Member carriers · Packing Services
Packing services, and the liability question nobody asks about
Packing is where a move is won or lost, and where padding an invoice is easiest, so packing members are screened on the same five points plus how they handle valuation when they pack your goods. Every crew below discloses its authority and insurance right on its profile.
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Before you compare quotes
What buying packing actually buys
Packing is labour plus materials, and it is priced as both. A full pack is a separate crew day before the move itself, working room by room through everything that is not furniture. A partial pack covers the categories most likely to break or take longest — kitchens, glassware, artwork, electronics — and leaves the books and linens to you. Fragile-only and custom crating sit at the specialist end, where an item gets its own built box rather than a carton.
The consequential detail is not the quality of the boxes. It is whose hands filled them. Cartons packed by the moving crew are the carrier's responsibility under whatever valuation you elected. Cartons you packed yourself — the industry calls them PBO, packed by owner — are usually treated differently: most tariffs limit claims on owner-packed boxes to cases where the carton itself arrives visibly damaged, on the reasoning that the carrier cannot be liable for how you wrapped what is inside.
That distinction quietly decides the outcome of most damage claims, and almost nobody is told about it while deciding how much packing to buy. It is the real trade-off behind 'should I pack myself to save money': you are not only buying labour, you are buying the liability that attaches to it.
What a packing scope normally contains
- Full pack: every non-furniture item, room by room, the day before the move
- Partial pack: named categories only — typically kitchen, fragiles, artwork, electronics
- Materials: cartons, dish barrels, wardrobe boxes, mattress cartons, paper, tape
- Custom crating for mirrors, glass tops, marble and framed art
- Labelling and an inventory that matches the descriptive sheet
- Unpacking and debris removal — frequently assumed, frequently not included
Licensing & authority
There is no packing licence — so what do you check?
Packing is not separately licensed anywhere in the United States. No state issues a packer's certificate and no federal registration covers packing on its own. So the credential question redirects: what you are actually verifying is the authority of the moving company whose crew is doing the packing, and the coverage that attaches to what they pack.
That makes one question unusually important — whether the packing crew works for the mover or for a subcontracted packing company. Subcontracting is common and not automatically a problem, but it changes whose insurance responds and whose employees are in your house. Ask before move week, when the answer is still easy to get.
The second thing to verify is the valuation that applies to carrier-packed cartons, and the carrier's stated policy on owner-packed ones. Both should be answerable in writing. A mover that shrugs at the PBO question is a mover you will be arguing with later.
The parent carrier's operating authority
Packing rides on the mover's licence, not its own. Verify the state authority or USDOT/MC record of the company whose name is on the estimate.
Who supplies the packing crew
Own employees or a subcontracted packing firm. If subcontracted, ask which entity's general liability and workers' compensation covers the people in your home.
Written PBO policy
How the carrier handles claims on cartons you packed yourself. Get the answer in the estimate or the tariff excerpt, not over the phone.
Materials, itemised
Cartons and paper should appear as counted items at stated unit prices, not as one lump 'supplies' line that grows on the invoice.
Anything a carrier tells you about its authority is checkable. Federal records are public at FMCSA's SAFER database, and the Union runs the same check as part of the published 5-point standard. We publish what we verified; you should still confirm it before you book.
How the money works
How packing is billed
Packing is quoted one of three ways. Per carton, with materials charged separately by unit — the most transparent, and the easiest to compare between carriers. Hourly, at a packer rate with materials on top — normal for partial packs where the volume is genuinely unknown. Or bundled into a full-service estimate as a single figure, which is the least legible and the one worth breaking apart before you agree to it.
Materials are the line item that quietly grows. A full pack of an average home consumes far more cartons and paper than most people expect, and if the estimate carries an unspecified allowance rather than counted units, the final number is effectively open. Ask for unit prices and an estimated count, and ask what happens to the charge for unused materials.
Unpacking is a separate service from packing and is frequently assumed into a quote that does not contain it. Same for debris removal — a full pack generates a startling volume of cardboard, and someone has to take it away.
Packing is an addition to a move, not a replacement for one. The band below is the engine-derived national range for the underlying local household move; packing labour and materials are quoted on top of it, which is exactly why they should be itemised separately on your estimate rather than folded into one number.
Typical local move
- Studio / 1-bedroom
- $400 – $900
- 2 – 3 bedroom home
- $900 – $2,200
- 4-bedroom+ / full service
- $2,200 – $5,000+
Informational ranges only, your actual price is set by the mover you hire after an inventory review.
Estimate your move costTake this to the phone call
What to ask before you buy packing
1.Is packing quoted per carton or hourly, and are materials separate?
You cannot compare two packing quotes until you know which model each one uses. Mixed models are where the difference hides.
2.Do your own employees pack, or a subcontractor?
It determines whose insurance covers damage and injury, and whether the people in your home have been through the mover's own training.
3.How do you handle claims on boxes I packed myself?
Most carriers treat owner-packed cartons differently. Knowing the policy before you decide how much to pack yourself is the whole point of asking.
4.Are unpacking and debris removal inside this number?
Both are commonly assumed and commonly excluded. A full pack leaves a room's worth of cardboard behind.
5.What gets crated rather than boxed, and what does crating cost?
Glass tops, marble, mirrors and framed art often need custom crates. Deciding that on move morning is how the price moves.
6.What valuation applies to what you pack?
Carrier-packed cartons fall under your elected valuation. Confirm which level you are on before the crew starts, not after something breaks.
A longer, move-agnostic version of this list lives in 12 questions to ask before hiring movers.
Walk away signals
What should stop you
- Materials shown as a single unpriced 'supplies' or 'packing kit' line
- A packing crew arriving under a company name you have never been told about
- Being assured that owner-packed boxes are covered exactly like the crew's
- Crating presented as urgent and necessary for the first time on the morning of the move
- An estimate that says 'packing included' without naming which rooms or categories
Packing Services questions
The parts people get wrong
Should I pack myself to save money?
It genuinely does save money, and it genuinely shifts liability onto you. Carriers usually limit claims on owner-packed cartons to cases where the box itself arrives visibly damaged. A sensible split is to pack the durable, low-value volume — books, linens, clothing — and let the crew pack glass, electronics and anything you would actually file a claim over.
What is a PBO carton and why does the term matter?
PBO stands for packed by owner, and it is how your inventory sheet marks boxes you filled. It matters because it is the line most carriers draw for liability: a crew-packed carton is theirs, a PBO carton is largely yours. Check how your boxes are marked at pickup, because a mismarked carton is very hard to argue about later.
Should packing materials be itemised?
Yes, and a carrier that will not itemise them is worth questioning. You want counted units at stated prices — so many dish barrels, so many wardrobes, so much paper — plus a stated policy on materials that go unused. A lump allowance is an open number wearing the costume of an estimate.