Do You Buy Meat By The Cube Foot...... No !

Sometimes, people in the moving or shipping industry, use a term of measurement, that for whatever, reason,

they never seem to ever define.   Does anyone know the definition of a cube, is?   The simple answer is no.  There

is no such thing, unless you are referring to some sort of object…..

The cubic foot, is a standard of measurement, often used in air shipments, ocean shipments and as a means of

alternative calculations for weight.   It has to do with density.  Still confused, me too….

Here is some truth to add to this discussion.  Movers have used cubic footage pre set measurements, for quite a

long time to actually measure a potential customer’s goods so that they can give an estimate to someone who is

moving….allow me to shed some light to this matter

Mover have used a cube sheet, which lists furniture items, organized into small groups by room designations:

…a dining table is listed among the dining room options, and chairs, with or without arms, and china cabinets

are also on this list…..and any other items that relate to a dining room.  Likewise, in the bedroom sections of the

movers cube sheet, there are items like beds of different sizes, dressers, mirrors, nightstands, etc.

Movers have agreed, that each items has a preset designation of cubic footage next to it: like a dresser would be

30 cube or 40 cube, and a nightstand would be 15 cube, for example.   When the mover gets through walking through

the home, asking if this item is going or not going, he is checking to include or exclude a particular item, and at the end

of the process, he or she will add up the cubic footage, cumulatively, and then use a weight factor to multiply against

the cubic footage count.  

For example, if you have 800 cubic feet on your load or move, movers generally use a factor of 7 pounds per cubic foot,

so in this case, the move is estimated at 5600 pounds.   This is the secret to how movers estimate your home, for cost

purposes, as when the mover comes for this kind of (long distance) move, the mover will weigh his truck prior to the move

for the empty weight, and after the shipment is loaded, the mover gets another weight (heavy) and the difference is the

total weight of the shipment that is being moved.

The problems do come as a result of customers not getting rid of things, finding more items to move than they told the estimator

about, of maybe the estimate was off, as this is possible, but the larger the shipment, the less this does happen provided that

conditions have stayed the same.

The real issue with cubic footage, is that no one understands how to measure it, as the moving or shipping van, counts from floor

of the van to the ceiling, so when a “mover” tries to sell you space on a cubic footage basis, more often than not, if you as the customer

have to load the shipment, you will end up with more cubic footage, as it is hard for the consumer to know how to load a truck like

a professional does.   The customer ends up, usually, looking for a bargain and he or she gets just the opposite.

Movers, professional movers, have cubic footage measurements, like a ruler, that run across the length of the trailer so they can,

at a glimpse, see how the shipment looks, packed in the truck, as if the shipment is scheduled for say, 300 cubic feet or 2100

pounds (7 lbs per cubic foot, general rule).   If the shipment takes more than 300 cubic feet, then something is amiss.

But generally, charging for domestic transportation by selling it on a cube basis, is nothing more than a trick as the only way

you can get a good pricing result is if you have good density, like just boxes of bricks, they are small and weigh a lot and if stacked

floor to ceiling, that shipment will take less space than one that does not have that density nor the ability to stack furniture safely,

floor to ceiling.   This is what the movers, in my opinion, do wrong, they do not stress that professionals, can save the customer

not only money, but a lot of heartache in the moving process.

O’h yea, cube = Length x Width x Height…….divided by 1728 (which is the number of cubic inches in a cubic foot)…

we have a table that is 72 inches long and 48 inches wide, and 36 inches tall, you would do it this way: 72x48x36 divided by 1728

equals 72 cubic feet……I just hope most of you are not sorry you asked this question………

Mark S. Frydman

Box Brothers Corp.

1-800-842-6937

www.boxbros.com

 http://boxbros.com/services/#

This Horse Is Not Going To The UK.

As the President of Box Brothers, I oversee quite a few operations that focus both on the provision

of services to our customers, from both our retail outlets, and our crating and shipping warehouses.

