We live in a different world that’s for sure. Every day we are reminded of that and many industries across our nation and the world have been affected in one way or another in the past nine years. While moving locally with this Boston moving company, you can rest assured we’ll do our best to reduce any stress during that period but moving internationally can be a bit more challenging. For the record, you get the exact same stress reducing service you would on an international relocation that you would moving to the next town.  There are just different pieces of the puzzle we need to put together for you. 

Take the new regulations from the Customs and Border Patrol that are now in effect. What is known around the industry as the 10 Plus 2 form, or the Importer Security Filing which is now required to be filed at least 48 hours before a shipment of household goods leave a port heading to the United States. This is in part to keep unlawful activity from encroaching on general household shipments including items being smuggled into these containers. 

This was implemented one year ago but now as of January 26 of this year, it is being enforced. If the form is not filed in the proper time period, it could cost you thousands of dollars in fines when your shipment finally arrives in the US. It could also be seized for an indefinite period of time.

I recently had the chance to speak a Boston international moving company veteran, Steve Dozois, managing director of our Boston international moving company to understand just what this new ruling means. See my talk with him below:

Our boston moving company is going to be moving local radio celebrity Kennedy from the popular Mix 104.1 morning radio show Karson and Kennedy. Listen as Karson has our man Steve dish the dirt on Kennedy’s pad.

Steve Turnblom on Karson and Kennedy

This January marks a change in the way people move overseas. Actually there are two major changes to international relocations that take effect this January and this Boston international moving company wants you to know about these changes. The first is that anyone relocating out of the United States must now apply for an Employer Identification Number or what may know as an EIN Number. Before now, a person would use their social security number to move out of the country. Because of our heightened awareness around terrorism and indentify theft, the new government regulation will now replace the old way of doing things.

This can affect companies relocating employees if not done in a timely manner or correctly.

 See our interview with Steve Dozois, our managing director of international relocations. There are several Boston international moving companies that handle international relocations but Steve is the best in the business.

I’m not sure if there is any time that is better for moving over another. Of course, if we had to choose, it would be sunny and 75 degrees out. But as you know, moving is not always the best of times and this is never more evident than in the cold winter months. As any Boston moving company will tell you, there are far more things that can go wrong with a move in the winter with ice, snow and other cold weather elements.

If I had to give my top tips they would be, plan ahead for inclement weather, preparing for the unexpected. Make sure you stay tuned to the weather and have a backup plan if your move gets delayed. Prepare your children for the move as you would at anytime during the year and as you might imagine I would say, hire the right moving company. Humboldt Storage and Moving trains all our crews in how to handle any weather situation and keep your household goods safe.

In my video below, we go over some of the not so typical pieces of advice; things you might not have thought of.

The holidays are a stressful time for most everyone. They are even more stressful for those who are facing difficult challenges in their lives while trying to balance these seasonal expectations.

Every year here at our Boston moving company we conduct a gift drive to insure that families in a local battered women’s shelter get to experience Christmas as the rest of us. This year, we provided clothes, cash and presents for 18 families (18 mothers and 34 children). We secured these items with the help of Humboldt employees, business partners and friends of the company.

It goes without saying that as a company and as people we have an obligation to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. On top of that, the feeling you get knowing that you have made a positive difference in another person’s life is priceless.

Although the holidays can be full of stress, they are also full of kindness and understanding. And, at the end of the day, that’s what they are really all about.

Humboldt employees Jamie Vayo (l) and Chandra Myers (r) organized and lead the gift drive, putting in much personal time and effort. THANKS Chan and Jamie!

You’ve seen us write about it, talk about it and most of all, portray this in our brand; moving can be stressful.  Many occasions cause us stress and one major cause of stress is the holidays for many. Our entire team works all year long to help people feel at ease during the moving process and we do a number of things to help the less fortunate feel just a little better about their current situation. This year we have once again taken on the task of supplying gifts for several local families that have a difficult time providing for their families.

This Boston moving company wishes you happy holidays in whatever you celebrate and best wishes for a great 2010. And please keep families in mind this holiday season like the ones we have provided for here at Humboldt Storage and Moving. Please see my video greeting to you below.

Does your company live up to your customers’ expectations?  Does your company truly want to know how you are doing in meeting your goals? 

 These are questions we recently asked ourselves.  As a Boston moving company, we are committed to being the best in the industry.  So, we decided to take action and we have put a Mystery Shopper Program into place.  We want to make sure that we are living up to our motto “relax, and get moving” so we can assure to our clients that our employees truly will reduce the amount of stress during their move as promised. 

