Furniture Packer/Mover Kaiuta/Kaiwhakaneke Taonga
Furniture packers/movers pack furniture and equipment and move it between households, offices and storage places.
Furniture packers/movers may do some or all of the following:
- discuss details of moves with clients
- take an inventory of items and record any marks or damage
- drive a truck or van
- wrap and pack goods
- carry furniture, cartons and other items to the furniture removal vehicle
- load and secure items
- unload items and unpack them
- reassemble any furniture that has been disassembled
- clean and tidy moving sites and equipment.
Physical Requirements
Furniture packers/movers need to have excellent fitness and health and must be strong.
Useful Experience
Useful experience for furniture packers/movers includes:
- jobs that involve packing or heavy lifting
- driving vans, trucks or other heavy vehicles
- labouring experience – for example, on a building site.
Personal Qualities
Furniture packers/movers need to be:
- practical
- good planners and organisers
- careful and respectful
- responsible, reliable and honest
- able to follow instructions
- good at communicating
- patient and tolerant.
Skills
Furniture packers/movers need to have:
- good furniture-packing skills
- knowledge of how to safely move difficult items such as pianos
- health and safety knowledge
- the ability to pack a truck so that it is balanced
- the ability to read office plans and road maps
- good driving skills
- strong customer service skills.
Conditions
Furniture packers/movers:
- usually work long hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays
- work at and between offices, homes and warehouses
- work in hard-to-access environments such as houses on steep hills
- travel locally and nationally.
Furniture Packer/Movers can earn around $23-$26 per hour.
Pay for furniture packers/movers varies depending on skills and experience.
- Furniture packers/movers usually start on minimum wage an hour.
- Those with a Class 2 heavy vehicle licence usually earn $24 an hour.
- Those with a Class 5 heavy vehicle licence usually earn $26 an hour.
Sources: Conroy Removals and New Zealand Van Lines, 2018.
Furniture packers/movers may progress to set up their own moving company.
Years Of Training
There are no specific entry requirements to become a furniture packer/mover. However, a driver's licence and/or heavy vehicle licence is useful. A clean criminal record is required by most employers.