Coastal buildings are the hard part
Elevator windows, HOA paperwork and loading permits handled before the truck leaves for the interstate.
The work that happens before the highway
Half of a city move happens before loading day: certificates of insurance, elevator reservations, and a legal place to park a trailer.
Departure work
The two calls we make first
Building coordination
We file the certificate of insurance, book the freight elevator, and confirm the window with your building manager.
Loading zone permits
Where a city requires one, we pull the street permit so the truck is not circling the block on move day.
Shuttle where it is needed. Tight streets get a smaller shuttle truck to the trailer, so the crew is not carrying boxes four blocks.
How to check any interstate mover
The same checks apply to us. None of it is difficult, and all of it is public. Here is what to look for, and where to look it up, before you sign anything.
Federal registration
Any company moving household goods across state lines has to be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and carry a USDOT number. You do not have to take anyone at their word for it. The registration, the operating authority and the insurance on file are all public, under the company name or the number itself.
Look up a mover on the FMCSA SAFER company snapshotThe paperwork you are owed
Before an interstate move, the mover is required to give you the booklet "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move" and a written estimate. Both are obligations, not courtesies. If either one is slow to arrive, that is worth noticing early rather than on loading day.
Read the FMCSA consumer guide to interstate movesWhich liability you actually hold
There are two levels. Released Value Protection is included at no extra charge and pays 60 cents per pound per article, which is very little for anything valuable: a heavy, cheap item is covered better than a light, expensive one. Full Value Protection costs extra and covers repair, replacement or a cash settlement. Full Value is the default unless you waive it in writing, so read what you are signing.
Which estimate you were given
Three kinds exist, and they behave differently once the truck is weighed. A binding estimate fixes the price for the inventory listed. A non-binding estimate can change once the shipment is weighed. A binding not-to-exceed estimate means you pay the lower of the estimate and the actual cost. Ask which one is in front of you, in those words.
What should stop the conversation
A quote given over the phone with no inventory and no survey. A demand for a large cash deposit up front. A company that will not put the estimate in writing. Any one of the three is a reason to keep calling other movers.
What we put in writing
- The estimate arrives in writing, with the inventory it was priced from.
- You are told which of the three estimate types you are being given, before you sign it.
- The booklet and the written estimate reach you ahead of loading day, not at the door.
- Nobody asks you for a large cash deposit to hold a date.
Where the move begins, and where it ends
Ranked #8 by 8 Top Movers.
Quotes coordinated via 8 Top Movers
They had the certificate of insurance filed with our HOA before I asked.
The shuttle saved us. Our street could never have taken a full trailer.
Customer statements provided to Pacific Keystone Movers. What a move needs varies with the building and the route.
Questions from coastal buildings
Can you send a certificate of insurance to my building?
Yes. Send us the building requirements and the name of the manager who receives them, and we file the certificate with the wording and the additional insured language your building asks for. Send it early. The building, not the mover, decides how long its review takes, and a certificate rejected on the morning of the move is what costs you the window.
Who reserves the freight elevator?
We do, with your building manager, once you tell us which days work. We ask for the window in writing along with what the building expects a crew to arrive with, such as pads, floor protection and dock access. Where one freight elevator serves the whole building, the elevator tends to decide the date rather than the other way round.
What happens if my street needs a loading permit?
Where the city issues loading zone permits we pull one for the address and post it ahead of your window. Where the city does not issue them, we plan for the nearest legal stop or a shuttle instead, and you hear which one before the date is set. It is worth asking about even on a quiet street, because a truck with nowhere legal to stop becomes a long carry.
Our street cannot take a full trailer. What does a shuttle change?
A shuttle is a smaller truck that ferries the shipment between your door and the trailer parked where it can legally stand. It is the answer to a street a trailer cannot enter, and the trade-off is real: your goods are handled twice, the day runs longer, and a shuttle is a priced service rather than something absorbed into the base rate. It belongs on the written estimate before the move, not on the invoice after it.
The building moved our elevator window. Can the date move with it?
Usually, but not automatically. A long distance shipment is scheduled around a truck and a crew already committed to a route, so what is possible depends on what else is loaded on that trailer and where it is going. Tell us the moment the building tells you. Early notice is a scheduling problem. Notice on the eve of the move is a much harder one.
If the building forces a long carry, does the price change?
It can. Long carry, stair carry and shuttle are separate services rather than parts of the base rate, so the estimate has to know about them. On a non-binding estimate the final charge follows the actual weight and the services performed. On a binding estimate the price holds for the inventory and services listed, and adding one means a revised written estimate before the work is done. That is why we ask how far it is from your door to where a truck can legally park while we are quoting, rather than on the day.
Leaving the coast?
Give us the building and the route. The paperwork gets handled before the drive begins.