Are you looking for Cheap Movers in Singapore?

Are you looking for Cheap Movers in Singapore?

Home Moving that requires Professional Home Movers is usually the last step in the purchase of our dream homes. Prior to that, we have had to deal with home-hunting, conveyance, financing , renovation etc etc. It’s the final piece of the Home Sweet Home puzzle. Nevertheless, when it comes to this last step, homeowner intriguingly wants to find the CHEAPEST MOVERS out there on the market to complete the puzzle.

Is there really such a thing as CHEAP Movers? In Singapore, where the costs of living is the highest in the world, we are often guilty of trying to find every single deals to save in every possible way - home moving included.

Now, there is nothing inherently wrong in that, in fact it is a good virtue to have. However, in our pursuit of these seemingly unbelievable good deals, we often end up feeling cheated or shortchanged at the end.

CHEAP is subjective. What’s cheap to me may not be cheap to you right? So what’s a good gauge? where do we draw the line?

Now, let’s conduct a critical analysis of the moving market and their underlying costs to get a clearer picture on what is considered cheap…

For this example, we will be assuming that all home moving has the below characteristics:

• It is a one (01) truckload volume move

• There are no special items that will incur additional costs i.e piano, big safes etc

• The move is a straightforward move with lift landings at both pick-up and drop-off points.

• A basic team of 3 men and 1 truck is used for the home moving.

• All dismantling / assembling and protection works are included.

• 30 Carton boxes are included with 5 rolls of adhesive tapes.

• A team does THREE (03) moves a day

1.) TRUCKS

Trucks are essential for all Professional Movers in the market. They are one of the single biggest ticket item in a moving company’s costs. In Singapore, that’s even more pronounced as trucks are subjected to the purchase of the COEs as well .

Purchase:

Average cost is $90,000 or estimated about $1 ,200 per month or $40/day

Rental:

Average of about $2000 per month or $66/day

So the average costs of trucking will be $53 per day.

2.) MANPOWER

The cost of a home moving workers is about $70/day and a driver about $90/day. So a team consisting of 1 driver and two move workers will cost the company $230 per day

3.) FUEL

Diesel stands at $1.65 per litre as of today the date of the article. A full tank of 100 litres will normally be good for 3 days of driving on average. So that’s $165/3=$55/day .

4.) MATERIALS

In a typical house moving, we tend to use up the following on average

• 3 rolls of pallet wraps a.k.a shrink wraps (average cost is $8/roll so $24)

• 30 carton boxes (assuming used condition @ $1 per box cost so $30)

• Tapes @ 5 rolls (Assuming $1 per roll so $5)

Total Material costs for one move is $59.

Estimated TOTAL COSTS per day

Truck : $53

Manpower : $230

Fuel : $55

Material costs: $59 x 3moves = $177

TOTAL costs per day: $514, Five Hundred and Fourteen Dollars!

ANALYSIS

Now that we know the estimated cost of a Professional Moving Company, we can make some interesting judgements on some of the deals out there.

CHEAP MOVERS often advertised their services at an average of $280 per truckload. Using the above daily costs as a guide, they will need to move a minimum of TWO(02) truckloads ($560) per day to cover their costs.

That’s a challenging target to meet on a DAILY basis!

So what are the implications of using CHEAP MOVERS?

1.) Workers

Most move workers working in these companies are usually lowly-paid and overworked. Not to mentioned that they are likely to be un-insured against injuries.

This is only logical as the company needs to cut costs to ensure profitability and also get more moves done in a day to make money.

Now ask yourself, if your boss is underpaying you and expects you to work OT everday for the company to make money, what kind of an attitude will you bring to work? And if that’s the case, what kind of move workers would you want handling the last important puzzle of your Home Sweet Home plan?

Such companies will also have little to no budget to upgrade their worker’s skills and thus increase service levels.

2.) Trucks

In order to bring down costs, these companies resort to buying the oldest of old trucks as they are the cheapest in the market. To cut costs, their trucks are typically not regularly mantained. What this means is that breakdowns are common!

They will directly affect you if you are the unfortunate or fortunate one to be next on the move. There is a very minute chance that they will have a replacement truck to send to you because they cannot afford to keep an extra one lying around. Even if they can get a rental truck, very few are willing to incur the high extra costs of immediate one day’s rental, to complete your move.

Materials

Material costs are the 2nd most expensive after workers in a home moving company. Cheap movers usually tend to use very little materials on protection and just move most items as it is to save on costs. Now we know moving is very hands-on, it is inevitable that there will be bumps and knocks during the job.

What this means is that without proper adequate protection, things do get damaged in the process. When a moving company has already scrimped to save on using protective materials, what are the chances that they will be able to compensate your damages?

Summary of using CHEAP MOVERS

To re-iterate, there is no right or wrong in choosing to use cheap movers. Different people have different moving needs and may not require better movers.

However, as can be seen in the above simple analysis, the cost of a Professional Home Moving company is quite substantial. There is no way so called- cheap movers can provide you with a top notch moving job at an incredibly low price.

They usually have to resort to some other methods to reduce their costs to survive and to make money. Whether what they implement is ethical or not, they will almost always directly affect your home moving in an undesirable manner.

So the next time we want the Cheapest Movers, do temper our own expectations so that we will not be left frustrated or disappointed with the unexpected outcome.

Happy Movers Hunting!