Top 12 Mover Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today's crowded job market, thriving as a mover takes more than muscle. Showcasing a sharp mix of skills on your resume signals reliability, care, and the kind of professional polish that eases stressful moves and wins repeat business.
Mover Skills
- Heavy Lifting
- Packing/Unpacking
- Inventory Management
- Time Management
- Customer Service
- Forklift Operation
- GPS Navigation
- Safety Compliance
- Equipment Maintenance
- Route Planning
- Team Coordination
- Problem Solving
1. Heavy Lifting
Heavy lifting for movers means safely moving large, bulky, or awkward items from place to place. It’s about strength, yes, but also smart technique and the right tools so bodies last and belongings stay intact.
Why It's Important
Safe, efficient lifting keeps jobs on schedule, prevents injuries, and protects customers’ items. No one wants damage or downtime.
How to Improve Heavy Lifting Skills
Focus on form, strength, and support gear—steady wins.
Nail the basics: Bend at the knees, keep the load close, engage your core, avoid twisting under strain, and move your feet to pivot.
Build core and leg strength: Squats, deadlifts with proper form, planks, and carries. Train consistently, progress gradually.
Use equipment: Dollies, shoulder/forearm lifting straps, hand trucks, forearm forklifts, and stair-climbing carts. Reduce strain, boost control.
Wear the right gear: Grippy gloves, supportive footwear, optional back support when loads stack up.
Pace and hydrate: Plan rest breaks, rotate tasks, drink water. Fatigue multiplies mistakes.
Better technique and tools mean fewer injuries and faster moves.
How to Display Heavy Lifting Skills on Your Resume
2. Packing/Unpacking
Packing is protecting items for transport with the right materials and methods. Unpacking restores order at destination—carefully, methodically, room by room.
Why It's Important
Good packing prevents damage. Smart unpacking speeds setup. Together they shrink chaos and keep claims near zero.
How to Improve Packing/Unpacking Skills
Plan and label: Inventory items, color-code rooms, number boxes, mark fragile surfaces and tops clearly.
Use sturdy materials: Double-walled boxes, tape that sticks, bubble wrap, foam, moving blankets, wardrobe boxes, dish packs.
Heavy in small, light in large: Keep liftable weights. Fill voids to stop shifting.
Wrap right: Plates vertical, glasses nested with dividers, electronics padded and boxed, furniture blanketed and shrink-wrapped.
Essentials box: Day-one kit—tools, chargers, toiletries, meds, basic cookware, bedding.
Unpack with intent: Start with kitchen, beds, and bathrooms. One room at a time beats scattered piles.
Order in, order out. Speed without shortcuts.
How to Display Packing/Unpacking Skills on Your Resume
3. Inventory Management
Inventory management means tracking every item end to end—documented at pickup, checked at load, confirmed at unload—so nothing vanishes and everything lands where it should.
Why It's Important
Accuracy lowers loss, cuts disputes, and speeds claims resolution when accidents happen. It’s accountability on paper and on the truck.
How to Improve Inventory Management Skills
- Use a simple system: Digital or paper, but consistent. Item lists, condition notes, photos, and box IDs.
- Audit often: Count at key checkpoints—origin, load, arrival, delivery. Catch gaps early.
- Standardize labels: Room, contents, handling notes, unique codes. Clear and legible beats clever.
- Train the team: Everyone follows the same steps. No exceptions.
- Consider barcodes or RFID: Faster scans, fewer mistakes, cleaner logs.
Track well and the rest flows—fewer surprises, smoother handoffs.
How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume
4. Time Management
Time management means sequencing tasks—pack, load, drive, unload—so deadlines are hit without frantic scrambles.
Why It's Important
On-time moves build trust. More jobs fit into fewer days. Stress drops. Reviews climb.
How to Improve Time Management Skills
Prioritize: Tackle high-impact tasks first. Separate urgent from merely noisy.
Schedule blocks: Assign time windows for each phase, including buffer time and breaks.
Set checkpoints: Midday and end-of-day reviews to adjust tomorrow’s plan.
Limit distractions: Clear roles, clear timelines, phones quiet during critical lifts and counts.
Delegate wisely: Match people to strengths—wrapping, stair-carry, disassembly, paperwork.
Plan, execute, recalibrate. Repeat.
How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume
5. Customer Service
Customer service for movers is clear communication, careful handling, punctuality, and steady follow-through before, during, and after the move.
Why It's Important
Great service turns a stressful day into a calm one, sparks referrals, and separates pros from the rest.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Set expectations early: Arrival windows, scope, item prep, insurance details, and payment terms—spelled out plainly.
Communicate status: ETAs, delays, and changes. A quick heads-up earns trust.
Train for empathy: This day is big for the customer. Handle concerns fast, own mistakes, and fix them.
Gather feedback: Short surveys or post-move calls. Close the loop and act on patterns.
Follow up: After-service check-ins reduce lingering issues and boost reviews.
Reliability, respect, responsiveness. That’s the trifecta.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
6. Forklift Operation
Forklift operation means safely moving pallets, appliances, and bulky freight in warehouses or loading areas. Precision beats speed; clear sightlines beat guesswork.
Why It's Important
It reduces strain on crews, speeds loading, and prevents costly drops and scrapes. Efficiency without injuries.
How to Improve Forklift Operation Skills
- Get certified: Complete employer-provided training and evaluation per OSHA requirements, with refresher training after incidents or unsafe operation.
