Choosing To Move

4 Things To Understand About A Load Spread

16 June 2016 by Adam Johnson

When you hire a long distance moving company to move your belongings across state lines, you will likely be given what is known as a load spread. A load spread is a range of dates during which the moving truck will arrive at your home to be loaded. A load spread might cover just a few days or, during peak moving times, might include a full week. Because the moving truck can arrive at any point during the load spread, you need to be prepared and yet flexible. However, the more you know about the load spread, the more you can make it work in your favor. 

The Load Spread Allows Companies to Fully Fill Their Moving Trucks 

If you are moving a small house or an apartment, it is likely that your belongings will not fill an entire long distance moving truck. To make the most of the space available on trucks, companies often combine multiple customers' belongings that are going to close destinations on the same truck. You may be given a large load spread because your moving company does not know exactly when another client will book them to move to the same destination you wish to move to. 

If you know someone who is moving to the same area as you, you can contact your preferred moving company together and ask to be placed on the same shipment. This can allow the moving company to give you and the other customer a more exact loading date. If you do not know anyone moving to the same destination as you, you can look for people to pair up with through a general advertising site such as Craigslist or a specific moving site such as movingmadesmart.com.

You Can Usually Pay for an Exact Loading Day 

If having a wide range of potential moving days does not work for you because you have to leave the premises by a certain date, then you can usually pay your moving company a small fee to secure your exact moving day. If you plan to book an exact day, it is important that you do so as far in advance as you can, which will ensure that the moving company has the correct truck and number of movers to accommodate your needs. You may also be able to negotiate the exact date fee by asking for a smaller range instead of an exact date. For instance, you may be able to pay half of the exact date fee by asking for a 3-day range instead of a 5-day range. 

Your Moving Company Will Generally Contact You 24-hours Before Your Truck Arrives 

Your moving company will generally contact you at least 24-hours before the truck will arrive at your home. This gives you time to make sure your home is prepared and that you are available for the loading activities. However, you should not wait until the last minute to pack your belongings as you may not be able to pack everything before the moving truck arrives. 

If you want more of an advance warning, you can ask the moving company to make a note in your file to call you as soon as they know the arrival date of your truck. This may give you several days or even a week of advanced warning as opposed to 24-hours. 

When Your Truck Arrives Within Your Load Spread May Not Affect When Your Belongings Arrive At Your Destination

It is important to not make assumptions about when your belongings will arrive at your destination based on when your loading date fell within your load spread. For example, just because your items were loaded at the end of your spread, it does not mean that they will also arrive at the end of your unload spread. Instead, your items may be the last on the truck, which could make them arrive at the beginning of your unload spread. Whenever your items are loaded, it is important that you are at your destination and available during the entire unload spread the company gives you. 

Knowing how the load spread works and why it exists can help you negotiate better deals with a moving company, like Wheaton World Wide Moving, and experience less stress before a big move. 

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