Personal service is a key feature of Strand’s service. Strand Freight Systems is dedicated to providing personal service from your first phone contact with us to the successful completion of your move.
By choosing to move with Strand, you will have our expert as your guide throughout the process from A to Z. Here’s how it works:
1. Survey
As soon as you’ve made your decision about what to ship, we can advise you of its shipping costs. In general, we advise you to have a survey conducted over the phone and/or in your residence about three months prior to your move.
A Strand Director will personally come to survey your home and to make sure you understand all costs and logistics involved from start to finish.
2. Agreement
After the survey, you will receive a written survey summary and a price quote that summarizes ALL costs involved. By ALL, we mean no surprises along the process. This is the time that you have to make sure you understand it all, especially if you do some comparison-shopping.
Different shippers will present things in a different manner and don’t necessarily provide you with a very clear picture. If you do not address items which aren’t completely clear, you might find yourself surprised later. Strand’s quotes are presented to you in a straightforward manner to avoid any confusion at any step of the way.
Once you’ve signed your Agreement and have sent a deposit, we open a file for you and proceed with steps 3-14 below.
3. Providing Packing Supplies for self-Packing
STRAND provides FULL packing. However, there are many things you may want to pack for yourself. Upon request, Strand will provide you all the packing supplies you need for self-packing. Strand recommends that you only pack your personal items and other items in your household that are not fragile and that require your decision whether to be packed or not.
4. Packing Fragile items, wrapping furniture at the customer
Fragile Packing
On the day of the pick-up, Strand’s professional and experienced crew will take care of packing all your fragile items (e.g.: dishes, glassware, lamps, pictures, etc.). Furthermore, we will wrap your furniture and other items that you did not want to, or could not handle yourself prior to the moving day.
Strand’s crew is instructed to go the extra mile in assuring that your goods are packed properly to withstand the harsh voyage. If you have any concern regarding how a certain item is handled, we urge you to raise it on the spot. Furthermore, a Strand’s Director is always a phone call away.
With constant rising costs and following the economic meltdown since 2007, Strand is happy to offer you the option of further saving by sharing with us the burden of packing. Packing ALL your goods, including the fragile items, on your own will cut down the costs of your move.
5. Carrying and loading your goods into an exclusive container or our truck
Following the completion of the packing and wrapping of your goods, Strand crew members will carry the goods outside your residence and load them into an exclusive container or Strand truck as per the logistics discussed and agreed upon earlier. The manner in which the goods are positioned can be crucial.
6. Receiving customer purchases at our warehouse
Strand provides each customer with a period of free storage time to accumulate new purchases at our warehouse. At the time of receipt, we will inspect the goods, record them manually and digitally, and email you an updated inventory report accordingly. It is your responsibility to monitor the arrival of your goods prior to the departure of your shipment.
7. Packing into wooden crates for export (LCL)
Ocean shipping costs are mostly based on the volume shipped. Although it may vary according to destination, if you have less than a certain volume, it may be more economical to pack your goods into custom-made lift vans (wooden crates), which are later consolidated into steel containers with other freight.
The industry’s common notion of charging for empty or fluffed space is unacceptable by Strand’s standards. With a state-of-the-art crating facility, Strand works hard to tailor-make its crates to fit the size of your shipped goods. Strand’s tight, careful and puzzle-like manner of packing Lift Vans often leave our clientele in awe.
8. Loading your shipment into steel containers
The method of shipping via ocean is in steel containers. Household goods are normally packed into 20′, standard 40′ or 40′ high-cube containers, which can hold 1050, 2100, or 2500 cubic feet of solid goods respectively.
You should note that the container belongs to the vessel company and as such is subjected to storage fees if not returned empty to the vessel company within few days upon arrival at destination (number of days allowed varies per destination).
9. Delivery to the vessel company
Vessel companies do not normally accept bookings by private individuals. Strand, which sends hundreds of containers yearly, has a service contract with several vessel companies. Strand will book your container, pick up the empty container from the port and will return it loaded with your goods. Containers must be delivered to the vessel company 4 to 5 days prior to the vessel’s scheduled departure.
10. Preparation of Documents
Export declaration is a process that, following the events of 9/11/2001, is constantly being updated and under close government scrutiny. Strand’s office is responsible for all the needed filing and record keeping. Export documentation must be transmitted to the US Government 5 to 6 days prior to the scheduled departure of the vessel.
11. Prepayment of Ocean Shipment
Payment of the ocean voyage must be remitted prior to the release of the documents and container at the destination country. It is part of the reason why you as a customer are asked to remit your payment prior to the departure of the vessel.
12. 30 days free storage for LCL/ 4 days for FCL
As noted above, a container is leased on your behalf from the vessel company for the duration of the voyage. If your goods were packed in lift vans, they will be unloaded at the port of destination and be stored at the port’s bonded warehouse. If your goods were packed in an exclusive container, it is labor intensive and unsafe to unload the goods at the port as they were packed loose. Therefore, time is of-the-essence and the container must be returned to the vessel company in a timely manner.
In Israel, shipments of personal effects and household goods enjoy 30 days of free storage if packed in lift vans and only 4 days if packed in an exclusive container.
13. Customs Clearance
Upon arrival overseas, a member of Strand’s network of highly qualified and vetted destination service providers will guide you through the process of seeing your goods through customs and delivering them to you.
14. Home Delivery
Following the release of your goods, our representative will coordinate the delivery of your goods to your home. You will need to inform our representative of the access and parking conditions at the point of delivery. Upon delivery, our crew will place the items according to your directions, unwrap the furniture that was wrapped at the point of origin, and leave you to open your boxes on your own.