Being a Boston moving company that sends trucks out on the road every day, we were interested to hear about a traffic law recently put into place in Massachusetts in 2009.  The law is called the “Move Over” law and states that if a patrol car is pulled over to the side of the road, you have to change to the next lane away from the car or slow down by 20 mph of the posted limit.  This is now put into effect in every state except Hawaii, New York, Maryland, and DC.  If you do not follow this law, expect to be ticketed!  This is also of importance to us because at our Boston moving company, we are especially concerned about safety.

 This law needs to be taken very seriously to keep our enforcers safe.  According to http://www.moveoveramerica.com/; over 150 law enforcement officers have been killed since 1999 after being struck by vehicles on the highway.

 In June 2010, a state trooper in the Boston area was killed after being struck by a car on the highway while pulling over another car.  This was after the “move over” law was in effect in Massachusetts and should have been followed by the driver.  There have been too many instances were this law has not been followed, and enforcers have lost lives as a result.

 The “move over” law was implemented in Massachusetts in 2009.  Many drivers are still unaware of this law.  We should do everything in our power to get the word out to drivers not only to avoid tickets, but to save lives.  Even if you live in a state that does not enforce this law, these precautions should still be taken.  You can expect our drivers at our Boston moving company to take this law very seriously.

Our Boston moving company presently uses the company Caturano and Co. to handle our IT needs.  Caturano recently released a promotion that highlights Humboldt as a company that uses their IT Outsourcing services.  We were honored that they thought of us for this opportunity.  They are helping get our name out into the community and will hopefully bring in some potential clients.

 As a result, I feel the need to write about how Caturano has helped our Boston moving company in hopes of returning the goodwill.

 I sat down and discussed this topic with the CFO, since he works with Caturano directly.  He said that in the 30 years he has been working, he has never worked with an IT company as professional and as helpful as Caturano.  Humboldt strives to reduce the stress of not only our customers, but also our employees.  Caturano has helped us in obtaining this goal.  We truly appreciate everything they do for us.  They have reduced OUR stress immensely.

 Using Caturano’s services is effortless.  The employees can receive technical assistance from their desktop computers by signing into Caturano’s web portal.  From there, someone from Caturano can take over your screen and assist in solving the problem.  This has saved our CFO a vast amount of time.  Prior to this, employees went to him with their problems directly.  Caturano’s response time is fast, and they are tremendously efficient.

 Another major impact they have had on our Boston moving company is helping with the number of times our system upgrades a month.  Prior to Caturano, our system was upgrading automatically once a week, causing major disruptions for our employees.  Caturano now has it set up so that our system upgrades once a month and we also get an email notification to let us know what time and day the interruption will occur. This modification has undeniably reduced our stress!

 To any companies out there looking for a new IT Outsourcing company, we highly recommend the services offered by Caturano and Co.!

1)      Neighborhoods- Boston is comprised of a series of neighborhoods; each one has a little different flavor than the next. Since there is such a variety to choose from, don’t limit yourself by going with the first neighborhood you hear about. And though it may be tempting, try not to sign a lease sight unseen. To really get a flavor for the each area, you’ll need to experience them first hand. Boston offers a host of fantastic neighborhoods such as Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the South End, Jamaica Plain and Southie.  Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and Newton while technically not part of Boston proper are very accessible to the city by public transportation or car and offer unique features as well.

2)      Housing- The cost of living in Boston often shocks people relocating from most parts of the country. Unless you’re moving from New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco or Los Angeles, you are most likely going to be seeing higher rents in Boston. The good news is that you’re not limited to just one neighborhood, so if apartments in the Back Bay or Beacon Hill are above your budget, you can branch out to many other less expensive neighborhoods such as Charlestown or the Fenway.  You’d be amazed at the difference in rent and how much more space you can get for the price by expanding your search area.

3)      Public transportation- Boston has many options to get around the city and surrounding areas, including the commuter rail, bus and the subway (also known as the “T”.) This is often the cheapest and easiest way to get around the city and accesses all of Boston’s neighborhoods. The MBTA has a feature on its website called Rider Tool where you can enter your starting and ending location and it navigates the best route for you using public transportation. Try it here http://www.mbta.com/.  This will definitely give you an approximate time of your commute, however also take into consideration that some lines are slower than others. The Green B line for example takes longer because it has frequent stops. Make sure to test out your new commute as part of your decision before settling on a neighborhood.

