Take a second and think about how many times you have moved from one house to another in the course of your life. Remember all the packing? Remember all the lifting? Remember the stress, the cleaning, the exhaustion, and the stress again? Well even if you have moved once a year for most of your life (which is a lot!), you still have not moved as much a professional mover. So give them a hug next time you see one.
Movers will come in and pack all of your belongings for you. They will lift every box into the truck for you. They will move your appliances. They will drive all your things to a new location… where they will do the whole thing again in reverse! Every day, movers are moving things from here to there. In one month a typical moving company will move more than the average person will move in their entire life.
Try to remember how sore you were after your last move, from lifting and carrying and stretching and hauling. Now try doing that every day! Movers take great care to lift properly (with the legs), carry securely, and avoid as many injuries as possible. But it still takes a great deal of stamina and energy to be a mover.
And long distance movers do all of that, and then also drive across the state or even across the country to move your things from house to house. That involves superb highway safety, knowledge of interstate DOT regulations, and efficient navigation skills. Add to that all the knowledge of specific loading equipment and tools, and you begin to see the many different hats that movers must wear.
Of course, some people still prefer to pack their own boxes. They find security and comfort in packing and placing their valuables personally, and knowing exactly where everything is in each box. Some people even prefer to use portable storage units (sometimes called pods) to pack their belongings. When the packing is done, movers can come and move the unit to the new location to be unloaded and unpacked. There is a lot of flexibility in the policies of moving companies regarding how much or how little they need to pack. But whatever your level of involvement, know that your movers will be there on time, ready to work, and ready to work hard, all to make sure your move goes as smoothly and stress free as possible.