How we run this job
Sometimes you have the truck and you need the backs. Labor-only covers loading and unloading rental trucks, packing a portable container tightly enough that nothing shifts on the highway, unloading a delivery when the freight company drops at the curb, and moving furniture between rooms or floors inside a single home.
Container and rental-truck loading is a skill of its own. A container packed loose will rattle itself apart over six hundred miles of interstate; packed properly it arrives as a solid block. The crew builds tiers, ties off every few feet, fills voids with soft goods, and keeps weight forward and low. If you are driving the truck yourself, that difference is the whole trip.
Heavy specialty items are quoted flat rather than hourly, because the risk is not in the minutes. Upright pianos go on a piano board with four movers and strapping; grands come off their legs and travel on a skid board. Gun safes over five hundred pounds need a stair-climbing dolly, plywood over thresholds, and an honest conversation about whether the staircase can carry the load. Hot tubs need clear access, a dolly set, and occasionally a crane, which we will tell you before quoting rather than after.
We will also tell you when the answer is no. A grand piano down a switchback staircase with a narrow landing, or a safe onto a floating deck, is a job we will decline rather than attempt and damage. That honesty costs us work occasionally and saves everyone money in aggregate.
What it costs
From $139/hr for two movers without a truck, 2-hour minimum. Heavy items quoted flat. Pads, shrink wrap, dollies, floor runners, and standard disassembly and reassembly are part of the rate. The travel fee is a single flat charge quoted before you book, and nothing is added after the job.
Common questions
Regularly. Two movers, two-hour minimum, and we bring pads, straps, and dollies. Have the container or truck on site and accessible before the start time — waiting for a drop-off is billable, and it is the most avoidable cost on a labor-only job.
Type, whether it is upright or grand, the make, and photographs of both paths — where it sits now and where it goes. Stairs, turns, and door widths determine crew size and price. Uprights usually take four movers; grands always do.
Yes, and it is one of the most common labor-only calls we get. Two movers, two-hour minimum, for swapping bedrooms, clearing a room for flooring, or pulling everything off the walls before a paint crew arrives.