4)      Driving in the City- Driving and parking in the city can be a nightmare if you’re not prepared. Unless you have an off street parking space with your apartment or rent a garage spot, you will need to rely on street parking if you want to have a car. When choosing a neighborhood, keep in mind that some areas are more car friendly than others. Most neighborhoods offer residential parking stickers to park on the street but you are still responsible for getting your car off the street during street cleaning, snow emergencies and parking bans. Parking tickets and towing fees can add up so it’s a good idea to sign up for email alerts from the city at http://www.cityofboston.gov/alerts/.

5)      Culture and Nightlife- While Boston is the largest city in New England, it also offers a quant and intimate feel making it easy to explore. The city is enriched with culture, history and an active nightlife.  You could visit the Museum of Fine Arts, walk the Freedom Trail, go to a Red Sox game and then out to a bar in Fenway all in one day. Boston’s eclectic nightlife has something to offer for everyone. Whether it’s a pub in Southie or a martini bar in the Back Bay, you will be hard pressed to run out of things to do. One note to keep in mind is the T stops running at 12:45 a.m. and bars close at 2:00 a.m., so prepare to have a cab company in your phone if you plan to stay out for last call!

 Written by Stefanie Smith, President of Launch into Boston (www.launchintoboston.com)

Some Boston moving companies are more into charity than others. Here at Humboldt, we are passionate about a few cause which we support. One particular cause we have been involved in over the past few years is the March of Dimes- March for Babies walk. On May 8th, we went to the Hatch Shell for the walk. Despite thunder, lighting and pouring rains, our team showed up ready to go proudly sporting Humboldt t-shirts and ponchos. As always, it was an outstanding event.

For those of you who don’t know take a quick peek at the March of Dimes mission: Our mission is to improve the healthof babies by preventing birthdefects, premature birth, and infant mortality. We carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies’ lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health: prematurity, birth defects, low birthweight.

With help from the 16 Humboldt team members that signed up as fundraisers we were able to raise an amazing $6493.00 in addition to $5000 and in-kind services that the company provided. Last year we had raised $3200.00; our goal for 2010 was $3500.00. We surpassed that goal by almost double.

I would like to congratulate all who participated in the walk and thank each person who donated money to the  Humboldt Team. I would especially like to congratulate Jamie Vayo, the Humboldt Team captian. It was through Jamie’s efforts that Humboldt was able to field such a strong team and, in turn, smash our fundraising goals!

The Humboldt gang with Enza and Kevin Youkilis (of the Boston Red Sox)

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, our Boston moving company has teamed up with the non-profit organization, More Than Words.  They run a bookstore/coffee shop in Waltham that employs youth who are on the streets, in a foster care system, out of school, or in the court system.  The youth work as a team to manage the bookstore, the online website, and coffee shop, which teaches them the skills that are necessary to go out into the community with self-confidence and obtain employment.    To help with this great cause, we have gone to our customers and have offered the opportunity to put books to good use that they may be throwing away prior to the move.  Together, our sales and operations teams work to pack, load, and deliver boxes of books to Waltham. 

 As part of our collaboration we wanted to get more involved with the youth who are employed with the organization, so we invited the youth from More Than Words to tour our facility.  The youth who are working at More Than Words are getting valuable hands on business experience.  We were hoping the visit to Humboldt would increase their exposure to the structure of a business by showing them what we do here. 

 This past week the youth came to our Boston moving company for their visit.  A group of 15 youth came to learn more about our company and the areas that help us run our business. With the help of our team at Humboldt, they got to experience what it is like to work in sales and marketing, accounting, our international division, customer service, and warehouse operations.  They were able to observe the passion our employees put into there work to help reduce stress of customers.  The employees at Humboldt had a great time.  We have never had a more inquisitive and engaging group of individuals visit us here at Humboldt.  We can’t wait for a return trip from this great group of future business leaders.

See the picture below from the event.

Here is a situation I am sure most of you Boston sports fans can relate to. 

