When you’re in the process of packing up all of your personal possessions for your next move, it’s important to remember that some items just aren’t okay to include. Moving companies simply won’t transport a number of items in order to protect themselves and the rest of your possessions from harm during the journey to your new home. Before your professional movers come knocking, make sure you haven’t packed up anything they won’t allow. Here’s what American Van Lines just won’t move:
Hazardous Materials
If it looks or smells dangerous, odds are we won’t be piling it into the back of one of our trucks. Items that are considered hazardous include:
- Aerosol cans
- Ammonia
- Ammunition
- Batteries
- Bleach
- Car batteries
- Charcoal/lighter fluid
- Chemistry sets
- Cleaning solvents
- Darkroom chemicals
- Fertilizer
- Firearms
- Fire extinguishers
- Fireworks
- Fuels/Oils
- Kerosene
- Matches
- Nail polish
- Paint/Varnishes
- Paint thinner
- Pesticides
- Poisons
- Pool chemicals
- Propane tanks
- Sterno fuel
- Scuba tanks
- Weed killer
Perishable Items
Transporting foodstuffs can attract all sorts of problems along the way, and moving living things can put those things – and your movers – at great risk. That’s why we won’t move things like:
- Food that hasn’t been properly preserved
- Frozen foods
- Open containers of foodstuffs
- Plants
- Produce
- Refrigerated food
The best rule of thumb is to save your foodstuffs for your pantry and your plants for your ceramic pots or garden. Neither belongs in the back of a moving truck.
Items of Personal or Sentimental Value
There are some items that deserve to be carried along with you when you move. If you have items of real personal or sentimental value, don’t risk anything happening to them by packing them along with the items with which you don’t share the same intense emotional connection. These items you shouldn’t pack include:
- Address books
- Airline tickets
- Car titles
- Cash
- Cell phones
- Checkbooks
- Computer data or backup files
- Family photographs
- Financial documents
- Furs
- Home videos
- Insurance policies
- Jewelry
- Keys (to anything)
- Laptops
- Medical/dental records
- Medicine
- School records
- Work files
If you’re worried about packing any specific item, don’t be afraid to ask your AVL representative. He or she will be happy to provide you with more specific guidelines before your moving crew arrives to get your show on the road!
