Covid-19 and Moving: 5.16.20
So we’ve been doing this for a few months now and we’ve learned some things. Here’s the basics:
- This stuff is hard.
- Warmer weather makes it harder.
- Different customers have different expectations, requirements and ideas about covid-19. We need to make ALL of them happy.
- Everything is less predictable.
- Everything changes at a rapid clip.
We’ve refined our process and though we try and change to suit each day’s customer, here’s where we start from:
Things we do:
- we wear masks and gloves when it makes sense and when we’re working directly with customers
- we offer video-conferencing to allow customers to not be in the same physical space as the movers, but still be involved in the move at a distance of their choosing.we disinfect and clean our equipment, office and warehouse daily.
- we bring fans to increase ventilation and remove the human exhaust as quick as we can.
- we distance from the customer as much as possible.
- we stagger our start times to decrease group sizes.
- we split larger jobs over multiple days to decrease size of moving crews.
- we provide our workers a variety of face coverings, gloves, sanitizer, cleaning products, technology and knowledge.
- movers distance from each other when possible, though this is rarely possible for long.
- we use common sense all the time.
- we offer to clean the customers’ goods and premises at the end of the job.
- we talk about and try and develop new ideas every day.
Things we don’t do:
- wear masks ALL the time. Given the aerobic nature of moving, it’s not always possible.
- wear gloves ALL the time. A lot of the time gloves are unsafe when handling pieces.
- we don’t kick the customer out of their own house, we work together to find a solution that everyone is comfortable with and which works.
- movers can’t keep much distance from each other, it often takes two people to move a piece
- we don’t come to work sick. If the company ends up short of workers on a day due to sickness, we work with our customers to switch days or split things up. Nobody works sick. Allergies are a tough call and we admit that and take our best guess, a person knows their own body.
Other factors customers should be aware of:
Covid-19 can definitely have an effect on the estimate. Sometimes the precautions make the move take longer, sometimes they don’t. We’ve only got a few months of experience with how it changes things, whereas I have 2 decades of experience with moving. I do my best to write estimates we can fall within but the specifics of locations, goods and customers adds a level of unpredictability. We do our best and work it good faith.
We don’t do on-site estimates any more. We now work with photos or videos that customers send in. We try and ask smart questions but it’s a poor replacement for actually being there. The accuracy of the estimate definitely suffers, but our excellent work remains the same.
Two movers on a 100 degree day who are carrying up to 3000lbs each up and down stairs over the course of a day breathe a LOT, and the prespire a LOT. It’s a very aerobic job and no matter what sort of mask we wear, we’re going to fill most interior spaces we’re in with our own breath and evaporated sweat. This isn’t a great combination with covid-19 and we recognize that. I’ve done move jobs in a tyvek suit before, and you move slowly, and even then have to spend half the time not working, catching your breath, trying to get your sweat out of the suit so you don’t pass out. Using masks and gloves isn’t that bad, but it’s on the same spectrum. We think the best thing is to get anybody but our staff out of those spaces, ventilate them well and do the moving. Then we clear the air and do some cleaning as requested.
When it was 20 degrees out it was a lot easier to manage these issues, but with warmer weather comes harder decisions.
We’re sorry we don’t have more concrete answers but we’re doing out best.
OLD POSTS ON THE SUBJECT:
UPDATE 3.26: We’re suspending interstate service and on-site estimates.
UPDATE 3.30: Moving during the age of Covid-19 : 3.30.20 Update.
UPDATE 4.7: Covid-19 update: 4.7.20
UPDATE 4.27: Covid-19 & Moving Update: 4.27.20