Checking the Pulse of U.S. Domestic Household Goods

The household goods shipping industry continues to be a major topic of discussion this year due to many factors impacting moving such as labor and equipment shortages and challenges created by the effects of the pandemic. In an effort to continuously provide up-to-date research, Aires has completed a comprehensive survey focusing on U.S. domestic moving policy provision trends. This survey report includes what expenses are most often paid for, what items are most often allowed to be shipped, exception frequency, automobiles, storage, discard-and-donate, self-moves, and effects the pandemic has had on shipping authorizations and exception approvals.

We surveyed 62 companies across a wide variety of industries and found that 96% of respondents offer household goods shipping benefits. Key Findings of Aires’ survey include:

• The most common services provided outside of packing, loading, transporting, delivery, and are furniture disassembly/assembly, disconnection/connection of standard household appliances, and crating.
• Extra delivery locations, overtime charges for evenings, extra pick-up locations, and overtime costs for weekend delivery are rarely offered as standard practice but are the most common approved exceptions.
• 95% of respondents offer shipment of at least one automobile.
• 22% of respondents cap all shipments, either by total size or cost; another 14% have caps in place for select groups of employees.
• The pandemic has not led to any household goods policy changes for respondents, and only 3% have made minor changes over the past two years (most of which were to clarify benefits).
• 48% of respondents confirm they are more likely to approve exceptions as a result of the pandemic (only 5% say they are less likely). The remaining respondents report no changes to their exception tolerance.

While the U.S. domestic household goods industry continues to adapt and change, and the pandemic continues to create new challenges, this service remains a critical relocation benefit. Our survey noted an increase in self-moves, shipment authorization for college graduates, and discard and donate benefits. For full details of these offerings and other domestic shipping benefits, please contact your Aires representative for a copy of the full Pulse Survey results.