Service
Local business moves
Hourly crew-and-truck work inside the eight-county Houston area, charged portal to portal with the clock and the crew size agreed in writing.
Overview
How this scope works
Anything inside the Houston metro that does not cross a state line is priced on the local hourly model: a crew rate and a truck rate, billed portal to portal from the moment the truck leaves our Milwee Street yard to the moment it returns. This is the right model for suites under about 6,000 square feet, single-department shuffles and same-building floor changes.
Hourly work rewards preparation. A suite that is fully crated, labelled and cleared of staff on move morning finishes in two thirds of the time of one that is not. We tell you exactly what to do beforehand, because a shorter clock is a smaller invoice.
What is included
- Crew of two to eight movers with a working supervisor on every job
- 24 ft or 26 ft box truck with a lift gate, dollies, four-wheelers, panel carts and straps
- Shrink wrap, moving blankets and straps at no extra charge
- Floor and door protection at both ends
- Basic disassembly and reassembly of desks, tables and shelving
- A signed time sheet showing start, breaks, finish and travel
How we run it
- 01
Phone or video survey
For small suites we scope by video walk-through in about twenty minutes and confirm crew size, truck size and a time band the same day.
- 02
Confirm the window
You choose a start time. Weekday morning starts run closest to schedule; afternoon starts can drift if the earlier job runs long, so we book those with a wider band.
- 03
Work the clock
The supervisor logs start time on arrival at origin. Crews load, transport and place. Breaks over fifteen minutes are deducted from the billable clock.
- 04
Walk and sign
You walk both sites with the supervisor, confirm nothing is left behind, and sign the time sheet before the crew departs.
Why clients pick it
Two-hour minimum, then quarter hours
After the two-hour minimum the clock runs in fifteen-minute increments, so a job that finishes at 3:10 is not billed to 4:00.
Same-week availability
We hold local crew capacity for short-notice work, including lease-end scrambles and sublease handovers.
Right-sized crews
More movers usually means a lower total bill on hourly work because the drive time is shared across more hands.
Honest travel time
Portal to portal is stated in the scope, typically 45 to 75 minutes inside Beltway 8 and up to two hours to the outer counties.
What drives the price
| Factor | What it means |
|---|---|
| Crew size | Sample rates: two movers and a truck from $165 per hour, three from $215, four from $265, each additional mover about $50 per hour. |
| Travel time | Charged portal to portal. Downtown, Midtown and the Galleria typically add 45 to 60 minutes across the job. |
| Elevator sharing | If the freight elevator is shared with other tenants during business hours, allow 20 to 35 percent more time on the clock. |
| Preparation | An unpacked, unlabelled suite can add three to five hours to a four-hour job. Crate early. |
Sample rates shown are planning figures for weekday work and include truck, fuel, equipment and basic carrier liability. Weekend and after-hours rates are higher.
Questions
Local business moves: common questions
Not answered here? The full FAQ has twenty-six more.
Read the full FAQTwo hours of crew time plus portal-to-portal travel. Below that the truck movement costs more than the labour, so a two-hour floor keeps pricing honest for everyone.
No. Shrink wrap, blankets, straps and the standard dolly fleet are included in the crew and truck rate. Cartons, crates, bubble wrap and custom crating are billed as materials.
Yes, and for smaller suites that is usually the cheapest option. The trade-off is shared elevator access and staff working around crews, which slows the clock.
Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Chambers and Waller counties. Beyond that we switch to the weight-and-distance model, which is usually cheaper on long hauls.
Next step
Book the survey before you book the date
Freight elevator windows in downtown towers are commonly reserved four to six weeks out. The survey is what tells you whether your date is real.