As a general rule, I try to avoid facilities that store crated
household goods in the same facility. The latest trend in self storage
is the "pod" or container that companies will truck to the customer's
house to be loaded, then stacked in a warehouse (think a self storage
unit that comes to your house).

Since many moving and storage companies have little or no control over
what gets crated (some are much more diligent than others, however),
there is a risk that a customer may put dangerous items in the crates.

The story that I tell about this is from about ten years ago. I went to
a moving and storage company that was storing my then-employer's
records. They had a very nice little records business, but we were
clearly more than half of their volume. This company had a long
relationship with a local military base that had recently closed and I
was told that they were happy to have found the records storage
business to fill their warehouse. As we toured the building, I noted
that the building had no sprinklers, fire alarms, heat detectors, or
intrusion alarms. Then we came to the crates of "household goods",
which were right next to our records. I noted that most of the crates
bore the names and ranks of military personnel. I asked the owner of
the facility if the crates contained any dangerous items. He said,
"they shouldn't". I repeated my question and got the same answer. I
then pointed to the crate belonging to Sgt. So-and-so and asked if the
owner would put in writing that the facility contained no dangerous
items and in particular, no munitions. He hemmed and hawed. He said he
couldn't, but there "shouldn't be any". I then asked him if we could
bring in a bomb-sniffing dog to verify. He didn't think that was such a
good idea. I then asked that they install appropriate detection devices
and a sprinkler system and he told me he'd have to double my storage
rates to do that. I told him, "Funny thing, I was going to ask you to
cut your rates in half... AND install those systems." Unfortunately, he
couldn't do that and we had to make a business decision to move to
another vendor's facility.

So at the end of the day, it's really about disclosure and knowledge on
the vendor's part of what is being stored. The astronaut suit and a
moose head are probably not of particular concern (I suspect they are
featured on tours), but the automobile engine dripping oil and
antifreeze is probably another matter.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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