- Inspect before use: Brakes, forks, mast, hydraulics, horn, lights, tires. Tag out if unsafe.
- Operate deliberately: Low loads while traveling, no riders, no turns on ramps, and obey posted speed limits.
- Mind clearances: Door heights, overhead sprinklers, uneven floors, tight aisles.
- Maintain equipment: Scheduled service, battery care or fueling protocols, proper storage.
Control, visibility, and caution—always.
How to Display Forklift Operation Skills on Your Resume
7. GPS Navigation
GPS navigation uses satellite data and traffic inputs to get trucks from A to B with fewer wrong turns and nasty surprises.
Why It's Important
Smarter routes mean less fuel, fewer delays, and happier customers who get accurate ETAs.
How to Improve GPS Navigation Skills
Keep maps current: Update devices and apps so new roads, closures, and restrictions show up.
Use truck-aware routing: Factor in low bridges, weight limits, and hazmat restrictions when applicable.
Download offline maps: Dead zones happen; be ready.
Watch live traffic: Choose routes that auto-reroute around accidents and construction.
Mount securely: Stable, visible placement prevents fumbling and missed turns.
Plan the route, then trust but verify on the road.
How to Display GPS Navigation Skills on Your Resume
8. Safety Compliance
Safety compliance means following rules and proven practices to protect crews, customers, and cargo—from lifting and driving to equipment checks and site hazards.
Why It's Important
Fewer injuries, fewer fines, fewer claims. A safer shop runs smoother and costs less.
How to Improve Safety Compliance Skills
- Train continuously: Proper lifting, hazard recognition, vehicle operations, and incident response.
- Inspect routinely: Trucks, ramps, straps, dollies, PPE. Fix defects fast.
- Equip the team: Gloves, footwear with traction, high-visibility vests, eye protection as needed.
- Document policies: Clear SOPs for loading, driving, lockout/tagout where relevant, and claims handling.
- Report and learn: Encourage near-miss reporting, review incidents, update procedures.
- Follow transport regulations: When applicable, adhere to weight limits, securement standards, and hours-of-service rules.
Culture beats posters. Make safety the habit.
How to Display Safety Compliance Skills on Your Resume
9. Equipment Maintenance
Equipment maintenance covers the routine inspection, service, and repair of trucks, lifts, dollies, ramps, and packing tools so they’re ready every morning.
Why It's Important
Reliable gear prevents breakdowns mid-job and keeps crews efficient and safe.
How to Improve Equipment Maintenance Skills
Schedule preventive maintenance: Follow manufacturer intervals and log every service.
Do daily checks: Tires, fluids, lights, brakes, tie-downs, battery charge, straps and blankets. Address issues before rollout.
Standardize spares: Keep common parts and consumables stocked—belts, bulbs, fuses, tape, blades.
Train operators: Proper use extends lifespan; misuse shortens it.
Track data: Mileage, hours, failures, and repair costs to spot patterns and retire lemons early.
Small routines today avert big delays tomorrow.
How to Display Equipment Maintenance Skills on Your Resume
10. Route Planning
Route planning is choosing the smartest path with your truck’s limits, traffic, time windows, and fuel costs in mind.
Why It's Important
Better routes trim hours and expenses while keeping delivery promises intact.
How to Improve Route Planning Skills
Plan with live data: Use mapping tools with traffic, incidents, and construction visibility.
Sequence stops: Cluster nearby addresses and optimize order to cut backtracking.
Respect constraints: Low clearances, weight limits, loading zones, and customer availability windows.
Align loads to routes: Load trucks for stop order—front last, back first—to speed unloads.
Update on the fly: Re-route when conditions change; communicate new ETAs quickly.
Smart planning before ignition saves headaches after.
How to Display Route Planning Skills on Your Resume
11. Team Coordination
Team coordination is orchestrating roles, timing, and communication so every lift, wrap, and carry happens in sync.
Why It's Important
Good coordination prevents double work, near misses, and hallway traffic jams. It speeds the whole day.
How to Improve Team Coordination Skills
- Brief before arrival: Assign roles—wrappers, lifters, disassembly, inventory, driver—so the team hits the ground running.
- Use quick check-ins: Short huddles to update progress and remove blockers.
- Standard hand signals: For truck backing, stair carries, and tight turns—clear signals avoid shouting and confusion.
- Document process: Simple checklists for each phase reduce missed steps.
- Cross-train: Build redundancy so absences don’t stall the job.
Clarity beats heroics. Smooth teamwork wins the day.
How to Display Team Coordination Skills on Your Resume
12. Problem Solving
Problem solving is what you do when a couch won’t turn a corner, an elevator is out, or rain crashes the schedule. Think, adapt, protect, deliver.
Why It's Important
Moves rarely go perfectly. Quick, calm solutions keep the job on track and the customer at ease.
How to Improve Problem Solving Skills
Define the snag: Name the constraint—size, time, access, fragility—so solutions target the real issue.
Generate options: Different route, partial disassembly, extra padding, window removal (where permitted), or a new load order.
Assess risk fast: Safety first, then time, then cost. Choose the best trade-off.
Prepare Plan B: Keep tools, straps, sliders, and protective materials ready for curveballs.
Capture lessons: After-action notes turn one-time fixes into future playbooks.
Calm heads, steady hands, and a toolkit full of options.
How to Display Problem Solving Skills on Your Resume