How stressful is it to go to a game in downtown Boston at the Garden when you have to try to find a parking spot?  Not only is that stressful, but then after the game you have to wait an hour to get out of the parking lot because the spot you finally found before the game was in the very back of the lot!  It can turn into an absolutely awful experience!

Humboldt Storage & Moving strives to reduce stress for others, so as part of our sponsorship of the Boston Bruins broadcasts on 98.5 The Sports Hub our Boston moving company decided to hold a Stress-Free Game Day contest.  This gave two lucky winners the ultimate game day experience!  The winners received two tickets to a Boston Bruins game, VIP parking (front row parking reserved for them!), dinner before the game, and a VIP tour of the Garden.  They also got the chance to meet up with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers during the evening, two 98.5 The Sports Hub broadcasters.  I hope they had an excellent, stress-free game day experience!  Check out the picture below of the winner Mark Eramo and guest at the game sponsored by our Boston Moving Company.

Our Boston moving company recently had the chance to be part of a fundraising event in Boston to benefit pediatric cancer.  The event was held at Ned Devine’s and raised money for Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Oncology. 

As part of the event, 98.5 The Sports Hub hosted “Cuts for a Cause”.  Our Boston moving company is aware of how stressful coordinating an event can be, so we volunteered to bring the barber chairs to the location.  Shawn Thornton, Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi, Aaron Ward, Milan Lucic, Mark Stuart and Dennis Wideman were some of the Boston Bruins at the event and a few of the staff from 98.5 were also in attendance.  Toucher and Rich from 98.5 were the hosts of the event.  They mingled with the crowd, signed autographs, and took pictures with fans.  A total of $25,000 was raised this year.  It was great to be able help out such an important cause, and hopefully the fresh haircuts the Boston Bruins teammates received will propel them into the playoffs!

GO BRUINS!

Last week our Boston moving company had the great pleasure of moving Kennedy from the Boston hit radio program Karson and Kennedy on Mix 104.1 (follow K&K on Twitter). Listen to Karson and Kennedy talk to Humboldt Stress ReMover Bill Fury and tell the story about the one Kennedy roomie that had to literally be dragged to her new apartment.

Kennedy from Mix 104 Has Trouble Moving her Roommate

At Humboldt, we are always finding ways to reduce the stress of our customers and even others. That can be through our day-to-day operation and the normal course of business or it can be new ways such as new and exciting partnerships. We are proud to announce that we do have a new partnership and it will serve to achieve a number of goals for both organizations.

As a Boston moving company, we know that when moving day comes, there are items that many people could do without. Some of the most popular items that we see people struggle with when moving out of their home are books. We have a solution. Donate them to More Than Words, an organization that helps youth and others develop valuable skills to help propel them into the workforce. They run a retail book store and café in Waltham and are always looking for good books to sell. They also sell these books on the internet so all involved are running a few aspects of this business while gaining great business skills.

Just tell Humboldt when you’re moving that you have these items and we’ll pick them up and transport them to More Than Words.

More Than Words has a very interesting concept that is called a social enterprise. These youth are actually running a business and by doing so, they are learning skills that will help get them out of a difficult situation.  I want you to hear about the great work first hand from its founder Jodi Rosenbaum so please take a look at my interview with her below.

For the third year in a row, our Boston moving company is participating in March of Dime’s annual event March for Babies.  It is a 3-mile walk being held in downtown Boston on May 8^th  to raise money for March of Dimes. 

 Premature babies are born everyday and March of Dimes needs our support to ensure that they have access to the health care that they need. Funds raised will go to newborn intensive care units and also research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies.

 Humboldt is also helping out by reducing the stress of March of Dimes Massachusetts.  We are providing storage and delivery of items necessary for the event. 

 Today we had our March for Babies kick-off event at Humboldt.  We were incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to hear from one of the Ambassador Families.  The family told us the story of their daughter who was born premature.  Thanks to March of Dimes, they now have a beautiful healthy 3 year-old daughter.  I was touched by the story, and am eager to participate in the event.  I noticed that a few eyes were no longer dry by the end of the family’s personal and moving story. 

