Here’s what you need to know about using moving companies during the COVID-19 pandemic
For people looking to move in or out of homes in the middle of the new coronavirus pandemic, you are still able to use professional movers., even with stay-at-home orders issued by Mecklenburg County and other governments.
That’s because movers, as in Mecklenburg County’s order and elsewhere, are considered critical trades. We spoke to some local movers to see how they are preparing for work during the outbreak, and also what advice they have for their customers.
Mover continually sanitizes trucks
Brad Webb, assistant operations manager at the Charlotte office of All My Sons Moving & Storage, said customers who must move should know the company follows all protocols established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The company was already fully sanitizing its trucks each morning and night and at the end of each route before the pandemic, he said. Workers have always worn gloves, he said.
When they show up to move someone, movers for the company also ask clients to wash their hands with an anti-bacterial soap if they haven’t already, according to Webb.
In another step to help prevent the spread of the virus, Webb said, the company is temporarily declining moves at retirement and assisted-living centers. The company also won’t move offices at hospitals and other health-care providers during the pandemic, he said.
Advice for people who are moving
Even the executive director of the North Carolina Movers Association suggests staying put awhile longer if you can. Because of the pandemic, “I would only move if necessary,” Pam Stanley said.
Stanley advises both movers and their clients during the pandemic “to be careful and use common sense.”
Stanley suggests anyone who is working on moving wipe the outside of their boxes with a Chlorox or similar anti-bacterial wipe. People don’t need to wipe the inside of the boxes, she said.
Her advice to moving companies:
Keep sanitizing your trucks, she said, offer gloves to your workers if you don’t already and maintain the social distancing recommended by government health officials, keeping at least 6 feet from each other.
Last week, Stanley said, a mover based in Boone followed common sense measures after showing up at a Hickory woman’s home. The woman told the mover she was in quarantine because she’d just returned from overseas travel.
The mover declined to move her and rescheduled the client until after her quarantine ends, Stanley said.
No. 1 question from movers
Phone lines at the Raleigh-based North Carolina Movers Association “are blowing up” with calls from movers asking, “Is it OK for me to move?” Stanley said.
The association’s 300 certified carriers haven’t been directly told by anyone in state government whether they can operate, Stanley said, but the COVID-19 government orders clearly state they can. And that’s what she said she tells her concerned callers.
Stanley also has emailed members the links to Stay at Home orders issued by Mecklenburg, Madison and Pitt counties, the town of Beaufort and city of Durham.
Stanley said she’s heard of no decline in business among her members because of the pandemic.