Glossary of Moving Terminology

Moving to a new location? You’ll want to check out this Moving Glossary to help you understand all the moving terminology you’ll come across in the process.

• Accessorial services – Any additional service that accompanies the actual moving process. This includes packing, unpacking, disassembly, and reassembly of your belongings and furniture. Accessorial services are additional services with accessorial charges that are not always included in the moving quote. Ask us about the many accessorial services we provide, which may have an additional cost.
• Agent – An affiliated agent is a local moving company that provides services on behalf of a national company.
• All-encompassing movers - Also known as full-service movers. A moving company that offers a wide range of services to match every move. Pure Moving will disassemble furniture, pack up your entire home, and move your boxes into the trucks, along with anything else you might need in the process of moving your belongings cross-country.
• Appliance service – The service of disconnecting your electrical appliances at your old residence and reconnecting them at your new residence. This includes washing machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators. This type of service may be considered an add-on or may already be included in your moving fee. Ask your moving company if appliance servicing will be an extra charge included in your final cost.
• Appliance dolly – An invaluable piece of equipment with wheels that is used to load and unload large items. Your moving specialist will use a dolly to move appliances, heavy boxes, and furniture on and off the moving truck.
• Assessed value coverage – The amount you will pay per thousand dollars of the assessed value of your belongings to ensure they are covered by insurance. Insurance is an add-on service that protects your belongings in case they become damaged at any point during your move. Replacement value coverage covers the entire load of your items, not specific items.
• Bill of lading – The contract between you and your mover. You will see your entire bill of lading before you move so that there is complete transparency about what will end up on your final bill. You will need to sign the bill of lading before we start the move.
• Binding/non-binding estimate – A binding estimate is a flat-rate price given to move your belongings. Even if the job takes longer than the moving company initially thought, they cannot charge you more than what they quoted you in your binding agreement. Non-binding agreements are subject to change and will vary depending on the amount of time it takes to perform the job and how many trucks and men are required to do it.
• Carrier – The certified mover you have chosen to work with.
• C.O.D. – Cash on Delivery. When the payment of the moving charges is required at the time of the delivery of your items. It can be paid for with cash, credit, or check, so be sure to ask which is required prior to your move.
• Commercial Moving - the process of moving your belongings from one place of business to another.
• Comprehensive planning - We think of everything that needs to be done in the moving process, from full-service packing and assembling to protecting your belongings with insurance and reassembling items if needed. We’ll walk you through the entire process so that there is full transparency in the moving process.
• Cost of move – This is how much your move will cost. This does not include add-on services and insurance. Cost estimates are actual charges calculated from the information you provide your movers with at the initial consultation. Pure Moving will ask customers questions to find out all the details about what is to be moved and where it is to be moved to; however, the cost of the move is only an initial estimate and is subject to change if any new information about the move is brought to light during the process. Additional costs may be added for factors such as stairs and distance, so be sure to talk to your moving company about all factors that may affect the price of your move.
• Expedited service – The agreement between you and a moving company to perform the delivery service at a faster rate or on a specified date. Expedited services often cost more than regular services.
• Flight charge – The cost of moving your belongings up a flight of stairs. This can be considered an add-on service with many moving companies, though some types of stairs carry in their cost of service. If the property you are moving to has a serviceable elevator, there will not be any flight charges, as the movers will not need to trek your belongings up flights of stairs.
• Freight service – A lower cost mode of transportation to full-service moves. Freight service movers will transport your belongings from your old property to your new one. However, you will need to box them and take care to wrap up any furniture in appropriate packing materials. Freight service can also be called self-service moving.
• Full coverage insurance - Insurance that completely covers the loss and damage of your belongings. It’s an option offered when booking your moving service with Pure Moving.
• Full-service mover – A moving company that takes care of every step of the moving process. Pure Moving is a full-service mover that will pack, drive, unpack, and reassemble your belongings and furniture in your new home. Full-service movers will also wrap breakables and blanket furniture with furniture pads to protect it in the process.
• High-value article – An item that is valued at more than one hundred dollars per pound that must be included on a high-value inventory form. Pure Moving will take the utmost care when handling high-value articles, though because we know how important they are to you, we take the utmost care with all your belongings anyway!
• Hourly rates - When customers are charged per hour, per man, and per truck. Hourly rates can vary from company to company, so it is important to ask what your preferred movers are before you begin or agree to any service with them.
• Household goods – The items that are used inside or outside of your home. They are what are transported during the moving process.
