Questions people ask
The request
What does this site actually do?
It takes your move details once and hands them to a single independent moving company that covers your town. That company reaches out, talks through the job, and gives you a written estimate. We do not sell your information around, and we do not send it to more than one mover.
Is there a charge to send it?
Nothing. Sending the request is free, and the company that calls quotes its own prices. If you hire them, you pay them directly.
Who calls me back?
One mover, and only one. Your phone number goes to the company that gets the job, not to a list of bidders.
The numbers
What does a move around here cost?
Nobody honest can say before they see the job. The bill is built on hours, and hours are built on access: the stairs, the distance from the truck to your door, what is already boxed, and how heavy the heavy things are. That is why the written estimate follows a look at the load, not a guess at it.
Why won't a mover give me a price over the phone?
They can talk rates and what similar moves have cost, but the estimate itself cannot come over the phone. State rules require a written, signed estimate, and it can only be made after a visual inspection of the goods. A firm quote offered sight-unseen is a company skipping a rule that exists to protect you.
Does the estimate lock the price?
No, and Oregon does not pretend it does. An estimate is a good-faith projection and the final bill follows the actual work: worker-hours, or weight and distance, depending on the job. What protects you is an estimate that itemizes the work and a mover who explains what changes the number.
What if something arrives damaged?
Report it to the mover in writing, and keep your own count of boxes and pieces. On local hourly moves the company is not required to write the inventory, so yours may be the only list that exists. If the mover's answer does not settle it, complaints go to ODOT's Commerce and Compliance Division, which regulates movers inside Oregon.
Around move day
Do I have to pack everything myself?
However you set it up. Many households pack their own boxes and hire the crew for the heavy work: loading, transport, reassembly. Full packing service exists too, at a different price. Whichever it is, it belongs itemized in the written estimate.
My building wants a certificate of insurance. Normal?
For towers and managed buildings across the metro, yes, standard. The building asks the mover for a COI naming it, usually before the elevator can be reserved. Give the mover your building's rules when they call; companies that work these buildings handle the paper routinely. Put the access details in the form so nothing is a surprise.
Can the truck park at my curb in Portland?
Often, with a permit. The city issues a temporary street use permit that reserves on-street space for a moving truck or storage container. It has limits: on streets under 28 feet wide the reserved space works differently and some blocks cannot take it at all, and the reservation only becomes enforceable if the posting and verification steps are followed. Describe your street in the form and the mover plans around what is possible.
Do crews really work in the rain?
Metro moves run wet from October through May; rain does not stop the calendar. Tarps, floor runners, and a dry staging plan are what keep cardboard from turning to mush at a wet curb.
Legitimacy
How do I check a mover is real?
Ask for the ODOT certificate number and look it up. Oregon requires any company carrying household goods between two points in the state to hold a certificate of authority, and ODOT publishes the list of authorized movers for exactly this check. A certified mover is also required to hand you the state's General Information Bulletin for moving household goods before the job.
What about a move to another state?
Interstate moves answer to federal FMCSA rules instead of ODOT, and the company needs interstate authority. Same check, different database: ask for the USDOT number and verify it before you sign.