How to Prepare for your Move in Charleston During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021 Edition)

Published: May 01, 2021

With many states’ COVID-19 restrictions loosening as more and more people get vaccinated, it can be hard to navigate what is and is not safe to do, especially during a move. However, the truth is that we’re still in a pandemic, and there are still best practices that you can follow to avoid getting infected during your move. Here you’ll find some helpful guidelines to keep you and your family safe during your move during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Call moving companies to plan ahead. If you plan on hiring movers, call multiple companies in advance to get a quote and to ascertain their sanitation and social distancing protocols. You should be looking for companies that forefront their mask wearing and social distancing rules, as well as how they’re screening and preventing their employees from becoming sick. If you plan on using Craigslist or TaskRabbit, a platform where people pay freelancers for doing odd jobs, be sure to ask individually what their safety and sanitation protocols are. Remember that you may have to enforce mask wearing or hand washing with any moving company or freelancer.

Have peace of mind with UNITS. Consider moving yourself with a UNITS storage unit. If you’re looking to move across the county or country, UNITS can help. In addition, UNITS is doing our part by continuously monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and following health and safety protocols. If an associate is not feeling well, they are required to stay home. We are also enforcing mask wearing and frequent and thorough soap hand washing as well as using alcohol-based sanitizer where hand washing is unavailable. UNITS will also continue to clean and sanitize high-contact areas as recommended by the Center for Disease Control. You can find more about our Coronavirus protocols here.

Buy all your moving supplies in one trip. With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, it’s best to keep your trips to the store to a minimum. The best way to go about this is to make a thorough list, or use a packing/moving calculator.

Check Coronavirus procedures at your local donation sites. With moving inevitably comes the shedding of items you no longer have use for. Many Goodwill and other local donation sites will have guidelines that reflect the state and local restrictions when it comes to donating your used items. Do your research before dropping off a bag of clothes at your local donation site to see what items you can still donate and how you can donate them. For those items that can’t make it to your local donation site, listing them on your local Facebook group or putting them up on Craigslist can be a way for you to shed your unwanted items.

Provide hygiene supplies for your movers. In order to aid your movers in best hygiene practices, leave out some hand washing and cleaning supplies for them. Provide paper towels and soap so they can wash their hands when they arrive and before they touch your moving supplies and as they transport your items to the moving truck.

Be kind to yourself. Everything is harder and more stressful during a global pandemic. Give yourself extra time and compassion to get things in order. Moving is a stressful event and a stressful time for everyone involved, so don’t push yourself too hard.