
The year of 2020 started very promising for the U.S. moving industry, with an ever increasing number of people looking for high-quality moving services, both local and cross-country.
Moving experts were filled with a healthy dose of optimism that 2020 was going to be a strong year for the relocation industry. And yet, nobody could have possibly predicted what was about to happen next.
And then, out of the blue, there came COVID-19 – unexpected, uninvited, and unwanted.
On 21 January, the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the United States appeared in Washington State where a man in his 30s developed COVID-19 symptoms after getting back from a trip to Wuhan – the capital of Hubei Province in China.
Later, on February 6 and February 17, officials in Santa Clara County, California discovered the earliest known victims of the coronavirus in the U.S.
Now months later, the novel coronavirus is still a mournful part of our lives and there’s no telling how long it will continue to affect us and the world around us.
There’s no doubt that 2020 – the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac cycle – has compelled us all to make radical changes in our everyday lives in order to adapt to the newly-created environment.
But it isn’t just us, the people. In reality, every industry has also had to change the way they conduct their business in order to survive. And the moving industry is no exception.
How Covid-19 has changed the moving industry in 2020: Adaptation
Moving companies had to adapt to the new reality, and do it QUICKLY as a means to stay alive – that is, to stay in business. Effectively, they had to introduce a new set of safety measures to keep their staff and their customers safe without lowering the quality of the moving services they offer.
As the great Charles Darwin once said,
“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”
Find below some of the measures that professional moving companies have adopted in 2020 in order to fight the coronavirus pandemic:
Social distancing

Health authorities have urged people to keep a minimal distance of 6 feet from anyone else to minimize the risk of getting infected with Covid-19 via virus droplets. This is known as social distancing (aka physical distancing) and it’s affected our daily routine in a big way.
As a safety measure, moving companies are now asking their customers NOT to take part in the move itself. On Moving day, all non-professionals are requested to either stay isolated in a room away from the packing and moving action, or leave the home altogether during the move.
But why? It’s close to impossible for people to respect the social distancing rule when there are movers in their house, especially when their precious belongings are being handled by strangers at that same moment.
Either way, clients are to keep their mobile phones with them at all times in case the movers wish to contact them for additional information or want to ask them any important questions.
Also, whenever clients choose to pack their things by themselves, moving companies are urging those individuals to be 100% ready by Moving day, with everything packed up and ready for transport. That way, when professional movers arrive in a home, they won’t need to stay in close contact with folks who are just about to pack their last boxes.
Virtual cost estimates
Before COVID-19 appeared on the scene and took center stage, moving companies had a set way of doing things – they would visit a client’s home for an on-site survey of the things to be packed and move, as well as of the possible risks on Moving day itself – risks and dangers such as steep and narrow staircases, sharp corners, tight hallways, small doorways, etc.
Moving experts would also provide their customers with a cost estimate, in writing, and then end the in-home visit with a friendly handshake.
Now, due to the requirement for minimizing the contact between movers and clients, most moving companies have started providing virtual quotes – cost estimates done over the Internet without the need for moving companies representatives to be present in the flesh at the location for the moving cost estimation process.
To ensure that their moving cost estimates are precise, the best moving companies in the country request that their customers give them a virtual tour of the home with the help of specialized video communication tools.
All move-related paperwork can now be signed virtually too, without any risk of COVID-19 contamination by touching contaminated paper and pens.
Better to be safe than sorry

The pandemic has pressured moving companies to be extra-vigilant in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Now they must clean and sanitize their trucks and moving equipment regularly, both before loading and after unloading.
Also, movers are required to wear protective masks and gloves at all times during their work.
The main focus when moving house in 2020 is safety, safety for clients and movers alike. After all, people who are looking for professional moving services have to be confident that the movers they hire know how to create a safe working environment and will take all necessary precautions to minimize the risk of infection with COVID-19.
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