7 Ways Movers Waste Time
1) Having one mover stay in the truck and never leave it.
On jobs with 3 men or more, many companies will have 1 guy remain in the truck the entire time. They will tell the client they are loading the truck. That is true, they are loading the truck, but they have the ability to also help wrap furniture and bring it to the truck in between loading the truck.
Unless there is a crew of 5+ people, the “loader” doesn’t need to remain in the truck because items are coming in fast enough to keep them from having down time.
Our owner, Jon, typically will load the truck when he’s on a moving job, and he is constantly coming in and out of the truck, bringing more items and wrapping furniture. There is no need to stand around in the truck, killing time.
2) Getting “lost” as they drive from point A to point B
With the reality of smartphones and GPS, this one really shouldn’t be on the list anymore, but it still is.
Despite the odds, some moving companies manage to consistently make a 10 minute drive take 30 minutes or more – amazing!
Even though you were making the same drive and they were supposed to be following you, they were able to get lost and add 20 minutes to your bill – fun!
3) Taking longer than necessary to take apart and reassemble furniture
This actually is a tricky one because some furniture does take a long time to take apart and reassemble. However, if you are paying movers by the hour, they can do things to extend the time it takes.
One option is to not have power tools, so they use screwdrivers to undo screws instead of a much faster drill.
Maybe they have multiple people “working” on taking apart a bed or table. From my experience, there are almost zero pieces of furniture that require 2 people to take apart, and with the rare pieces that do need 2 people, it is typically for 2 minutes or less, and the rest can be done by a single person.
For example, maybe 2 movers need to flip a table upside down, and then 1 mover could take it apart. In that case, it’s easy for 2 movers to flip the table upside down and then both “work together” to take the table legs off.
It may not seem like a huge delay, but that will be around 5 minutes where 1 movers is really not being helpful, and then it will be another 5 minutes when they reassemble the table together at the destination.
4) Walking around empty handed.
This is the most visible of the tactics that we’ve explored so far. If you are in the “loading” portion of your move, there is literally ZERO reason a mover needs to walk empty-handed to the truck.
Sure, they may need blankets or tools that are in the truck, but there are many items that need to be brought to the truck, so there is ALWAYS something that they can carry on their own.
If you see a mover walking around with nothing in their hands, likely they are very inexperienced and aren’t even aware of the huge amount of time they are wasting, OR, they are experienced and know exactly what they are doing. Either way, not good.
5) Stopping working while talking
Some people are really bad at talking and working at the same time, I get it. But others are aware that talking is a way to disguise the reality that they aren’t working and it’s a calculated way to be unproductive and cause the move to last longer.
Obviously, there needs to be a certain level of communication between the movers and the customers, but if you find that the movers are continually initiating conversations that you aren’t interested in, and completely stop doing anything while they are talking, then it’s a real problem.
6) Taking really small loads in or out of the truck.
This could be only taking 1 hand full of loose items, or moving very small dolly loads, even though the boxes aren’t very heavy.
7) Slowing down dramatically as the day goes on
It sounds simple enough, but it’s very effective. In the course of a day, the pace of movers is quite likely to slow down a bit. However, there should not be a HUGE difference in their speed at 5pm vs. 9am. A little, yes, but nothing like a 25% or more decrease.
If you notice during your local move that the crew is much slower to unload the truck than load it, that is because they are taking their time to extend the workday.
In almost every move, the unloading portion should be the quicker portion of the move.
If you move is taking far longer to unload, you may want to take a look at the truck and see if guys are standing around, or just chatting out of your line of vision.
Recap
There are lots of ways movers waste time, and if you hire a company that charges by the hour, it’s good for you to be aware of these tactics so you can guard against them.
However, if the idea of confronting movers and telling them to stop wasting time isn’t super appealing to you (I don’t blame you), then you may just want to hire a moving company that offers guaranteed quotes (that’s us!). With a pricing structure like that, it doesn’t matter if the movers are highly efficient or not, your price remains the same. Your job will get done and you will pay the expected amount.
Sound good? Of course it does. Click here to set up your moving quote, and then you can forget everything from this article!