11 weeks to aliyah – This post should “lift” your spirits

First of all, I want to wish a Happy 65^th Birthday to Israel. May we celebrate many, many more of them, but TOGETHER from now on.

Choosing a company for your lift is not as simple as it might seem at first, partly because there are so many good companies out there and the rates tend to be pretty close, one to the next so you might be inclined to just randomly choose one and be done with it. But there are certainly differences between the various firms and your personal preferences in prioritizing those differences could help you make the decision that works for you.

Some of the costs that are involved in moving are pretty static and tend not to be all that different from one firm to another. For example, the cost of materials for packing (boxes, tape, padding, wrapping,

Zim Container ship in Haifa port

etc.) probably costs each firm pretty much the same so if one company expects that cost to be especially low, you might wonder if they are skimping on some materials. Also, they probably are all charged pretty much the same for a 20 or 40 foot container, so that price just gets passed along to you.

On the other hand, you will find differences in the size of the company, the number of years that they have been around, their reputation and local references, where they are based and insurance.

There are a few sites that allow people to post their experiences with the moving firms, for example this one: http://goo.gl/Qri8T (that is where the responses are posted). When reading the reviews, you have to be careful to give some of the companies the benefit of the doubt and take some of the comments with a grain of salt. Some complaints seemed rather petty to me and others seemed to be out of the shipper’s control. I noticed that 3 of the largest shippers had only positive comments so I started my search with them. I also include two firms that were recommended to me by people who had used them.

One factor that made a difference to me was where the company is based. Several of the firms used the same mover here in the NY area since they were based elsewhere in the US or in Israel so I figured that this aspect was all the same for those shippers and that local mover was probably pretty good. I wanted to focus my attention on a shipper that is based in Israel because I figured that might make the processing on that side a bit smoother.

Another factor that I considered was that one of the firms was self insured. That allowed them to reduce the cost of the insurance for me while also lowering the deductible. I interpreted this (for better or for worse) as a sign of confidence that they have in their ability to safely and reliably move my goods (although it could also be a sign of their reluctance to make payments on claims, but I tend to doubt that).

Some firms were unable to give me local references even though I know other Staten Islanders who had used them. The fact that they couldn't or wouldn't bother to try did not increase my confidence in them.

Whichever firm you choose, I hope that you have a smooth and worry free experience.