subject: Choices For Moving And Storage In The 21st Century [print this page] As Americans have become ever more mobile, companies to serve their moving and storage needs have proliferated. Clients have pursued jobs across state lines, and sought a better climate or relocated to put their kids in the best school system, and the market has responded with more choices for how to transport belongings and where to stow them.
The ubiquitous moving trailers and vans of past decades have seen increasing competition from mobile containers known as pods. Like commercial ship containers, pods are portable, yet detachable: companies can leave them in a yard or driveway, or on the street in front of a clients home. The customer can take as long as he or she likes to fill up the pod. Then the company transports it to the clients new home, however far away, or to storage at its warehouse.
Pod units sit at ground level, which clients find is easier for loading and unloading than a large moving van. They also avoid fees associated with holding a driver and truck on site during load-in and offloading. To keep possessions safe, most companies own trucks with mechanical lifting arms that raise the container in a steadily upright position. Thus, contents are less likely to fall on their sides or crush one another.
Driveways need to be wide enough to accommodate the truck, its mechanical arms, and the pod. If the client does not have a driveway, then the pod can sit in the yard or in the street for loading. In that case, the client should make certain that the proper permits are in place on the days the pod is to be loaded.
Pods typically measure 12 to 20 feet in length. Most of them measure eight feet wide and eight feet high. Container companies that specialize in serving corporate customers and owners of large homes may have pods of larger sizes and lengths. Typically constructed of steel, pods may also come in fiberglass or a combination of plywood and metal. Multiple door configurations -- for example, doors on the sides as well as the ends -- are also available at some firms.
With traditional storage lockers, customers could lease only one or two sizes. With pods that all go into a warehouse, however, they can lease a container that best fits their possessions. Since the company handles all the transport and storage, clients no longer experience the stress of operating a large vehicle or trailer.
Short- or long-term storage of a packed pod in a company warehouse guarantees more dependable security and climate control. Also, many pod companies provide 24-hour access throughout every day of the year.
Customers enjoy greater flexibility during a major move when theres a storage warehouse among the options. Should an unforeseen hitch in the process occur, such as a holdup in closing a home sale, the client has the choice of keeping his or pod(s) in storage for extra days, weeks, and even months.
With their goods stored in individual pods at a warehouse, customers can be confident their possessions will have plenty of protection from extreme temperatures, pests, and potential dampness.
