Hazardous materials: not negotiable
This is the category that is actually prohibited rather than merely discouraged. A loaded moving truck is a sealed metal box that gets hot and gets shaken, and these are the things that behave badly in one.
- Fuels and flammables — petrol, diesel, kerosene, lighter fluid, camping fuel. Drain the mower and the strimmer.
- Gas cylinders — propane tanks including the barbecue one, helium, oxygen, acetylene.
- Paints, thinners and solvents — oil-based paint, turpentine, paint stripper, some adhesives.
- Aerosols — spray paint, some cleaning products, large quantities of anything pressurised.
- Pool and garden chemicals — chlorine, muriatic acid, fertiliser, weedkiller.
- Fireworks and ammunition.
- Car batteries and loose lithium batteries.
- Charcoal, matches and lighter fluid.
Most of this cannot go in household rubbish either. Look up your county's household hazardous waste collection — Bucks, Montgomery and the Lehigh Valley counties all run them — and deal with it a couple of weeks before the move rather than on the driveway.
Perishables, plants and animals
- Frozen and refrigerated food. It cannot travel safely and cannot be refrozen. Eat the freezer down in the last fortnight.
- Open or perishable dry goods. Flour and cereal attract exactly what you would expect if a box sits in a warehouse.
- Houseplants. Most movers will not take them, and on anything longer than a short local hop they rarely survive a dark truck anyway. Take them in the car.
- Pets. No mover will transport an animal. Arrange a sitter or take them with you — and keep them out of the house on the day, because open doors are how pets get lost.
The propane tank is the one everyone forgets
Every mover has the same story: the crew is loading, and there is a barbecue with a full propane cylinder still attached. Disconnect it and dispose of it or gift it to a neighbour, well before the day. The same goes for the spare in the garage.
What we will move, but you should carry yourself
Nothing stops you loading these. It is simply a bad idea, and any honest crew will tell you so.
- Documents — passports, birth certificates, deeds, titles, wills, tax records.
- Medication, particularly anything prescribed and anything needed daily.
- Cash, jewellery and small valuables. Reputable movers do not want the responsibility, and you do not want the argument.
- Keys — house, car, safe, storage unit. Boxed keys are a genuinely common disaster.
- Laptops, hard drives and anything irreplaceable that is not backed up.
- Photo albums and small heirlooms. Not because they will be damaged, but because these are the things that make people frantic if a box goes astray.
- Chargers and a change of clothes. Practical rather than precious, but you will want them on night one.
Things that need arranging rather than refusing
These are not prohibited, but turning up with them unannounced changes the day:
- Pianos, safes, gun cabinets, slate pool tables, large gym equipment. Extra crew and specific equipment, quoted separately. Tell us in advance.
- Aquariums. They must be emptied. Fish travel with you.
- Gun safes and firearms. Firearms should be transported by you. The safe itself we can move, with notice.
- Appliances with water or gas connections. Washing machines need draining; anything gas-connected needs disconnecting by someone qualified, before the day.
- Wall-mounted televisions and shelving. Dismounting is fine but takes time. Say so when you book.
- Anything already broken. Point it out before loading so it goes on the paperwork.
If something turns up on the day
The crew will set it aside and note it on the paperwork rather than quietly loading it. That is not obstruction — carrying prohibited goods puts the licence, the insurance and everything else on the truck at risk.
The way to avoid it entirely is to mention anything you are unsure about when you request the estimate. Nobody minds the question, and it is far cheaper than the alternative. Our terms list what cannot be carried, and the moving checklist puts the disposal at the right point in the timeline.
