Crew size follows the inventory and the access, not the upsell. A studio or a small one-bedroom is a two-mover job; three bedrooms, stairs or a long carry call for four, and four movers usually finish in fewer hours. Local moves are billed by the hour. A long move inside California gets a flat rate that does not rise because the day ran long — it changes only if you add items, a stop, packing or storage, and only after you approve the change in writing.
Local moves are booked with a three-hour minimum. That is our own policy, not a state rule — the California Maximum Rate Tariff sets no minimum at all. Billable time is loading, unloading and double the driving time between the two addresses, per Item 36 of the same tariff. Across the city that is usually well under an hour, and on a short job the minimum often absorbs it.
A truck in San Francisco usually needs temporary no-parking signs from SFMTA. Apply at least five business days ahead; signs go up 72 hours before on an unmetered block and 24 hours at metered spaces, and work runs between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. A permit of up to three days costs $355 for one to four signs and $489 for five to nine, plus $21 per occupied meter per day, with the final amount set after SFMTA inspects the block. Where the truck cannot sit at the door, we agree the truck position and the carry distance before the day. Your building may also want a certificate of insurance — we issue it free, so ask the manager early what wording they need. Permit figures checked 28 September 2026.
A deposit reserves the date; the amount and the timing are in your booking documents. The balance can go through our installment partner: you register, we send the moving invoice, and the provider reviews you and sets an available amount, generally between $600 and $4,000. Credit history matters, and the decision is the provider’s, not ours. The approved amount can cover the whole move or part of it, and the rest goes on another accepted method. How the payment plan works.
Two pricing models, one standard of service. Either way the scope is written down, and nothing already in it carries an extra charge.
$175/hr two movers and a truck
$270/hr four movers and a truck
Hourly work suits local moves, where the hours depend on the access and on how ready the home is.
One price from a confirmed inventory
A flat rate suits a long move inside California, where the inventory is confirmed in advance and the price does not move because the day ran long. Packing on a long move is priced in the estimate.
Examples, not quotes. Your price comes from your inventory and access.
Ask every company you are comparing the same six questions. Here are ours, in writing.
Our movers are employees on our payroll, background-checked and trained. We do not sell your move to a crew we have never met. Three people are responsible for it: a sales specialist who sets the scope and the price, a dispatcher who assigns the crew and the truck and keeps you posted, and a lead foreman who runs the day, documents any change and walks the home with you at the end. We have been moving Californians for more than ten years, 15,000 moves and counting, at 4.8 from 1,150+ reviews.