Our 500-plus Allied Van Lines agent locations across the United States and in 34 countries serve corporate customers large and small every day and have offered expert solutions to all through decades of experience. We polled our top U.S. agents to find out the most frequently asked questions from prospective corporate moving partners.
1. How quickly can my office move happen? How can you support my employees working from home through the transition?
The turnaround for your corporate move depends on distance, size/scope of project and time of year, with summer months having the highest demand.
Commercial moves come in all shapes and sizes, from moving a 100-person office across town to transitioning 50 retail stores across the country simultaneously to moving a global headquarters across the globe. Regardless of the size and scope, the objective is the same — plan and execute the move as efficiently and as cost-effectively as possible with minimal disruption to normal business operations.
Mismanaging a commercial move can lead to expanding timetables, downtime, lost productivity and revenue, increased moving costs, insurance claims, and plummeting employee morale.
Determining the breadth and strength of a provider’s moving network is crucial to ensure that you don’t end up at the mercy of a company with limited resources or geographic restrictions that could delay or complicate delivery.
When evaluating single-source commercial movers, look for those such as Allied Van Lines that guarantee access to transportation and labor capacity, exclusive technology, asset-based service delivery, in-market redundancy, and market-based pricing.
Allied’s innovative technology supports your company’s move throughout your workplace and workforce relocation and moving processes. Whether monitoring up-to-date employee relocation statuses and lump-sum payouts via our iMOVE mobile app platform or receiving reporting regarding commercial moves in real time via our patent-pending technology CommercialConnect™ — both from any mobile device, at any time — we have revolutionized the way companies are handling their workforce and workplace mobility.
While your office move is underway, you’ll need a solution such as a co-working destination or a work-from-home plan so your employees don’t miss a day of productivity. As of November 2020, Allied offers HomeWork™, a service to support the new world of work-from-home facilities management.
2. I see that Allied is highly rated for customer service. How do you make commercial moves consistent and efficient from one state to the next?
You’re already a step ahead by reviewing a potential moving partner’s customer satisfaction scores. Allied’s reviews and recent customer service awards will help you clearly understand how we deliver moving services to customers in the real world.
There are two models for you to consider: agent-to-agent or direct-delivery.
- In an agent-to-agent model, you may call on your local moving partner to perform work outside of the typical geographical area. This is easy but full of potential issues as there is no contractual control or oversight between independent moving franchises. In addition, this model is often used in a reciprocal trading environment where you are given a “partner” that may not be the best commercial mover in the area. Lastly, you are tied to a single agent with limited ability to provide market redundancy or reserve capacity.
- Direct-delivery: SIRVA’s ownership of Allied Van Lines helps ensure a Single Point of Contact with corporate command and control over the totality of its ~400 U.S. locations. Allied has complete downline visibility to the crew level, enabling us to manage and track, in real-time, the service you are receiving anywhere in the world. We ensure properly trained and background-checked professional movers for each of our customers.
Allied’s model is unique to the industry and provides several Fortune 100 customers global service with the simple click of a button.
3. How do I effectively plan for a corporate group move?
Corporate relocation involves many steps, from strategic planning, space planning, asset management and warehousing to employee communications, packing up the office, handling technology and network installations and unpacking and cleanup responsibilities at your new location.
To overcome the challenges inherent with a large-scale commercial move, consider partnering with a company that offers single-source, managed, end-to-end commercial moving services. Single-source, direct-delivery commercial moving providers do not work with subcontractors and, instead, manage all elements of a commercial move in-house. This “ownership” of the entire process results in better quality control and security, greater transparency, cost savings, and a more seamless experience from planning to implementation.
A single-source commercial mover can manage the move, reduce office disruptions and get clients back up and running more efficiently and faster than if clients manage all the components themselves or subcontract with multiple providers. Our process has reduced overall program administrative costs by up to 82%.
4. For commercial moving, can Allied move oversized manufacturing equipment or sensitive computer equipment (monitors, servers, printers, etc.) as well as office furniture?
Allied’s long history in the commercial moving industry means our agents have seen and moved it all. Regardless of the need or location, Allied can support every workplace mobility need you may require.
- Rigging/industrial equipment
- Hospital equipment
- Hospitality
- Server farms
- Patient & medical facility moves
5. How will my equipment and technology be protected against damage?
Allied’s approach to movement of IT equipment has, and continues to evolve, to meet the changing needs of our customers. Our custom handling, packing, crating and inventory process, when coupled with our world-class commercial movers, reduces or eliminates the potential for damage. Each customer’s needs are unique, so we ensure excellent service through proper planning and preparation, and the whole process is tracked in real time through our patent-pending software system, CommercialConnect™.
6. What’s the main reason it’s difficult to find a mover during the summer?
The warmer months in the U.S., roughly from May through November, are busiest for both corporate and consumer moves. The main reason is milder weather offers the least opportunity for severe winter weather delays and complications.
Commercial movers such as Allied that own a van line, as well as a large fleet of trucks, are less susceptible to market dynamics such as driver availability, capacity issues and labor shortages. The more extensive the moving network, the more likely a provider can support you wherever — and whenever — you need them.
7. Is there a service for decommissioning office equipment?
During any stage of the business cycle, Allied Van Lines and our parent company SIRVA Commercial are here to help. Our services allow businesses to be nimble when it comes to facilities and assets. If your company needs to shift assets or take facilities offline, let us manage every aspect of the process. There is no subcontracting involved, which means you get outstanding quality control, first-rate security and unmatched savings by eliminating the middleman.
Here’s a look at a few of our services:
- Donate, sell, recycle, refurbish, auction and dispose (environmentally responsible methods)
- Repurposing of equipment through a web-based platform to order and track
- Vendor coordination for equipment that needs servicing and vendor support for its relocation
- Shredding
- Secure IT destruction
- Warehouse and asset management
- Terminal cleaning services to prepare old facility for decommissioning
- State-mandated certifications for decommissioning with all documentation
- Removal of all items for decommissioning such as batteries, sanitizers, biohazards, etc., with process control through an online software platform
All of this can be easily managed and tracked in our patent-pending online platform. Our technology lets you measure your carbon footprint, so you can do what’s best for the environment while being a good steward of company dollars.
ABOUT ALLIED VAN LINES
Allied Van Lines is an award-winning moving and specialized transportation services company. Established in 1928, Allied is one of the world’s largest moving companies and a recognized global brand of SIRVA, Inc., a leader in providing relocation services to corporations, consumers and governments around the world. For six consecutive years, Allied has been recognized as “America’s Most Recommended Moving Company” by Women’s Choice Award® and 2020 Newsweek “America’s Best Customer Service.” Allied is the Official Partner of the Salvation Army and a ProMover® member of the American Moving and Storage Association. For more information, call 1-800-689-8684 or visit allied.com. U.S. DOT 076235