As we have grown from our humble beginnings, we have been fortunate enough to have retained

some very key people (I do not think the word employee is sufficient to explain their true value here)

that make up the Box Brothers Family, as we like to refer to it, as these are the people who have always

treated customers and their possessions, as if they were part of their own family treasures.

I have often commented upon the fact that it would be easy in this business—the business of helping all kinds

of customers move their goods, possessions, investments, and family heirlooms—to say that we have facilitated a move

from one place to another, but it is more than that.   After more than 25 years of Box Brothers helping families come together

for good and bad reasons, to help kids get to college, to help those with the task of distributing estates, to the sending of prizes from

contests, to auction purchases and the even the sending of perishable items like breast milk, we have come to realize

that this is not just moving, or shipping, or even packaging, it is the movement of life and a very important journey for

those who undertake it.    And we at Box Brothers, feel this is an honor that has been bestowed on us by them.

So our duty, and we define it as such, is to provide the very best we can and we do this by acting and treating all items

we touch and handle, as if they were our own.   We double check, triple check, and we never cheat on materials, on labor

or on how we approach the safe transport of whatever item needs to be moved.   Why, elevate the status of service, when

no one even expects good service anymore?  Cause that is our duty to our customers, and I challenge anyone in this business

to have such a solid and great record, both in brick and mortar (on the street) and on the net.

I find this truly remarkable, as none of our so called competitors, have our record of safety, taking care of their customers,

and making sure that they received not only our best effort, but a great result each and every time.

I invite any and all of you to see some of how our family packages items that are large, heavy, high value and difficult in

terms of size, weight and density, such as statues, silver settings, and an architectural model for one of the largest

commercial developments the Western United States has seen in a number of years, the Las Vegas City Center.

But so we are clear and unequivocal, each and every customer we work with gets our best, and our records, reviews and

customer testimony, make this abundantly clear.  

Please enjoy these pictures and know that they come from retail stores, in Los Angeles, our packaging warehouse and

ship centers in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Northern California, and Seattle.   From our family to yours.

Another Way to Save on Your Long Distance Move/Shipment

People have many reasons for moving or shipping goods from one area of the country to another

area….jobs, schooling, family reasons, economic reasons, retirement are just a few of the reasons

people move great distances.

However, many people in this group, think there are only two options for getting their possessions across

the country.   A professional mover, or you can do it yourself in a rented truck.

Of course, this is a simplistic description, but all too valid.   In my company’s case, we provide a shipping service for

household goods and personal possessions, that allows the consumer to opt for any number of savings over the

traditional services of a full service mover.

For example, one of our benefits, is that we give our customers an option for both pick up service and delivery service

of our loads.  We can save the consumer money on the pick up, if the consumer brings the goods to one of our service

centers, as that allows us to pass on the savings we obtain by not having to use labor, fuel, a truck and other costs

incumbent on pick up the goods to be shipped.   By helping yourself out on the pick up or origin services, you might be

able to realize from 10 to 20% savings of your entire shipment cost.

Likewise, we offer another money saving option for our deliveries.   If you can bring the shipment into your own storage

unit or into your own garage or home, we can also save you up to 15% of the shipment cost by bringing the goods in from

the street, into your home or unit.

In these difficult economic times, you have to look harder for money saving options, but if you want them, we have them at

Box Brothers .   The Leaders Interstate Shipping, for over 28 years

Charging Moving Customers by Cubic Feet: Trick or Treat?

I recall a few years ago, Box Brothers had a few competitors who used to sell shipping and moving
services by charging customers by cubic foot rates, only.  

At first, it seemed on first glance, that these firms, seemed to offer the public lower shipping quotes
based on charging purely on the total cubic feet, that their shipment or goods, amounted to.   Sounds
fair, right?  Pay only for what you have and are shipping?...Right, by the way, what is a cube?  How
is a cube measured and charged for, anyway?   Are their cubic yardsticks or cubic measuring tapes, or
how amount a scale that measure cubic feet?

It was a blatant and rude trick to screw the customer, plain and simple, as when people speak about
cubic feet, it is not, however, an irrelevant measurement in terms of how your move or shipment is costed or charged for, by"professional movers" and that is the key.

