How Moving Companies Calculate Costs

Interstate moves are priced by weight and distance

For a move that crosses state lines, the core charge is the line haul: the weight of your shipment multiplied by the distance it travels, at a rate per hundredweight that decreases as mileage increases. A 7,000 lb shipment does not cost twice as much at 2,000 miles as it does at 1,000 miles, because the long-haul rate per mile is lower.

Weight is established either by a survey estimate before the move or by weighing the truck empty and loaded. If your quote is non-binding, the weight ticket determines the final invoice, which is why an inaccurate inventory is the most common cause of a bill that exceeds the estimate.

• Line haul: weight × distance × rate band
• Origin and destination service: crew time at each end
• Transport and fuel surcharge
• Optional services: packing, storage, specialty handling, protection upgrades

Local moves are priced by the hour

Within a metro area, most movers charge an hourly rate for a crew and a truck, often with a two- to four-hour minimum and a travel-time charge for getting to and from their yard. Weight is irrelevant; what matters is how fast the crew can carry your belongings to the truck.

This is why stairs, long carries, and elevator waits hit local moves harder than long-distance ones. On an hourly job, a fourth-floor walk-up can add hours; on a weight-based interstate job, it usually appears as a fixed accessorial charge instead.

Where the two models produce different advice

On an hourly move, decluttering saves money only if it saves time. On a weight-based move, every box you do not ship reduces the line haul directly, so selling or donating heavy furniture has a measurable payoff.

Similarly, packing yourself saves labor hours locally but saves both materials and weight-independent packing labor on an interstate move. Our model treats packing as a separate component for exactly this reason.