What You'll Need
Preparing for Icey Sidewalks
An important item to remember is that icy sidewalks, driveways, and streets are unstable enough under normal conditions but become much more risky when you are carrying bulky boxes or furniture and cannot watch your step as carefully. If it is icy where you dwell, shovel the walkways as thoroughly as possible and salt the entire walk betwixt your front door and the portal of the moving truck. When you are finished, pack up your shovels and bag of salt in the trunk of your own vehicle or make sure they are packed last in the moving truck. This will assure that you can clear driveways and sidewalks at your new home as well.
Protecting Your Floors
The next ice and snow related issue is the state of your floors. When people are walking through ice or snow to get into your home, that slush will stick on their shoes and will be tracked all over your spotless floors or, even worse, soak dirty slush into your carpets. To guard both the home you're leaving and the one you're moving into, use tarps and plastic sheeting to keep ice-covered boots off your flooring.
Planning for Icy Roads in Little Rock
The following thing to ponder is the possibility that the byways you will be traveling on are likely to also be covered in ice and possibly people still traveling from the holidays. Expect heavy traffic, accidents, backups, and all types of delays. This means that if you have a moving deadline, you will need to give yourself plenty of time to guarantee that you have an extra few days to both drive to your destination and get everything unloaded in the elements.
For efficiency and safety's sake, you may also want to plan alternate routes or have an app ready to help you plan detours if there's a bad traffic or weather problem on your original planned route.
Landing Somewhere Warm
After a arduous drive in the moving truck or your own car in a caravan with your moving trucks, you're going to need to warm yourself in the new house very fast. This means that any delays getting the house open and the heater own can be problematic, especially if the utilities aren't ready yet. Make sure to have water, electricity, and gas, if applicable, turned on at the new place. Attempt to arrive ahead of the trucks or see if a local contact can access the house and get it warming up before the convoy shows up and starts unpacking.
Take Care of Yourself and Your Movers
Moving in the winter is difficult work with a combined risk of getting too cold, getting too warm, and getting dangerously dehydrated as your body loses moisture in the cold. After you get the heater started up, you’ll want to make a big pot of hot tea or cocoa along with a pitcher of room-temperature (not freezing cold) water. Keep yourself hydrated and warm with cups of tea and pass cups or a thermos around for the movers and any friends who are there helping. This way, everyone stays energetic and unlikely to get too exhausted or catch a cold during the relocation.
Moving in the winter is tricky business, but something you can surely handle with a little forward thinking and consideration for everyone involved. By making sure all walkways have the snow and ice removed, the destination home is ready to be hospitable, and everyone drinks enough liquids, you should be able to get all your things safely from one icy residence to another.
