The last weekend of June is typically the busiest moving weekend of the year, but don’t take our word for it.
More than 6,200 moves were completed on the last weekend of June in 2019, by far the most of any weekend throughout the year, according to the moving company Two Men and a Truck.
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Ted Gryska, a franchisee for Two Men and a Truck, who is based in Houston, said there is a myriad of reasons why -- whether it’s the fact that leases are up at the end of the month, families want to get into new homes before the school year and because it’s the busiest time of year for real estate in general.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many people still might be moving this weekend, not to mention for the duration of the summer.
Gryska offered these three tips for people in need of moving help as the pandemic continues.
Prepare for virtual estimates instead of in-home ones.
Typically, moving companies visit a home beforehand to check out how much stuff a house has and which rooms items need to be moved out of, and thus, how much the move will cost. With the virus, in-home visits have been mostly replaced by virtual estimate sessions, so it’s important for people to give good video tours of their homes via FaceTime or other apps.
The challenge can be increased when seniors who aren’t as comfortable with technology are forced to do virtual estimates.
“With the virtuals, you just have to ask more questions,” Gryska said. “Just making sure we are able to communicate and we are able to protect stuff when it comes time to start moving it.”
Heighten cleaning procedures for high-touch surfaces.
High-touch items in a house or on trucks such as railings, handles or other items that will likely see a lot of fingerprints and handprints need to have extra cleaning done, for the safety of the movers and customers.
“We certainly doing our part to make sure our dolleys, any handles on our trucks or any other high-touch surfaces, we are cleaning it,” Gryska said.
Have an excess of cleaning supplies around at all times.
Don’t pack away soap, wipes or other cleaning supplies, because they will come in handy for moving crews and customers.
Gryska said his trucks are being disinfected every day and there are seemingly boxes of masks and gloves being utilized by his crew members.
Customers having cleaning supplies within constant reach only helps with the effort to make it as safe and clean of a move as possible.
“We’re just trying to be mindful on both ends,” Gryska said. “We are going under the assumption that we need to be proactive.”