When hiring a professional moving company you should expect your movers to be outfitted with the proper equipment . After all, this is part of the reason you hired a professional moving company! Movers that do not have items such as hand dollies, floor dollies, floor runners, furniture pads, furniture wrap, etc face a greater chance of damaging either your belongings or your new home. Not to mention the extra hours of labor and unnecessary effort involved in hand-carrying every item into and out of the moving truck. In this article we will discuss the equipment any reputable and licensed moving company should be outfitted with as well as their general uses.
Hand Dolly/Hand Truck
A hand dolly is the most common item to use when moving. A hand dolly is a long metal frame with handlebars on top and wheels attached at the bottom along with a flat metal section. This allows you to get under items, tip them back onto wheels, utilizing leverage and reducing perceived weight, and move items with much less effort. Movers equipped with hand dollies will be able to complete your move at a much faster rate and with much less demand to their bodies. Unfortunately not all items can be moved with a dolly. Items such as oblong or uniquely shaped furniture, fragile items, or especially wide pieces may not be able to be successfully moved with a hand dolly, luckily there are other options.
Floor Dolly
A floor dolly is four pieces of wood put together to form a square with wheels attached on the bottom. Floor dollies allow you to tip back items with a flat and steady surface and place it under. This puts the items on wheels, requiring only forward momentum and navigation in order to transport it to the trailer. Floor dollies are especially useful to get items around tight corners as the turn radius and control are much better than a hand dolly. Our movers prefer using a floor dolly whenever possible as it is the least physically demanding method of moving large or heavy items. Unfortunately floor dollies cannot be utilized on moves that stairs are present.
Floor runners/protectors
A floor runner is a long, approximately 2ft wide rubber carpet used to place down on floors or surfaces that the movers will be traveling on when loading and unloading items. Floor runners ensure any wood, marble, or other floors will stay scratch and mark free throughout the duration of your move.
Furniture pads/Furniture wrap
Furniture pads are large thick blankets used to cover any furniture items to prevent damages, scuffs, and marks to items during the moving process. Furniture wrap is used to wrap on and around furniture items with a pad around it to keep the pad in place and to keep any drawers closed while transporting the item. In combination with either a hand dolly, floor dolly, or floor runners, furniture pads will ensure all your furniture items, floors, walls, and entryways are properly protected and have a much lower chance of incurring damages.