 Here are a couple pictures from today’s event.  Thank you to the family for sharing your story!

For more information check out March for Babies, March of Dimes, or click here if you would like to check out our team page!

 As an employee at a Boston moving company, the relocation process is always on my mind. Here is a topic I found to be significant to the moving business.. paint.  During the process of moving into a new home, most likely there will be some wall painting involved.  Paint plays a significant role inside your home, more important than you may realize.  Read the information below to find out how you can protect you and your family from dangerous toxic chemicals. In an effort to reduce the stress of those who are reading this and relocating to a new home, I did some of the research for you.

 So here’s the deal: Traditional household paints contain a harmful compound called volatile organic compounds or “VOC’s”.  Purchasing an eco-friendly, no or low-VOC is pertinent to avoid the harmful ingredients that can pollute the air inside your home. For a paint to be labeled as a low-VOC paint, it must contain less than 250 grams per liter.

 And here is why you should avoid VOC’s: Volatile organic compounds are airborne chemicals that are released during the painting process and also when it is removed.  Even after the paint dries, VOC’s will emit harmful fumes for years into the air. These potentially carcinogenic carbon-based chemicals evaporate and pollute the air you breathe everyday in your home.  VOC’s consist of harmful ingredients including formaldehyde, benzene, pesticides, and ammonia.  If you notice your paint having that familiar “bad paint smell” it is probably filled with toxic VOC’s.  This is because the more VOC’s a paint contains, the stronger the odor.  So don’t use it! Exposure to VOC’s can cause unwanted symptoms such as irritation of the skin, nose, and eyes. They can also cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, respiratory problems, increase symptoms of asthma, and nerve damage. In some cases VOC’s can lead to kidney or liver disease.  They also harm our environment by contributing to the formation of smog and ground level ozone.  Purchasing an eco-friendly paint is not only good for the health of you and your family, but also the environment!  It is a win-win situation!

 Here are some tips to keep in mind while searching for paint:

 If you are looking for a synthetic paint, water-based latex paints are a good paint to consider.  They have a lower level of VOC’s.  Water-based latex paints are usually free of formaldehyde. Avoid oil-based paints; they contain a much higher level of VOC’s.

 Milk paints contain no solvents, preservatives, or biocides.  Some do have synthetic ingredients, which make them more suitable for rooms where there may be moisture in the air. They are odorless and are made by combining milk protein, casein, and lime.

 Natural paints are an excellent example of a non-synthetic paint.  They are usually made from plants, milk, soy oils, minerals, chalk, lime, and clay and other natural ingredients.  They are free of preservatives and biocides. I do not recommend these for a bathroom or a room where moisture is present in the air, because they are less resistant to mildew and molds.

 As the green trend continues to increase the prices for green products are decreasing, so they will not empty your wallet.  Some familiar brands have developed no or lo-VOC paint lines including Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, True Value, and Home Depot. Both Yolo Colorhouse and Mythic Paint can color match any Benjamin Moore paint swab with their no or low VOC paint.

 To get a full list of no or low VOC paints, check out Green Seal. They are a nonprofit organization that certifies products as eco-friendly.  Greenseal.org

Relax. And Get Moving.

Exciting news from our Boston moving company: Humboldt has signed on as a sponsor for 98.5 The Sports Hub’s broadcast of the Boston Bruins for the remainder of the 2010 season. As part of the sponsorship Humboldt will recieve daily mentions from 2-7pm during the Sports Hub Headlines. We will also be sponsoring the “Move Around the NHL” segment prior to the game and between the 1st and 2nd periods, when annoncers Bob Beers and Dave Goucher update scores from around the league.

In addion to this exposure, Humboldt will also have spots running during the games. We were luck enough to have them voiced by 98.5’s very own Scott Zolak. Click below to have a listen to the variations:

985 Big Gig spot          985 Movers and Shakers spot                    

Our Boston moving company could not be more happy to be associated with 98.5 The Sports Hub and their broadcast of the Bruins. Make sure you listen and catch us live on the radio. Also, STAY TUNED FOR UPCOMING NEWS ON SOME PROMOTION GIVEAWAYS WE’LL BE PARTNERING WITH THE SPORTS HUB ON!

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.