The truth is that professional movers use per set cubic foot designations to estimate moves all the time, but the difference is that once the total cubic feet of a particular shipment or move is tabulated, it is then converted into pounds at standard conversion rates.   Today that conversion is like this: total cubic feet
times (x) 7 lbs per cubic foot.   The movers use a standard cube sheet that most movers use; they should not
differ from mover to mover, and as noted earlier, if you have greater density in your shipment (e.g. an all box shipment, no furniture or bulky articles), you can adjust to a higher factor (using a higher conversion rate.
Allow me to explain.

If you had 20 medium or 3.0 cartons, or 60 cubic feet, plus 50 book boxes (50 x 1.5 cubic feet per book box), you would have another 75 cubic feet.   If you had 20 more 4.5 or large boxes, you would have another 90 cubic feet.  Together we have, in this example, we have 225 cubic feet.   If you multiplied the cubic feet time the conversion rate, 7 lbs per cubic foot, on average, you would get 1575 pounds, but if you
used the lower dim rate factor, due to the higher density of your shipment, you would do this as follows:
225 cubic feet x 6 lbs per cubic foot, that you would have 1350 lbs.

Here is the rub; movers pack their trucks from floor to ceiling, using all available space they can, as they get
paid on the total weight they haul and handle.  The better that they use their space (their trailer), the more income they can make doing the same runs.

In the case of movers who only charge by cube, they often do not pack up to the ceiling and when you calculate total cubic feet used, they could all space whether you use it or not.   It is just a trick to get you
to think their price is less, but if this were true, why would they not just offer you the lower of the two calculated costs: weight or cube, whichever is lower--but they don't, as their intent is to take advantage
of what the customer does not know.   To say this is wrong, is being nice, as these carriers intent is clear,
and it is not to give the customer the benefit of any lower price, but to increase the cost to the customer
based on a phony ploy.

I wanted to bring this subject up, as we are starting to see this means of cheating the customer coming back
to the market again.   I have no idea why, except that all the leaders of the moving industry would rather
just talk about rogue movers than do anything about them, as they are all operating in the open, with no fear
of repercussions.   To me, this purely and clearly suggests that whoever's job it is to regulate this industry, they are not doing it.

My suggestion is to find out the facts when you move; do your homework, your due diligence and make
sure you have an understanding of the costs and terms involved, as a little bit of knowledge goes a long way
in making sure you choose the right vendor and not the best price (initially) for your relocation.

Stop The Illegal Operators And The Perpetrators Of Fraud

First the regulatory efforts.   Next.   Neither the industry itself, or the organizations that lead the
industry's efforts, have the dedication, commitment or desire to stop the thieves from taking the
innocent customers away from the legitimate operators in this field.

If they really wanted to stop the illegal operators and the perpetrators of fraud in this industry,
then set up stings with movers help to catch and prosecute them, seize their assets, and publicize
it, so that the word gets out.

I really do not understand why the industry does not see or feel the need to police itself so that
moving can be a true profession with standards and best industry practices for the mutual benefit
of its customers, its own employees and the moving business itself.   You would have to ask the
Board of Directors of the American Moving and Storage Association, as all the van line heads sit
on this board.

One possible explanation today, is that the van lines, have no capacity to even handle what they
have with the illegal and fraudulent operators taking share, as they do not seem to care what
happens to the customers they do not service.   I say this because all these "leaders" do is talk
and sit at their desks, and nothing changes.   Suffice to say, that if anyone wanted to find illegal
or fraudulent operators, all they have to do is work with the authorities (enforcement and prosecution
together) and go on the Internet and find them, book the moves and when they try to scam the customer,
arrest them and film it, publicize it, and do it in the biggest cities on the same day.   Put it on the nightly
national news.  If they want to eliminate the problem, they can.

