Cambridge Lights

Image courtesy of Cambridge Lights

During the holiday season we do deliveries for Cambridge Lights, a Christmas tree delivery company servicing Cambridge, Boston, Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Brookline and the greater-Boston area.

Not only does Cambridge Lights deliver Christmas trees, they hang lights, wreaths, garlands and other holiday decorations. At the end of the Christmas season they'll even pick up your tree and recycle it for you. They have a lot to offer during the very busy holiday season. The best part is, if you want, they'll string lights on the tree for you, giving you more time to wrap presents and drink some delicious egg nog!

If you'd like to speak to them about a Christmas tree delivery or having some lights hung around your house give them a call at 617.600.3204. You can also e-mail them at info@cambridgelights.com. They'd love to hear from you and we'd love spread some holiday cheer by dropping off a tree at your house!

UPDATE: Somerville Parking (yet again)

In August we were asked by a customer to obtain a Somerville moving van permit for their move. This permit would involve metered spots. Perhaps we haven't had to get a metered spot in Somerville in a long time or maybe there's a new rule, we're not sure.

Here's how it worked when we requested a spot with meters: Fill out the form, including all of the relevant information. The clerk will enter this info and process as usual. However, with metered spots you will NOT receive permit paperwork as you would with a non-metered spot. Somerville will put your request in the system and bag the meters, but you will not receive signs to post or permit paperwork for your files. Also, each meter head is $35 and then there's another fee on top of that for the request. Its a little confusing and kind of expensive, but it worked for us when we had to do it.

If you need a moving van permit from Somerville we would suggest calling them before you go down or just heading over there and figuring it out on site. It seems there's have been a lot of changes, but they don't show up on the website.

Local Businesses We Love

We're back from our hiatus (it was a busy summer!) and ready to blog.

This one isn't about moving, because, after all, all work and no play makes for some cranky movers. Instead, we want to focus our attention on some local businesses we use on a regular basis because we love working with them and/or patronizing them. Definitely check these out when you're in the neighborhood.

image courtesy of google maps

- Cambridge
Iggy's Breads of the World - Delicious. Its almost embarrassing how often we go in here. Sometimes twice a day...
Basil Tree Catering - We moved them into their new space just down the street from us and they have some great breakfast and lunch options
McGeoghean Waste Systems - We've been using them for our dumpster rental for years.
Verna's Donuts - The best glazed doughnuts on the planet.
Newtowne Grill - A regular after work spot for a long time.
Redemption Tattoo - More than half of us have been in here at least once to get tattooed. You can't go wrong with any of the artists.
Porter Square Books - If we need a business related book we call here. If they don't have it, they'll order it and it'll be there fast. Great for all books, not just business!
Bob Slate Stationer - We used to go to their Porter Square location, now we head to their Harvard Square spot. We get everything from binders to custom stamps here.
Middle East - Most of our movers either are in or have been in bands and have played either the Upstairs or Downstairs. Its a great place to see a show and grab some tasty Middle Eastern food.
TT The Bears - Another venue many of our guys have played at.
Plough and Stars - We eat here, we drink here, we play shows here, we see shows here. We're here a lot.

- Somerville
Ace Wheelworks - We've got a lot of cyclists at the company and this is where most of us go to get the best bike stuff around. 
Highland Kitchen - Great specials and drinks, nice staff (we've moved a lot of them) and spelling bees!
Diesel Cafe - There's some hard to resist caffeinated beverages in here, even if it is hard to find a place to stick our trucks so we can run in!
Redbones - Another after work favorite for a long time. 

- Arlington
Dudley Automotive - Ed and the guys do a fantastic job keeping our trucks in great shape. Stop into the Barbecue Barn right next door for some grills and accessories.

This is by no means an exhaustive list or even a greatest hits, just some places we'd recommend you check out if you're new to the area. For more comprehensive lists of local businesses in Somerville and Cambridge check out Somerville Local First and Cambridge Local First. 

Parking Permits - Changes to Boston and Somerville

Both the City of Boston and the City of Somerville have recently made changes to their procedures for moving van permits.

Boston used to have two offices for moving van permits, one for the signs and one for the paperwork. Now, they have consolidated the process into one office. Getting a permit should now be more streamlined and it only requires one check instead of two. Everything else about the process remains the same.

Somerville previously put up the moving van permit signs for you. Now, however, it is the responsibility of the person or company requesting the permit. They signs must go up 48 hours in advance of the requested date(s).

If you're moving to or from Boston or Somerville keep these changes in mind when its time to request your moving vans. And, of course, if you have any questions about getting through us if you're using Intelligent Labor and Moving for your move, just let us know!

Also, as a random side note, I just found a picture of our truck on this blog. Nice shot!

The Busy Season Approaches

image is our own!

Moving in the Boston-area (and perhaps everywhere else) is a very seasonal business. Winters are slow and summers its hard to keep up with demand. Part of this has to do with the leasing/university schedule in Boston and part of it is just that its not that pleasant to move when its very cold and possibly snowy out.

Every year, sometime in April, is when we start to get busy. We have hit that point this year. The phones are ringing more, the inbox has a lot more e-mails and we're filling up the calendar.

