WEIGHING SHIPMENTS

When it comes to the moving world, movers are required to weigh the shipment long distance or interstate, unless the shipment is 1000 pound and can be weighed on a warehouse platform scale. Your licensed mover is required to determine the weight of the shipment by one of the following:

Origin weighing:

When your shipment is weighed in the city you are moving from, the truck is weighed before it arrives at your origin. Tare weight or empty weight. The truck may have moving blankets, dollies, ramps, and other equipment; this is not applied to your shipment weight. Once the movers are finished loading the truck, it will be weighed again. This is called the gross weight. The net weight is the tare weight or empty weight subtracted from the gross weight.

Destination weight:

This is another option your long distance movers may choose to do. The shipment is weighed at destination and this will not affect the weight of your shipment. When weighing at destination your mover is not able to determine the cost until the shipment is off the truck. The truck will be weighed before your shipment is offloaded and then again when the truck is empty and this is how the weight is determined. When the mover weighs a shipment, the driver must get a weight ticket and it must include the date, place, and weight of where the truck was weighed. The ticket should also include the customer’s name and shipment on it along with the truck identification number. If the empty and gross weight are recorded on the same scale, this can be recorded on the ticket. The consumer can be present at the weighing of the truck and the moving company should give enough notice to the customer so they can be present. If you want to be present for this, you should let the mover know at the time the order of service is placed or before your move date.

Re-weighing shipment:

The moving company is required to give you written notice of weight and charges on your move before unloading the truck if you agree to the charges and weight. If you feel the weight is not correct, you can request your shipment to be reweighed before they offload truck. The mover is not allowed to charge you for it. If the weight is different than the mover originally weighed, this needs to be recalculated based on the updated weight.

Another option you may want to consider before you ask your mover to reweighing it is to figure out how many items are a part of your shipment. Each inventory page is usually 30 items, so multiply the number of each full-page times the number of items on each page plus the number of items on the incomplete pages. For example, if you have seven pages full +8 items this comes to 218 items or 7×30+8. If an auto is being shipped, don’t factor it into the calculation. Divide the number of items into the shipment weight and if the weight per item is between 35 and 45 pounds then a reweigh is probably not necessary. If the shipment had lots of bulky boxes that were tools, etc. the weight could be on the 45 pound and over range. If the shipment had a large number of wardrobes, plastic toys, or bulky items not heavy items the weight per item could be 35 pounds or less.

Be careful when asking your mover to reweigh the shipment as this could result in increased charges. If a company gives you a binding quote, then they do not need to weigh the shipment, or if it is a “not to exceed” quote, then if less is sent and If the shipment weighs less than the charges could be decreased.