There are a lot of different ways to describe moves, moving and moving companies.  We thought it may be fun – and useful – to put together a dictionary of sorts of moving terminology.  A lot of moving companies, local and long distance, will use different types of moving terminology throughout their paperwork.  Feel free to add any via comments if you think we missed any essentials:

  • Origin: The starting location of your move
  • Cross Docking : a practice in logistics of unloading materials from an incoming transport vehicle and transferring these materials into outbound vehicles with little or no storage in between.
  • Destination: The final location of your move
  • Corporate Relocation: A full service move normally planned by the HR department of large companies on behalf of their employees
  • Dish Barrel/China Carton: 5 Cubic Foot box designated for packing fragile items (most often fragile kitchenware)
  • Long Distance Move: Normally moves longer than 300 miles
  • Local Moving: Moves less than 50 miles.
  • Access: The means to the proprietary
  • Warehousing : a warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods
  • An independent mover under agreement with a van line that is empowered to act on that van lines behalf in servicing the domestic and international movement of household goods.
  • Inventory: A listing of all goods contained in a shipment and their condition.
  • Bill of Lading: The original shipping contract that lists the dates, services and actual charges involved in a move and the receipt for a customers belongings.
  • Containerization: The use of a standard box, carton, drum or barrel to transport freight
  • Cube Sheet: A sheet container written measurement of household goods items

This is just a brief summary.  It would take days to write in all of the moving terms used by moving companies.  The one thing that can be taken from this blog posting is that if certain moving terminology is used by your local mover, ask what it means.  Make sure your mover goes through their documentation carefully with you and explains all of the terms, pricing and conditions.

Rent-a-Son is proud to operate as a transparent Toronto mover offering residential, commercial, local and long distance moving services.  If your are moving from Toronto to Montreal, Toronto to Ottawa, Toronto to Edmonton or anywhere else in Canada, call us for a free estimate.