Move Estimate Calculator

Your move estimate starts with the size of the moving truck. Here are their sizes, and approximately how long it takes to load a full moving truck for two movers.

10 ft: 30 minutes
14 ft: 60 minutes
17 ft: 90 minutes
24 ft: 240 minutes
26 ft: 270 minutes

It’s important to keep in mind that every move is different, we cover this in the Room For Error section 

For every flight of stairs above or below ground level (unless using an elevator), and for every floor in the space, we estimate an additional 20% to the base-time.

If the truck is under 50 ft from the door, this typically doesn’t affect loading or unloading time. However, if the distance from the door to the moving truck is more than 50 ft, we estimate an additional 20% to the base-time and an additional 20% for every additional 50 ft after that.

If we will be using an elevator (which is recommended if the residence is more than one floor above or below ground level, or if there is a narrow or awkward stairway), we estimate an additional 30% more to the base-time.

We budget five minutes per piece of furniture that needs assembly, and an extra .75 minutes for every non-boxed, open-boxed, and poorly packaged item for a load.

After we have added in all of those factors, we have our pre-adjusted move time and now we just need to adjust for the services needed and how full the truck will be. An unload will typically take about 75% the time of a load, and a load+unload would obviously take 175% longer. We multiply the fraction of time it will take to complete the service by either .75 (unload), 1 (load), or 1.75 (load and unload). To adjust for the truck’s expected fullness, we simply multiply this our new subtotal by how full the truck will be. ie: 80% full, multiply by .80

Then, we must account for the number of movers and the time between locations. To do this, we subtract a certain percentage off of the total move time for every additional mover over two:

Two movers: 0%
Three movers: 20%
Four movers: 40%
Five movers: 55%
Six movers: 65%
Seven movers: 70%
Eight movers: 75%

Room for error

This estimator does a very good job of estimating the time it will take for a move, however it does have some room for error. In particular, it does not account for exhaustion. If we have two movers working a 12-hour move, it may take significantly longer due to fatigue. This is why we recommend having at least one mover per bedroom. If your move is going to be a long one, it’s a good idea to supply your movers with cold water, food, or snacks. This gives us a much-needed boost throughout your move, and we all really appreciate it! 🙂

Another measure where there can be room for error is with non-boxed, open boxes, and poorly packaged items. A few of these are fine, however, if there are a lot of these items it makes efficiently packing a truck very difficult and can sometimes add a significant amount of time because there may need to repack the items. In addition, some poorly packaged items can be more difficult than others.

The last place where we find a measure of error is in assembly and disassembly. Some couches may only take a minute to put back together, while tables and cribs may take 10 minutes! If you are really trying to cut down costs, we recommend you assemble and disassemble furniture yourself.