As I alluded to earlier, the van lines this year have had capacity issues and I do not need to review the effects
this housing slump has had on mover, Realtors, escrow officers, lenders, brokers, etc.   The result has been
that van lines have embargoed their agents from booking more jobs, sending customers in all directions,
other than standard moving services.   I understand U haul is up this year, 5%.  I am sure the van lines
will do the same, but this year, there have been joint efforts to push more moving freight into the freight
or general trucking industry.

My firm, Box Brothers has been using general freight to move household goods shipments to customers
for over 25 years.   While we have become the moving industry's best kept secret, it has been fun to
watch how ridiculous this played out when movers simply thought they could put sofas, dressers, customer packed boxes, loose and inadequately packed, into the freight system.   All those decision makers who did not get out of their chairs to ever go see how the freight industry breaks bulk, or how the freight industry
loads and unload and segregates freight.   Who could not see this train wreck coming, can only be someone
who needs glasses or a brain transplant.

In doing freight, you have to protect what you ship and household goods are bulky, easily damaged.

Snowflakes And Moving, No Two Are The Same !!!!

I have been in the transportation (Moving) business for about three decades and what always impressed
me about Professional Moving Services was that they were always based on matching the needs of the customer with the capability of the mover and his equipment.

For example, in moving interstate, all professional movers or the legitimate ones, all charge by actual
weight.   So if a mover comes to your home and does a survey of what is actually moving from the old
location to the new location, he or she can offer a price based on the weight of what is actually moving.
Not for more or less, but based on the items that are moving.   The mover is to get a "light weight" or a weight of his van before he loads your shipment, then after the shipment is loaded, the mover returns to the public scale site to get a "heavy" weight afterwards.   The difference between the two is the actual weight
of your shipment.

Likewise, when the moving firm arranges for the actual mover to show up to do your move to another state, the carrier matches the space in the van with the load that is being picked up, as usually, a mover van or trailer accommodates multiple loads going to the same general area.  So, in essence, if the estimate is correct and the mover has the right amount of space, the system not only works well, but the overall service the customer receives is generally, very, very good.

Why, cause the interstate mover, is his/her own businessman, who owns the truck, employs the help and the mover receives the highest portion of the moving cost, as he is the one doing the move.   If he has a claim, it comes out of his pocket and his earnings, dollar for dollar, up to a certain amount.  What better incentive
could there be for the customer?

The problem with less than adequate service, or a poor move,  is usually, ask me, that a lot of customers tend to confuse purchasing a product vs a service.   Or put another way, a low price may have to do more
with getting a bargain, that does not always materialize into a good deal--sometimes you get what you pay for.

This entire discussion then, leads to the question of why are so many moving customers desiring to move
in a 20 foot container like those being rented to customers by both container firms and movers alike?  For the life of me, I simply do not understand why any person would want to take their own liability for moving
when they do not have to.   When you do it yourself, who else can you blame when something goes wrong?

I know, I know, movers are not that smart and if they can do it, so can I.....goes the mantra.  But this is not
even a fair or intelligent fight.   To move with a container and do it yourself, simply costs as much as having a mover do the whole thing for you.  Yes, it does. 

Just like moving today with a rented truck and you are going over 1000 miles away.   Anyone see the price
of fuel and how many miles per gallon trucks get, especially those in a rental fleet?   I still cannot figure out this "new new math" as I am old enough to have learned the "new math" but I cannot figure out why anyone
would want to move themselves, take full liability on themselves and the risk of injury to themselves, NOT TO OBTAIN ANY SAVINGS.   Besides, there is no one I know that can do a move better than some of the interstate owner operators I have seen in my life.

The older I get, the less things in life make sense to me.  For example, today, there are firms that want you
to rent plastic bins to move with, instead of using cardboard boxes.   Their proponents argue that this is a
"more green approach" to moving......cause you return the bins after you use them....so they are greener than
boxes made of 50% recycled cardboard and paper........and that you only need 20 bins, instead of 60 cardboard boxes.....(get this).....cause you can reuse the bins......lets just think this out.

