Minimum Job and Weight Of Your Shipment
Shipments Subject to Minimum Weight Or Volume Charges
Movers usually have a minimum weight or volume charge for transporting a
shipment. Usually the minimum is the charge for transporting a shipment of at least 1,000 pounds (454
kilograms).
If your shipment appears to weigh less than the mover's minimum weight, the
mover is required to advise you on the order for service of the minimum cost before agreeing to transport the
shipment. Should the mover fail to advise you of the minimum charges and your shipment is less than the minimum
weight, the final charges must be based on the actual weight instead of the minimum weight.
Determining The Weight Of Your Shipment
If charges are to be based upon the weight of the shipment, the mover is
required to weigh the shipment. Unless your shipment weighs less than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) and can be weighed
on a warehouse platform scale, the mover is required to determine the weight of your shipment by one of
the following processes:
ORIGIN WEIGHING
If your shipment is weighed in the city or area from which you
are moving, the driver is required to weigh the truck on which the shipment is to be transported before
coming to your residence. This is called the tare weight. At the time of this first weighing the truck may already
be partially loaded with one or more other shipments. This will not affect the weight of your shipment. The truck
should also contain the pads, dollies, hand-trucks, ramps, and other equipment normally used in the transportation of
household goods shipments.
After loading, the truck will be weighed again to obtain the loaded weight,
called the gross weight. The net weight of your shipment is then obtained by subtracting the tare weight from
the gross weight.
DESTINATION WEIGHING
The mover is also permitted to determine the
weight of your shipment at the destination at the time of unloading. The fact that a shipment is weighed at the
destination instead of at the origin will not affect the accuracy of the weight of your shipment.
Destination weighing is done in reverse of origin weighing. After arriving in
the city or area to which you are moving, the driver will weigh the truck, with your shipment loaded on it, to
obtain the gross weight before coming to your new residence to unload. After unloading your shipment, the driver will
again weigh the truck to obtain the tare weight. The net weight of your shipment will then be obtained by
subtracting the tare weight from the gross weight.
Each time a weighing is performed the driver is required to obtain a weight
ticket showing the date and place of weighing and the weight obtained. The ticket must also have your name and
shipment number entered on it, along with the identification (I.D.) numbers of the truck. The person who
performed the weighing must sign the ticket. If both the empty (tare) and loaded (gross) weightings are performed on
the same scale, the record of both weightings may be entered on one weight ticket.
At the time the mover gives you the freight bill to collect the charges, a copy
of every weight ticket relating to your shipment must accompany your copy of the freight bill.
You have the right to observe every weighing. The mover is required to inform
you of the specifi c location of each scale that will be used and to allow you a reasonable opportunity to be present.
If you desire to observe either or both of the weightings, you should tell the mover at the time the order for
service is prepared or, in any event, before the date of your move. This will enable the mover to contact you before
the weighing to advise you of the location of the scale.
REWEIGHING OF SHIPMENTS
THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE MOVER WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DETERMINE
THE EXACT CHARGES ON YOUR SHIPMENT BEFORE IT IS UNLOADED.
If your shipment is weighed at origin and you agree with the mover that you will
pay the charges at time of delivery, the mover is required to give you written notice of the weight and charges on
your shipment before commencing to unload at your destination residence. If you believe that the weight is not
accurate, you have the right to request that the shipment be reweighed before unloading.
The mover is not permitted to charge for the reweighing. If the weight of your
shipment at the time of the reweigh is different from the weight determined at origin, the mover must recompute the
charges based on the reweigh weight.
Before requesting a reweigh, you may find it to your advantage to estimate the
weight of your shipment using the following method:
- Count the number of items in your shipment. Usually there will be either 30 or
40 items listed on each page of the inventory. For example, if there are 30 items per page and your inventory
consists of four complete pages and a fifth page with 15 items listed, the total number of items will be
135. If an automobile is listed on the inventory do not include that item in the count of the total items.
- Subtract the weight of any automobile included in your shipment from the total
weight of the shipment. If the automobile was not weighed separately, its weight can be found on its title
or license receipt.
- Divide the number of items in your shipment into the weight. If the average
weight resulting from this exercise ranges between 35 and 45 pounds (16 and 20 kilograms) per article, it
is unlikely that a reweigh will prove beneficial to you and could result in your paying higher charges.
Experience has shown that the average shipment of household goods will weigh
about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) per item. If a shipment contains a large number of heavy items, such as cartons
of books, boxes of tools or heavier than average furniture, the average weight per item may be 45 pounds (20
kilograms) or more.
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