipping freight across the country. This memorandum follows last year's instructions for a similar program for smaller vehicles.

"Instead of fighting higher standards, auto manufacturers are engaged in a race to meet them. And over the next five years, we expect fuel efficiency standards in cars and light trucks to reach an average of 35.5 miles per gallon," he said.

"Today's announcement is an essential part of our energy strategy, but it's not a substitute for other necessary steps to ensure our leadership in a new clean energy economy," he added, reiterating his support for Senators' Lieberman and Kerry's energy and climate change bill.

Pack n send has printed this article taken from Handy Shipping Guide.

Pack n send is constantly looking for ways to improve the environment, and ship our cargo in a safer more efficient way. For  information about out recycling efforts, or freight shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

This network that is being set up to assist in freight shipping will help companies keep freight shipments on time. It also gives driver consistently priced towing services it they have problems with their trucks. Having reliable service when drivers are on the road is a great addition to the freight forwarding and moving industries.

USA - Schneider National has joined a new, national towing group aimed at bringing greater collaboration and fairer pricing to the towing services available to motor carriers. One of the United States largest  truck load providers and a premier supplier of transportation, logistics and inter modal services, Schneider is the biggest member to date to join the towing network.

Starting last month, and with 20,000 members, The Towing Network is a full-service, national heavy-duty towing and road service dispatch organization, providing towing services to motor carriers large and small.

The organization is dedicated to bridging the gap that often exists between towing companies and motor carriers, offering fair and consistent pricing and giving motor carriers a one-call-does-it-all towing solution to meet their needs.

"We are a company made up of towers supporting towers," said the Networks President, Jeff St. Pierre, a member of the towing industry for more than 12 years.

"At the same time, we know that to be successful, towers need to build positive, lasting relationships with customers. We're going to do just that by providing a quality service for a fair price, sharing a like-minded approach to conducting business and promoting a professional image for the towing community."

According to St. Pierre, the Towing Network's rates are established by a board of towing experts with an average of 25 years of towing industry experience. The group's model to make rates more predictable and improve service should provide welcome news to the motor carrier community, as fair and consistent pricing allows motor carriers can better plan for and budget their emergency and breakdown needs.

"Standardizing the quality of service and the rates charged is long overdue in the towing community," said Rob Reich, vice president, Maintenance Operations, Schneider National.

"We applaud the Towing Network for their efforts to raise the bar. Our drivers deserve top-notch service when there's an accident or disabled equipment. The Towing Network allows us to better support drivers when they need it most."

The Towing Network is currently actively looking for partner towing companies with a solid reputation and the ability to serve large motor carrier customers with heavy-duty towing, recovery and road service services.

Pack n send is posting this article from the handy shipping guide. Any services that we can offer drivers are  a plus to our industry.

If you have any questions about freight forwarding, or moving, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

www.pack-n-send.com

Pack n send receives freight for both furniture manufactures and individuals. Trucks pull up to our warehouse, unload and then go on to their next destination.

We receive both pallets and individual pieces of furniture.

All our customer needs to do is give us the delivery address, and we set up the delivery appointment with the final recipient.

We also receive merchandise for local stores and delivery it to their final customers.

Pack n send also freights furniture all over the world. From everything to an individual piece of furniture, to and entire container, pack n send can handle your furniture freighting needs.

For more information, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Pack n send is still waiting for definitive times for airport openings.  As seen by just a few sentences from A Reuters article, governments are working together in order to  open airspace. There has been no word from our freight forwarding partners as to when freight will move on schedule.

Both Fed Ex and UPS are monitoring the situations on an hourly  basis, but have not yet established time timetable when freight will move on schedule.

As soon as pack n send has this information at hand, we will pass it on to our customers.

Part of an article from Reuters follows:

BRUSSELS - European officials carved up the sky Monday, creating three zones to more quickly break the flight  deadlock caused by volcanic ash flowing from Iceland over Europe. Many more flights will be able to take off on Tuesday, the bloc said.

European countries can resume airline traffic in designated "zones" where the threat of ash is considered less dangerous, French officials said after a meeting of the bloc's 27 transport ministers.

Under the accord, one area - defined by the European air traffic control agency Euro control - will remain entirely off limits to flights. Another area will be open to all flights and a third area will be a caution zone in which some flights will be allowed.

If we can answer any questions about Houston packing, Houston freight, or shipping internationally, please feel free to contact us at 713 266 1450.

 A short synopsis of an article published by Ronald D. White

Pack n send is summarizing this article. It  recaps some of the declines in the US economy in the freight industry during 2009.

Luckily, indicators are showing more freight movement and an increase in drivers wages during the first quarter or 2010.

Freight trains carried  20% less cargo in  2009 than in the previous year.

The nations railroads had their worst year in decades in  2009.  This signified  a drop in demand for coal, lumber and other goods.

Freight trains carried 20% less cargo during 2009 than in 2008 according to the Assn of American Railroads.

Probably the most dramatic decline was  33% decline in lumber and wood products carried by train.  This does relate to the decline in new construction during 2009.

Fewer car and auto parts were moved during 2009.

Pack n send has noticed and increase in freight demand during 2010.

For information on freight shipping and packing, please feel free to contact us at 713 266 1450.

