Most people compare moving companies on one number and book the lowest one. That works out fine more often than not, but when it goes wrong it goes wrong expensively — and every one of the warning signs was available on the first phone call.
These are the questions worth asking. None of them are aggressive, and a real company will answer all nine without pausing. The answers are also how you tell an actual moving company from a broker who will sell your job on to whoever is free.
1. Are you licensed, and what is the number?
In Pennsylvania, a household mover operating within the state is regulated by the Public Utility Commission and carries a PUC number. A company doing interstate work carries a USDOT number as well. Both are public records you can look up in a couple of minutes.
A licensed mover will give you the numbers immediately, usually without being asked, and they will be printed on the estimate. If the answer is vague, or the numbers do not match the business name you were given, stop there.
2. Are the crew your employees?
This is the question that reveals the most and gets asked the least. Some companies run their own trained crews. Some subcontract to day labour. Some are brokers with no crews and no trucks at all — they take the booking and sell it on, and you find out who is actually coming when they arrive.
There is nothing wrong with knowing which one you are hiring. There is a lot wrong with not knowing.
3. How is travel time charged?
Almost every local mover charges for travel in some form, and the honest ones say exactly how. It might be a flat fee, a one-hour addition, or the actual drive time from the depot and back. Any of those is reasonable. What is not reasonable is finding out about it on the invoice.
Ask what a realistic total looks like for your job, not just the hourly rate. Two companies with the same headline rate can land forty percent apart once travel, minimums and materials are counted.
4. What is the minimum charge?
Nearly every mover has one — usually two or three hours. For a small apartment move this is often the entire bill, which makes the hourly rate almost irrelevant to the comparison. Ask for the minimum in hours and in dollars.
5. Is the estimate binding, or an hourly projection?
These are genuinely different things and both are legitimate.
| Type | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Binding | A fixed price for a defined scope. Changes to the scope change the price. |
| Non-binding hourly | An estimate of hours at a stated rate. You pay for actual time, so a fast day costs less and a slow day costs more. |
| Not-to-exceed | Hourly, but capped. You pay actual time up to a ceiling. |
What matters is that you know which one you have got, in writing. An hourly estimate that is presented as if it were a fixed price is the most common source of moving-day arguments in the industry.
6. What is included in the hourly rate?
Blankets, straps, dollies, shrink wrap, tape and basic disassembly should be included. Ask specifically. If the wrapping materials are billed separately, that can be fine — but it should be a line you saw before the day, with a rate attached, not a surprise at the end.
Ask what is not included too. Stairs charges, long-carry charges, bulky-item fees for pianos or safes, and fuel surcharges all exist at various companies. None of them are scandalous. All of them should be disclosed.
Ask: "What would make this bill come out higher than your estimate?" A straight answer to that one question tells you more than the rest of the call.
7. What coverage comes as standard, and what can I buy?
Basic carrier liability in the United States is released value, which works out at sixty cents per pound per item. That sounds like coverage and is not: a forty-pound television is covered for twenty-four dollars.
Full value protection is the upgrade, and it means damaged items are repaired, replaced or paid out at their actual value. Ask what the standard is, what full value costs, and whether your home insurance already covers goods in transit — some policies do, some specifically do not.
8. What happens if something is damaged?
Ask for the process, not the reassurance. Who do you contact, how long do you have to file, what do you need to provide, and how long does it take to resolve? A company that handles claims routinely can describe this in one breath because they do it every month.
"That does not happen to us" is not an answer. It happens to everyone who moves furniture for a living.
9. What do you need from me to make the estimate accurate?
Good movers ask questions back: how many stairs, what floor, is there a lift, can a truck park at the door, how much of it will be packed, is there anything unusually heavy. A quote given without any of those questions is a guess, and a guess quoted low is the most expensive kind.
The best version of this is a walkthrough — in person or over video. It takes fifteen minutes and it removes most of the uncertainty from the number.
A quote that arrives instantly, with no questions asked, is not a fast company. It is a company that has not priced your move yet.
Signs worth walking away from
- A large cash deposit demanded up front, or cash-only payment.
- No written estimate, or an estimate with no company name, licence number or breakdown on it.
- A price given over the phone in under a minute with no questions about stairs, access or volume.
- A company name that changes between the website, the invoice and the truck.
- Pressure to book today for a rate that expires today.
None of these on their own proves anything. Two or three together usually do.
And what a straight answer looks like
For what it is worth, ours: the crews are our own employees, the estimate is written and itemised, travel and minimums are stated on it before you book, and if we think your move is small enough that you would be better off renting a truck, we will tell you that instead. We would rather lose the job than have that conversation on the day.
If you want to put the nine questions to us, call or email, or send the details through the quote form and we will come back with the full breakdown. Hiring movers vs renting a truck covers the step before this one, if you have not settled it yet.