Saturday, June 9, 2007

C-Ville Weekly, ABODE, June 2007

Move it!
How to survive the prime season for moving

Have you heard of the fashionable new workout, the one where you drop unwanted pounds by lifting heavy cardboard boxes in the sweltering heat from one location to another? That would be “moving day.” The summer months—May through September—are typically the time when most people move.

Paul Breaud, vice president of Student Services Moving in Charlottesville, knows how hectic this time of year is. “I’ve been on the phone since 6:30 this morning doing nothing but scheduling last minute student moves,” Breaud said recently. “I go form running three trucks a day during the school year to running as many as ten trucks a day during the summer.”

The laws of supply and demand suggest that prices should go up when fewer trucks are available. But Breaud says his company doesn’t have a seasonal rate. Year round, you can get four guys for less than $135 per hour.

U-Haul doesn’t have seasonal rates either. Rather, they factor in several variables to calculate the cost of a move, including equipment size, point of origin, destination, and the date of your move, says Joanne Fried, spokesperson for U-Haul International.

No matter who you choose to move your boxes of tchotchkes, if you need a truck on a specific date, call at least a month in advance. And the consensus is, if you are moving in the hot weather, drink lots of Gatorade.

“Make sure everything is packed and ready to go. Make sure you have plenty of liquids for the guys. It’s a hot time of year,” Breaud says.—J.P.

Source: June 2007, C-Ville Weekly, ABODE Supplement

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