Hourly or flat rate? How to price local moves without losing money

Most local movers charge by the hour, and most lose money on a few jobs every month without noticing. The fix isn't charging more. It's knowing your real cost per crew hour and pricing the extras you already do for free.

Know your cost per crew hour

Add up a month of costs: wages and payroll taxes, workers' comp, truck payments, fuel, insurance, repairs, phones, software, rent and the office. Divide by the number of crew hours you billed that month. That's your break-even rate per crew hour. Your hourly price needs to be comfortably above it.

Do the math per crew size. A 3-mover crew with one truck has a different cost than a 2-mover crew, and the difference is rarely just one more wage.

Hourly pricing works best when

• You can't see the home before the move.
• The customer is still packing or deciding what to take.
• Access is unknown: stairs, long walks, elevators, parking.

Always state the minimum hours, the travel or truck fee, and how time is counted (door to door, or with a fixed travel charge). Surprises at the end of an hourly job are the top cause of bad reviews.

Flat pricing works best when

• You surveyed the home or have a detailed item list.
• The customer is comparing several quotes and wants one number.
• Your crews are consistent, so you can predict time well.

A flat price wins more jobs, because the customer can compare it easily. The risk is all yours, so add a buffer for the unknowns and write down exactly what the price includes.

Extras most movers forget to charge

• Stairs beyond the first flight, and long carries from the truck.
• Heavy items: pianos, safes, gun safes, large appliances.
• Shrink wrap, mattress bags, wardrobe boxes and TV boxes.
• Disassembly and reassembly of beds, cribs and desks.
• Weekend, holiday and end-of-month dates, when demand peaks.
• Storage days when the new home isn't ready.

Check your prices every season

Look at your last 50 jobs: how long did they really take versus what you quoted? Which crews run long? Which job types lose money? An hour spent on this every quarter pays for itself many times over.