The Factors That Make Up Your Moving Estimate
Have you been looking into residential movers to help you get your belongings to your new place, but you are receiving estimates that vary? This is one time where you don't necessarily want to pick the quote that is the lowest since there are a lot of factors that go into a residential moving service estimate that you need to be aware of.
Truck Fee
The one cost that is unavoidable is how much it is to rent the moving truck itself. Moving companies charge for this cost in a variety of ways, which can include basing it on the size of the truck that you are renting and the distance that you are traveling. Your moving truck cost should be a flat fee in most estimates since the mileage they will be traveling is factored into the cost of using their large moving truck. If you are comparing estimates and see that one company charges far less for their truck, look for other line items on the estimate that may be charging for fuel and mileage separately.
Moving Material Fee
There are a lot of materials that need to be used on your moving day, which does not cover the boxes and tape that you will be using to pack everything up. The moving material fee typically covers the use of dollies, furniture pads, and plastic wrap. When movers are wrapping your furniture in furniture pads and securing it in place with plastic wrap, this should all be included in the general moving materials fee, rather than charge you individually for each thing that you use during the move.
Time Fee
The largest part of your moving estimate is going to be the time that they charge to move your belongings from point A to B. However, one estimate may say that the movers will take 4 hours, while another estimate may say that it will take 8 hours. Does this mean that one moving company is slower than the other? Not necessarily, since it just means that one company is making a more conservative estimate so that your final bill isn't higher than the estimate.
What you want to look at is how much you are being charged per mover for each hour they are helping you. For example, a crew of 3 people at $75 per hour is no different than a crew of 4 people at $100 per hour, since they both average to $25 per hour per person. If the movers are working at the same pace, your cost for the length of the move should be about the same. That's why you need to compare the hourly working cost when looking at an estimate.