If you are looking to use a moving company sometime this summer or to move yourself with a rental truck we have some recommendations:

1. When you know you are going to move start planning. Call truck rental places to book a truck if that is your plan. If you're using a moving company call around to get estimates as soon as you know you're moving.
2. Think about moving van permits. On very busy days during the summer moving van permits can become unavailable due to someone else requesting a permit for the same address.
3. Know what days are busiest and if you have any flexibility with your move date. Traditionally, the first and last days of the month are the busiest. The 15th is also usually fairly busy. Weekends are also very popular. If you have a specific day in mind and you know that the landlord's or your schedule doesn't allow for any wiggle room about that make sure you call to make reservations as soon as you are able.
3. The above applies particularly for September 1st. Everyone in the greater Boston-area knows that is the hardest day of the year to try and move, whether you're doing it yourself or using a moving company. That day books up FAST, so keep that in mind when planning.
4. Last minute moves are hard to pull off in the summer, at least for us and most likely for any truck rental places. While during the winter we can often schedule you within a day or two, during the summer we tend to book up at least a week or two in advance, sometimes more. It never hurts to try, though, so if you do have a last minute move or change of plans definitely give us a call or shoot us an e-mail.

Being prepared is the key to any low-stress, happy moving experience of any kind and even more so in the summer. If you have any questions about moving this summer please give us a call (617.864.0620) or e-mail us (help@intelligentlabor.com). You can also check out our excellent, revamped website for tips and information. We'd love to help you move!

Navigating Cambridge and Somerville in a Truck

Here's another helpful post from our owner, Ezekiel. If you're planning on renting your own truck for a move in Cambridge or Somerville this information will be a huge help!

image courtesy of dreamstime.com

Getting from North Cambridge to Somerville in a truck can be tricky. Almost all the roads that go from Massachusetts Ave. towards Somerville west of Porter Square are one-ways or no truck routes. This even applies once you get into Arlington all the way to the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. and Rt. 60. The best route to know is Davenport St. in Porter Square. It's a short street that runs from Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge behind the Porter Square shopping plaza back to Elm St. Somerville. Located on that street are the loading docks and commercial parking for the shopping plaza so it can also be a handy place to turn around if you've missed a turn.

Website Upgrade!

We've just completed a major overhaul to our company website. We're really proud of how it turned out. Here are just some of the changes:

- More information about moving van permits and how they work
- An expanded link section with links to businesses we work with and organizations we belong to
- Information about how and what we recycle
- A section about how we participate in our community
- An expanded section on our rates, including rush rates, extra charges, insurance, and disposal

Go take a look and tell us what you think! We'd love to hear from you about ease of use, comprehensiveness of information, etc. We think we've now got best site for a moving company in the Boston area!

Davis Sq. Blog

A recent customer told us about a Davis Sq. live journal so I had to check it out. I'm not up on live journals, so I can't say if this is what all of them are like, but this one in particular lets users post whatever is on their mind in relation to Davis Sq. I saw posts about people giving stuff away for free, community goings-on, incidents of interest, questions about Cadbury Eggs on sale at Rite Aid, etc. Its seems like a combination of free-cycle, craigslist and Wicked Local.

If you live in the Davis Sq. area or are planning on moving there is definitely worth a look.

Parking Permits - Somerville

photo courtesy of www.somerville.patch.com

We charge $90 per permit to obtain Somerville moving van parking permits.

If you'd like to get the permit yourself go to the Office of Traffic and Parking at 133 Holland St. Somerville (its just outside Davis Sq.). The office is open Monday through Wednesday 9 AM to 4 PM, Thursday from 9 AM to 7 PM and Friday from 9 AM to 12 PM. To save some time when you get there, download the form you'll need and fill it out. The Office of Traffic and Parking is also where people go to pay parking tickets and get residential parking stickers so be prepared for a long wait at times. I've been there and gotten in and out in five minutes and other times I've been there and waited in line for half an hour or more. So, be prepared to take some time going through this process just in case.

Once there you'll be called up to one of the teller windows. Hand over your filled out form and get ready to pull out your checkbook. Somerville charges $40 per day per permit and $5 per parking sign. So, for example, if you are moving from one address in Somerville to another and you need permits at each location it would cost you $100 (two permits at $40 apiece and 4 signs at $5 apiece). Additionally, Somerville charges for metered spots. If you need to have us park metered spots you'll need to have those meter numbers with you before you go to obtain your moving van permit. Metered spots in Somerville cost $25 per bagged meter plus a $25 service fee.

Once your charges are determined and you pay the teller will give you signs for the trucks. They're cardboard signs with information about your permit. Keep these for us to put in the front window of our trucks on the day of the move. The actual street signs will be posted by the City of Somerville, so you don't have to worry about that part.

As for a timeline, the website doesn't list how early you need to apply for a moving van permit and calling and asking doesn't yield any better results. I would go at least 2 business days in advance to request a moving van permit, earlier in the busy summer months. You can go much earlier than that, though I once went a month in advance and it seemed to through them off. I did walk away with the permit, though.