It is common for people to experience moving pitfalls throughout their moving process if they are not prepared. A “pitfall” is a hidden or not easily recognized danger or difficulty. At Heritage Moving & Storage, Inc., it is important to us to help our Roanoke, Salem, Vinton, Smith Mountain Lake, Botetourt County, and Blacksburg customers avoid common moving pitfalls. Here is the next moving pitfall we are revealing:

Pitfall 5: Not thinking through your moving logistics.

1. Parking and access are logistical issues that many people fail to think through. If you’re moving out of or into an urban area or city, you need to make sure that your movers can get the truck to the home. This may mean reserving parking spaces. If you’re moving out of or into a home on an upper floor, you may need to reserve the building’s elevator. We always prefer to have exclusive use of the elevator. Sharing with another mover and/or other residents of the building can cause significant delays. You may also need to reserve the building’s loading dock. Be sure to discuss these issues with your building manager(s).

2. If you’re moving out of or into a home with a steep driveway, it’s important to think through whether or not the truck will be able to make it up the driveway. In the mountains around the greater Roanoke area, many driveways are too steep to get even a small truck up to the home. Sometimes we need to use a smaller vehicle as a shuttle to complete the move.

3. Think through any out-of-the-ordinary or bulky items you need moved, and be sure to communicate this to your movers. We need professionals to disassemble items like pool tables, baby grand pianos, certain types of tools, and other items. If you don’t tell us about these types of items, we are not prepared, and this can cause major delays in your move.

4. If we are moving your refrigerator that is connected to a water supply, be sure that you know exactly how to turn off that water supply before your movers arrive. Sometimes these types of turnoffs are located in very inconspicuous locations, and not knowing where they are can cause moving delays.

It’s important for the customer to think through these issues so that the movers are prepared and the move can be carried out in a timely manner.