If statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau of Statistics are anything to go by, over 15 percent of Americans relocate each year, which is quite a significant number. This figure is set to increase significantly during this period of economic slump as foreclosures become the order of the day.

With almost every other household struggling with their household budget, any cost cutting measure would be a welcome relief.

This might have been the impetus that has lead some players in the moving industry to come up with innovative solutions that guarantees they remain in business during these tough times. One such solution that has been brought up is the self service moving option.

Traditionally, movers could only opt for one of the two options offered by moving companies. One could either go with full-service move or opt for a do-it-yourself (DIY) move. Either of the two options has its own sets of pros and cons.

With a full-service move, the moving company is responsible for every element of the whole exercise. This includes packing, trucking, unloading and arranging items when they reach the new location. With the movers doing everything, the mover is left with nothing to do other than issue instructions and orders.
A DIY move is the converse of the full-service move. The mover is responsible for the whole exercise including driving a big wrigg; something which s/he may not be qualified to do. DIY is quite taxing. Pulling it off requires great amounts of energy and multi-skilled individual.

To resolve this problem, some moving companies have developed a hybrid product which merges the two traditional options. This is what industry players refer to as the self service move and it has become a hit with many movers.

In self service move, a mover orders for a trailer or special moving containers based on their moving needs for a moving company. Upon receiving the order, the moving company delivers the trailer or container to the mover and allows them about 2 days – 48hours - to pack their belonging into the container.

Once the mover has done this, the moving company sends a driver to drive the cargo to the mover’s destination where the mover unloads the cargo and the driver returns the truck to the company.

With self service moving, the mover does not have to worry about collecting the truck from the truck rental, driving a huge truck loaded truck – something which s/he might not be qualified to do in the first place – and then returning the truck when done. All movers have to worry about is getting their items in trailer / moving containers.

However, those as easy as self service move might sound, it is not all rosy as packing is one of the most difficult element of moving. Bearing in mind that one pays for the amount of space one uses, it is important to ensure that items are packed in such a way as they will not take up unnecessary space. At the same time, one should know how to pack different items so that they are not damaged during the move.