How These Routes Are Priced
Worth being precise about, because the two ways of pricing a move put the risk in different places.
What the tariff allows, and what we do
- Maximum Rate Tariff 4 sets maximum rates, not fixed ones. No licensed mover may charge above them; any mover may charge below them.
- By agreement between mover and shipper, the written estimate can be made a fixed amount — both the maximum and the minimum — noted on the estimate and on the Agreement.
- That is how we quote the routes on this page: a single written price for the scope we surveyed, agreed before the truck is loaded.
Maximum Rate Tariff 4, Item 108 and its exception. Summarised here, not reproduced in full.
The practical difference is who carries the risk. On an hourly job it is you: traffic on the I-5, a slow lift at the far end and a parking space that is not where it was promised are all billable minutes. On a confirmed scope at a fixed price, that risk is ours. If the day runs long for a reason that was in the survey, the number does not move.
The exchange is that the scope has to be right. That is why the survey comes first and why the inventory matters more than any other document in the file.
The Written Estimate and the Not to Exceed Price
California gives you more protection here than most people use, largely because nobody tells them it exists. Read this part even if you end up booking someone else.
What you are entitled to
- An estimate may be given only after the goods have been looked at, and it must be in writing. A number quoted down the phone before anyone has seen the job is not an estimate.
- If the written estimate reaches you three or more days before the move, your maximum is the lesser of the estimate plus any signed Change Order, or the agreed rates applied to what was actually done.
- Your Agreement must carry a Not to Exceed Price — the ceiling for the services listed on it.
- That ceiling may not be preprinted on the form. If it is already printed when the paperwork reaches you, it was not calculated for your move.
Maximum Rate Tariff 4, Items 108, 128 and 130. Summarised here, not reproduced in full — your own documents govern.
Where we stand on this: the survey comes first, the price goes on paper, and the ceiling is filled in for your job rather than stamped on the form. None of that is generosity — it is what the tariff requires of every licensed mover in California. What varies between companies is whether they do it, and how hard you have to push to get it.
So when you are comparing quotes, compare documents rather than numbers. Ask each company for the written estimate and look for the Not to Exceed Price. The one that will not put a ceiling in writing has told you how the day is likely to end.
They boxed and loaded all of my stuff onto the truck even faster than they had estimated and by doing so saved me some cash. No items were damaged.
Harry, Redding to San Francisco — Yelp
What You Are Owed If Something Is Damaged
The clause that decides the size of a cheque months later — and it is settled before the move, not after. Most people meet it for the first time when they need it, which is the worst possible moment.
The default, and what it means in money
- California intrastate rates are built on a declared value of $0.60 per pound per article. That is the basic level, and it is what you get if you declare nothing.
- An article is each piece or package and its contents — so the weight that counts is the weight of that one item.
- Where no other value is declared, the carrier’s maximum liability runs up to $20,000 of actual cash value for the shipment.
Maximum Rate Tariff 4, Item 136. Summarised here, not reproduced in full.
Do the arithmetic once and the point lands. A 40-pound television at sixty cents a pound is twenty-four dollars. A 120-pound marble table top is seventy-two. If those are not numbers you want to hear after a bad day, declare a higher value in writing before the move and pay for the cover.
We would rather you heard that from us at the survey than from a claims form in March. It is not a sales line — raising your declared value costs you money and earns us very little. It is simply the part of the paperwork people regret skipping.
What Is in the Price and What Is a Separate Line
Everything on the right is quoted on its own line rather than folded into one number, so you can see what it adds and take it out if you want to.
In the Written Price
- Truck, fuel and the mileage the price was built on
- Moving blankets, dollies, straps and floor protection
- Shrink wrap on upholstered furniture
- Disassembly and reassembly of standard bed frames and tables
- Loading, transport, unloading and placement in the room you point at
Quoted as Its Own Line
- Packing labour and boxes, if you want us to pack
- Specialty items — piano, safe, oversized art, appliances needing disconnection
- Long carries, stair work and shuttle trucks beyond what the survey assumed
- Storage between the two dates
- Valuation above the basic $0.60 per pound per article
A wonderful moving experience! Very fast and professional service. Nick and his crew did their best during the move! Friendly, communicative and hardworking guys.
Alice, Sacramento to Long Beach — Yelp
Questions We Are Actually Asked
How Do I Check That a Mover Is Licensed in California?
Search the Bureau of Household Goods and Services licence lookup by company name or permit number. Ours is CAL-T203846. It is free, it takes under a minute, and a company that cannot give you a number to look up has answered a different question.
Can You Quote Without Seeing the Apartment?
We can give you a rough range, and we will say plainly that it is a range. The written price comes after a survey, because that is what the tariff requires and because access is what moves the number. A firm figure offered before anyone has looked is a figure that can be revised later.
What Should Be on the Paperwork Before the Truck Leaves?
The inventory the price was built on, the Not to Exceed Price for the services listed, and the valuation you chose rather than the one that applies by default. If any of the three is blank, settle it before the first box is carried out.
Does the Tariff Set the Price, or Does the Company?
The tariff sets maximums. No licensed mover may charge above them, and any mover may charge below them. So two honest companies can quote different numbers for the same job and both be working legally from the same book — which is why the document matters more than the headline figure.