 So, what is a Mystery Shopper Program?  Let me explain.  Mystery Shopping is a tool used to assess quality of service and to obtain specific information about a company’s products and services that they offer.  A Mystery Shopper poses as a customer and goes through the sales process at your company.   Then the Mystery Shopper provides you with detailed reports, a score, and comments about the experience they had with your company.

 Humboldt looks at this program as an opportunity for our employees to see themselves from the customer’s point of view, which is a valuable learning experience and can help individuals improve.  Our goal is for employees to be able to discuss the results, and come up with ways to develop and continue our superior service and goal of relieving our customers’ stress.  We want this to be a positive experience for those involved, so we have implemented a reward program for employees who are evaluated by the Mystery Shopper.  Employees are evaluated based on criteria we believe they should meet in order to satisfy the needs of our clients and to reduce the stress of their move. 

 We are looking forward to getting the results and using them as a tool to improve our client services.  Here at Humboldt we are committed to customer satisfaction, and strive to live by our motto.  I believe we have a strong team here at our Boston moving company, and envision us going beyond the expectations of our clients.

I recently had a chance to catch up with Barry our quality control specialist. While on a job site for a senior relocation, we stopped to talk about the importance of quality control during the moving process and how vital the procedures both internal and external are to a stress-free move. There are many moving companies in Boston but I believe what sets Humboldt apart from most if not all of these is our painstaking attention to quality control in an effort to make a move less stressful.

Barry talked about everything from his internal training program for our team which includes training on packing procedures, handling household goods of all sizes, shapes and weight as well as how to load and unload our moving vans. He also talks about the importance of problem solving on the job site. Every now and then, we encounter a situation that involves quick thinking on our feet and Barry trains our crews to do just that and keep the customer at ease.

See my conversation with Barry below in our video blog.

Dan Komm recently had a chance to talk with our president Jim Sullivan on how homeowners can prepare financially for a move. As the president of a Boston moving company and one that has over 15 years of experience in this business, he has some great insight into how to watch your money when you’re getting ready to move. There are many considerations including when to bring in the moving company, who will pack and what will get packed and how to read an estimate. Moving companies offer a couple different ways of writing estimates so you need to be careful.

 In Dan’s video Blog, Jim spells out a couple critical points to consider when getting ready to embark on your moving journey.

 As the Quality Control Supervisor for Humboldt Storage and Moving, I am faced with a very important mission. That mission is to visit as many of Humboldt’s jobs that I can every day to assure that we are providing the stress-free, quality moves that we promise all of our customers. During these random visits, I look around and ask myself many questions concerning the move. Are all crew members in full uniform? Is the home protected to best of our abilities? Is the crew working diligently? Is everyone moving our customer’s goods in a safe manner? And, most importantly, is our customer relaxed and comfortable with all that is going on in this potentially stressful transition?

 I am happy and proud to state that the answers to all these important questions is YES! Fortunately for me, the crews here at Humboldt Storage and Moving make my job as Quality Control Supervisor relatively simple. Of course, I can find something in almost every move that can be changed or improved to better serve our customers. My viewing of these jobs and the important feedback from our clients shows me that you can always be better and that quality is the most important part of any service. At Humboldt, we take every step we can to ensure our service is above and beyond our competition.

 The position of Quality Control is not seen at every moving company. It is my belief that having someone performing Quality checks is an important tool for success. I’m proud to say that I’m in a position to improve and maintain the already great reputation of the best moving company in the Boston area.

As I sat on the couch this past Sunday and watch the Patriots, I was jubilated to watch our New England Patriots take another victory. After a week of talk from the Jets, I knew the Patriots would come fired up. Kick off was upon us and the Patriots received the ball. The first few drives did not result in much, but I thought to myself don’t stress, they will pull it out, plus the defense is shutting down the Jets offense. As half time approached the Pats were still control the game defensively. As the kickoff came for the second half so did the stress of all of Boston. The Jets began to move the ball, but still we are the Patriots, we saw a miraculous comeback in week 1, it will happen again. However, this time there was no come back, just anxiety and stress for all Patriots fans alike. Yet it was important to remember that as the game ended to take a step back and realize that this is just a game to us, and a job for these men. There are many more important issues going on in our lives and in the world to dwell on a loss in a sports game.