This headline form Transport Topics online shows an indication of the inflationary tendencies that the Federal Government is now discussing.

A few fleets are starting to raise driver pay, as freight demand and the need for more drivers increase this spring, reversing the pattern of the past couple of years that kept    wages  steady or reduced them, the National Transportation Institute said.

Pack n send has noticed an increase in factory orders. As these orders are delivered, more freight drivers will be added to fleets.  With higher demand experienced freight drivers will request higher wages.  Freight companies are still very cost conscious. As with the ocean shipments, freight trucks will try and ship only full loads. This will save on fuel costs.

Companies are also watching speed, and fuel efficiency. New wheel covers used to reduce the drag, and thus improve fuel efficiency are being added to many trucks that carry freight.

For more information on your freight,  and shipping needs, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

Pack n send is posting this article that was found in the Handy Shipping Guide.  It emphasizes that nations are now working together in order to protect worldwide freight shipments.

SOMALIA - In a significant development the Chinese have agreed to integrate their anti-piracy patrols off of the Horn of Africa with those of the EU, NATO and the US. Up until now the Chinese had largely limited their operations to protecting their own shipping in the region and this latest move is a major step for international cooperation in combating the menace.

The Chinese will now fully join the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) alliance which defends shipping in a protected route through the waters close to Somalia where attacks are frequent.

The three Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships currently patrolling the area will now coordinate fully with other nation's convoy efforts and the Chinese will take part in the rolling chairmanship of the naval task force.

The new level of consensus is part of a plan agreed last year and a result of an increasing awareness in China of the need for their military to play a greater role in world security issues in order to protect their interests internationally.

The new agreement is also hoped to assuage the concerns of other nations in its own geo-political region, as well as the USA, who for several years have voiced concerns over China's navy turning from a modest ‘white-water', or largely coastal fleet, to one with significant power-projection potential.

It should also help quiet the increasing clamor amongst the Chinese public who become increasingly vocal about their nations need to assert itself more fully on the international scene, especially after the seizure of the bulk vessel De Xin Hai last year by Somali pirates.

Whatever the Geo-political reasons, any agreement that improves security in the waters of Somalia and Yemen will be welcome by those involved in the shipping industry. Last year saw  217 reported incidents and 47 vessels hijacked off of the coast of Somalia.

For help with your international freight or Houston shipping, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

www.pack-n-send.com

As we continue to freight and move small amounts of furniture throughout the country. Pack n sends experience mirrors the trend noted by Edward Glaeser in his New York Times article  on  February 16, 2010. We are seeing more college students move back home after graduation, and  our younger customer moving back at least temporarily with their families.

According to Glaeser, the Current Population Survey, only  four hundred thousand new house hold formed from March 2008 and March 2009.   While there were about a million new families, the number of non family households dropped by  three hundred thousand.

This recession has been particularly hard on younger workers.  The number of jobs held by 20- to 24-year-olds declined four point five per cent in 2009, while the number of jobs held by people over the age of 25 dropped 1.8 percent.   Staying at home is an understandable response from younger workers to the labor market woes.   The rate of household formation also fell during the 1982 recession and the Great Depression.

For more information on moving small amounts of furniture though out the country or worldwide, please feel free to contact pack n send at 713 266 1450.

We are posting excerpts from this article found on handy shipping guide.  It shows our industry's concern with both business and a cleaner environment.

US - The American Trucking Assn. (ATA) praised the leadership of the Port Authority of NY and NJ for developing a Clean Trucks Program designed to improve air quality at the port.

As from 1st January next year pre-1994 model trucks will no longer be able to call on Port Authority terminals; and on January 1, 2017, all trucks hauling freight from the port must meet or exceed 2007 federal emissions standards. This gives sufficient time for trucking firms to wind down their assets, and to assist with replacement vehicles.

The Port Authority designed a $28 million program to help companies and drivers transition into cleaner vehicles. Drivers that regularly call on the Port's marine terminals are eligible for assistance. While NY/NJ moves toward full program implementation, ATA urges port officials to continue evaluating freight volume movements and projections to insure that sufficient operational revenues are indeed available to cover the new truck purchase obligations that now will be generated by the Clean Truck plan.

 While fully supportive of the clean air goals, the drayage industry is in a particularly vulnerable position that may counsel for a go-slow approach until the economic climate improves."

Hopefully the changes, which all consider an essential step forward, given evidence of the harm to the health of the poorer communities who reside dockside, will proceed as scheduled. 

For more information on going green and pack n send recycling efforts, please feel free to call us at 713 266 1450.

www.pack-n-send.com

With this announcement by the Crowne Plaza Houston, we are busy preparing for the rodeo.

With your belly more than satisfied, prepare for three weeks of world-class rodeo entertainment. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs from March 2-21, 2010 and hosts all the most popular events: bull riding, bareback bronc riding, saddle broncriding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, roping and more.  

Even if traditional rodeo sports aren't for you, the excitement keeps on coming. There's plenty of fun for the whole family with dazzling performances, a multitude of wine events, a full-sized Carnival terrific shopping booths and fun activities just for the kids.

Our out of town guests ask us to pick up their purchases both at rodeo venues as well as from Houston hotels.  We can pick up and ship all your purchases.

Please call us at 713 266 1450 for all your rodeo shipping needs.

www.pack-n-send.com