When transitioning from one home to another, chances are you may need to store some or all of your belongings. Whether you are downsizing and need a place to keep overflow items, your plans changed, or you won’t be ready for all of your belongings when you get to your new destination, you may need professional storage solutions. Make sure you know what your storage options include.

Also known as “storage in transit,” this type of storage occurs when a customer is not ready for delivery of their goods until a later date. During storage in transit, your items will be delivered to one of our certified agent warehouse locations, offload all of your items, and place them into storage vaults that are then stacked inside of a warehouse. Your belongings will remain in storage until you are ready for the delivery of your goods. When you are ready for your items, they are re-loaded onto a northAmerican moving truck and delivered to your new residence.

PROS:

1. Less Effort: AirVan NorthAmerican, agent for NorthAmerican Van Lines, does all of the work unloading, placing into storage, reloading on a truck, and delivering all of your household items to your new residence. All you have to do is make a call and coordinate a delivery date.
2. Insurance Coverage: Typically, if your items were covered during transit by valuation coverage (moving insurance), the insurance should also cover any damages that could result from the unloading, reloading, and delivery of all of your possessions to your new home.

CONS:

1. Cost: When you elect to have your items stored at a NorthAmerican Van Lines agent warehouse, it is really like moving twice… and since time (and labor) is money, the cost for the additional services will add to your overall bill.
2. Access: Although you may be able to schedule a time to access your items, storage at a professional NorthAmerican Van Lines agent warehouse does not allow you the same type of access you would experience at a self-storage location.

This is a popular option for customers on a tight budget or individuals that require immediate access to their belongings while they are in storage. When a customer chooses to have items delivered to self-storage, northAmerican takes your items to the self-storage facility you choose and unloads your items. Although the items are then your responsibility to remove from self-storage, you can still leave the heavy lifting to the pros when you are ready for your items by having northAmerican come back to the self-storage unit to load and deliver items to their new location.

PROS:

1. Cost: Self-storage is a more budget-friendly option compared to the costs of storage at a professional warehouse. You can choose to take advantage of professional packing or moving assistance based on your needs and budget.
2. Access: Many self-storage locations allow customers to have a security code, allowing access to your items at any time of day or night.

CONS:

1. More Effort: Self-storage is really a DIY solution, and like any DIY project, it requires a lot of work on your end, even if you hire a Professional Mover to do all of the heavy lifting. You will be in charge of researching and securing a self-storage unit on your own. This requires that you figure out the size, and how many units you will need to store your items, as well as to coordinate a time/date for you to meet the crews to load and unload your belongings.
2. Insurance Coverage: You will need to secure coverage for your belongings on your own, plus any liability coverage provided by a professional moving company will also end at the time of delivery (compared to if your items would deliver to a residence). This means that you will need to do a thorough inspection at the time of delivery to and report any damages before signing the crews delivery paperwork.

Note: If you are hiring a professional mover like NorthAmerican, make sure that you confirm the size of the truck that will be used, and that the facility is equipped to handle their big rigs. If you do not, and the self-storage facility that you choose is not equipped to accommodate a full-size tractor trailer, then you may waste any money you were hoping to save if the company needs to shuttle your items into the storage area.

At the end of the day, the question of whether to choose professional storage services or self-storage is really up to you. If you do decide to go with self-storage, make your research easy by visiting Sparefoot. SpareFoot has revolutionized the cumbersome task of researching and finding self-storage units in your area. SpareFoot has thousands of partner locations nationwide, will tell you instantly where space is available (and what size), as well as allowing you the ease of booking the unit online.