At some point in your life you stop and ask yourself “what it’s all about?” As I turned 50, I began to wonder if I could still push myself physically the way I had in my younger years. I had always been interested in the Pan Mass Challenge, a 192 mile, 2 day ride that benefited the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As I pondered this challenge, I realized I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid, and didn’t even own a bike or the accompanying equipment. Thus, my saga began.

Once I began training, I realized I had underestimated many things about this ride, mainly that it was not as simple as jumping on my bike and riding away. My first few rides, I was cold, lonely, tight and challenged on the hills. Early in, I was fortunate to be introduced to a group of riders to whom I was able to latch on to. They taught me how to clip in my bike shoes, how to establish my riding cadence, how to approach the hills, how to draft other riders and how to pace myself.

What made things tough was the weather in June and July. I rode in the rain as much as I did in the sun. My first official ride was a 75 mile ALS fundraiser that began in the rain and ended in the rain. The best thing about that ride was that it convinced me that if I could handle 75 miles, I could do 111 the first day and 80 the second. But that still did not negate the fact that I had much more training to do!

My poor wife D’Arcy had to listen to me moan about finding time to train, getting up most weekends at 5:00 AM so I could get in a 40-60 mile ride and still have the day left to do my errands. There were so many days that I questioned, “Why am I doing this?”

And then there was the fundraising. When you sign up for a PMC, you hand over your credit card and agree to raise the $4200 or pay the balance yourself. The PMC is the largest athletic fundraiser in the country. Last year it raised $35 Million. Prior to this year, the 30th PMC, it had raised $239 Million for the Jimmy Fund with one hundred percent of the donations going to charity. Fortunately, through the generosity of many friends, family members and associates, I raised close to $6,000 for this worthy cause.

As race day approached, I had many sleepless nights. Mostly, I questioned my ability to complete my commitment and not disappoint myself and my supporters. Why did I do this to myself? But the weekend finally arrived and I was so anxious to end my anguished anticipation. Since the race began in Sturbridge, I booked a hotel in Auburn, MA so that I could register on Friday night and be at the starting line at 5:00 AM for the 5:30 AM start.

What a scene! Thousands of riders lined up in anticipation of the start. Hundreds of people lining the start route to cheer us on. Both days were like nothing I had ever experienced. Besides the 50 miles of hills and the challenge to push my body to surpass the largest number of consecutive miles I had ever ridden, it was the scenes that I witnessed along the route that I will always remember. The route was lined with family and friends holding pictures of loved ones taken by this horrendous disease. The hardest to view were the parents holding pictures of their deceased young children. I still am not sure if I was wiping away tears of sorrow or tears of pain from the pursuit to finish. Around mile 70 I found motivation when a woman ran out into the road ringing a bell and yelling “I am a cancer survivor, thank you for doing this!”

As I considered these people who had suffered so much, I thought, “So what if training was a little inconvenient? Was it really that big a deal that fund raising took some effort? So what if the riding has been painful? Did any of this compare to the pain of cancer and its often deadly effect?” Riding those first 70 miles, I was mostly in my head. I thought about why I was riding, whether my priorities were straight, and how much I loved and appreciated my family and the life I had been given. I thought about how small I felt as I was enveloped by a much bigger cause than myself.

I remembered this on day two when I couldn’t sleep and then could barely maneuver my ultra sore body out of bed. It was my wife who reminded me that to not try to finish would be a regret I would carry forever. So once again at 5:00 AM I joined my friends from Team Perry and road off over the Bourne Bridge. The second day route was less strenuous, and it was only the last 10 miles in the dunes of Provincetown that we hit some challenging hills. What a thrill to finish! Crowds of people cheering, knowing that I will soon see my family! Of course nothing would top my family cheering me on at mile 109 of the first day. I was so happy to see them!

Before race day, I was convinced I would take my bike and drive over it with a Humboldt truck but when I finished I thought, how can I not do this again? Look how much it means to people. Now I am not sure which took more courage, deciding to commit to the ride, or telling D’Arcy that I might want to do it all over again next year… ???

The term climate controlled storage is thrown around very freely within the moving industry. To get a better idea of what true climate controlled storage is and how it should be use, I interviewed Jim Sullivan, president of the Boston moving company Humboldt Storage and Moving.

That’s right, we recently found out that Humboldt has been named United Van Lines Agent of the Month for May 2009. Click below to find out why Humboldt was selected for this award out of over 400 United moving companies nation-wide.