Say you are moving 10 miles away to your new place and you have a economy car like a Chevy or a Ford
and you pack up 5 bins.   Then you have to carry those bins to your car, and load them into your car, drive
them over there (20 miles total) bring each bin up to the new place and then unpack them, and then load
them back into the car and do it again 5 or 6 times.   How long will this take to move this way and is this not harder on the customer to shlep these containers back and forth and do all the work, not to save any money?  

Please tell me so I can understand this logic as it makes no sense to me and I suggest that every person
who is moving should ask the right questions as none of these modern ways to move are less expensive
or are advantageous to the customer, ask me.

College Shipping-Getting Home For Summer

At this time of year, colleges will be freeing their student captives......as in the next 6 weeks, virtually all college campuses will conclude their spring semesters and summer begins--for college students, anyway.

For many students, the need to move or ship their clothes, their books and papers, and their household
items, is clear enough.   In California, for example, some of the University of California campuses have
upwards of 30,000 students (i.e. Cal Berkeley and UCLA) who generally leave campus for the summer.

At Box Brothers, we have been helping students get their items home or to their new homes, if graduating,
and the size of most of these moves or shipments are not big by normal moving standards, as few if any
students have time or the need to accumulate a lot of possessions while in school.

But having some idea how to get this done is important, as a lot of effort and expense can be
unnecessarily if you do not have some guidelines to go by.

First, we suggest you get the proper moving boxes to pack your items, no matter if you store them (e.g. mini storage), ship them via a package carrier (e.g UPS or Fedex) or hire a professional shipper or mover to
assist in this effort.

The general rule is that heavier objects, like books or tools, go into smaller boxes, or book boxes, as they
are called in the moving business.   If you had a large TV type box and filled it with books, you might need
only one, but who is going to lift it, and it will cause damage in transit if the box tips and it is too heavy.
Besides, filling a book box with books or papers will already, on average, weight about 50 lbs.

Always fill the box to the top as boxes are stacked in storage and in transit, so if they are not packed full,
they will crush and cause damage to the contents.   Tape all sides and seams--with good tape as you do not
want the tape to open in transit or in a hot storage unit--so that no bugs or water can easily penetrate the
cardboard.  Label the boxes with more than books, as if the box is heavy, also note that the box is heavy so
no one gets hurt lifting them.   This also tells the shipper, if they look at all (package shippers are notorious for ignoring fragile stickers on the outside of boxes) that these heavier boxes need to be on the bottom of the stack so there is no pressure on the bottom box.

For clothes, since they compress and are light, you can use larger boxes, same with linens and towels,
but you may want to use some of the towels to cushion your boxes with breakables, if you choose not to
purchase bubble wrap paper for protection.   This is not a bad way to save some money, but be careful to
really protect your breakables, as normally, if you pack the box, and the contents arrive broken, the carrier
will claim they are not responsible cause they did not pack it, you did.

If you want insurance protection, you have to let the shipper pack the items, as this is the same rule all movers have, packed by owner boxes (PBO) are not covered unless there is evidence of mishandling by
the carrier, which is hard to prove.

Once you have all goods packaged, you can then compare some prices and different ways to moving
these items.

Or you can just call Box Brothers and we will assist you in the procurement of the proper supplies, boxes or you can simply use us for packing advice, as we have stores staffed 7 days a week for your convenience and we even offer on site pick up at any college, packaging services, and a multitude of shipping options
for whatever your needs might be.

This is a service we have provided to college students for over 2 decades now, and we are happy to answer
any questions you may have that relate to packing materials costs, packaging costs, insurance, storage
and shipping services.   Whatever your budget, we can help.  Visit boxbros.com for more information and congratulations on finishing another school year.

Used Moving Boxes - A Health Hazard

Check out our new article about the hazards of used moving boxes. This is very useful information to someone who is moving or about to move, and is exploring the various moving box options.

Ever have a customer ask you if we carry used moving boxes? Maybe refer them to this article!

http://blog.boxbros.com/hazards-of-used-boxes/

CMSA Communicator on Line

The July issue of The Communicator is ready for viewing. Click on the link below to access. http://members.thecmsa.org/communicator/2010/1007-CMSA-Communicator.pdf