• Impracticable operations – Services that are required when the current operating conditions make it physically impossible for your shipping company to pick up or deliver your household goods. Impractical operations may require the use of smaller equipment or extra hours or servicemen. These operations may require additional costs.
• Individual shipper – A person who is the shipper, consignor, or consignee of a shipment. They are the name on the bill of lading and own the goods that are to be transported. The individual shipper will pay all tariff transportation charges.
• Interstate move – A move that crosses the state boundary. Interstate shipments are not distinguished by the number of miles traveled, only that a state boundary is crossed.
• Intrastate move – a move that does not cross a state boundary. These are usually under 100 miles in distance. Also called a local move.
• Inventory – A descriptive list of your belongings that shows the quantity and condition of each item. This detailed list of items comes in handy if any of your personal property has been damaged or gone missing. If it does, a statement of loss must be made.
• License – By law, movers must acquire certifications to move household goods within or across state boundaries. They will identify the status of the mover’s authority and insurance. Some states may require additional licenses.
• Local moving - Moving around the block, to the other side of the city, or to a new part of your county. Pure Moving has been moving your friends and neighbors for years, so we know exactly how to relocate your belongings in the easiest way possible.
• Long-distance moving - Moving out of the county or into a new state within the same country. We make your long-distance move a breeze, offering full transparency throughout the moving process. We’ll pack up your household items, wrap your furniture, and move it into your new home across the country. Rest assured that everything you own will be properly cared for and backed by full coverage insurance during your move.
• Mobile container - The vessels that moving companies use to transport your belongings. They will be unloaded onto your new property and will remain there until you have unloaded them and asked for them to be picked up. Pure Moving will unload your items from their trucks and will not leave any containers on your property.
• Moving company – Any company whose business is offering you moving services in exchange for a fee. They will transport your belongings from one location to another. This general term applies to local and national companies as well as those that offer self-service and full-service moving options.
• Moving expenses - Any costs associated with moving your belongings from one place to another. These include standard and extra charges and cover all moving resources such as labor and gas.
• Moving to a new apartment - When you move from one home to another, we can relocate all the contents in your apartment to a new one. We expertly handle moves of all sizes, and our reliable team will ensure your belongings are protected while careening bulky articles around winding staircases and tight hallways.
• Packing service - The process of organizing and putting all your belongings into boxes or containers to be easily transported during your move. Packing can consist of wrapping and safety storing breakable to wrapping up large or oversized furniture to tape them together. From books to electronics, we’ll help your valuables arrive in one piece.
• Purge - Removing everything you do not want or need from your current home. Purging can include selling, recycling, trashing, or donating any items you do not want to move with you into your new home.
• Residential moving - The process of moving your belongings from one residential home to another.
• Standard Coverage – The minimum amount of free coverage provided by a moving company. This could be as little as 60 cents per pound of damaged goods. If they value their goods, adders should choose to add on full coverage insurance, an option offered by Pure Moving.
• Surface Transportation Board – A federal agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates carrier charges for the transportation of household goods.
• Tariff – A moving company’s published list of moving terms and prices regarding rules, charges, and regulations when performing all services related to interstate moving.
• Transport type - The type of transport used to move your belongings from one place to another. Typically seen with a self-service mover, the transport type can vary from freight to a moving van line depending on the size and amount of your belongings.
• Truck - The vehicle used to transport your belongings from your old home to your new one. Some self-service companies will leave their truck at your home to be unloaded at your own pace. These companies do not unload your personal property at the time of delivery, but they will drive it from one location to a new one.
• Trailer - The back end of a truck that can be unhooked at left at your new property. It is the customer’s responsibility to unload the items from the trailer and into their new homes. They will need to call the moving company for the trailer to be picked up when they have finished unloading it.
• Truck & trailer - A moving company may deliver both a truck and a trailer to your new home. The truck and the trailer will sit at your new property until you have unloaded them and asked for a pickup. Pure Moving is a full-service moving company that will unload your items from their trucks before driving them off of your property.
• Unpacking - The process of unboxing and unwrapping your belongings. Unpacking is one of the final steps of moving into a new home. It takes place after your items have been unloaded from the truck and into your new space. Pure Moving offers unpacking services and a reassembling service for your convenience.
• Valuation – The tariff level of carrier liability that is based on the actual weight of your belongings. Valuation should not be considered the same thing as your insurance policy. The valuation of your belongings, in their worth, covers your goods for damage or loss if any negligence is taken on the carrier’s part. However, it does not cover loss or damage due to Acts of God, such as extreme weather conditions, riots, strikes, or civil commotion. Valuation charges will compensate the mover for taking more liability for loss than the customer during the moving process.