Three checks take about ten minutes and are worth doing with any mover, us included. For interstate moves, look the company up in the FMCSA mover database at fmcsa.dot.gov and confirm the USDOT number is active. For moves inside Florida, movers must be registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which you can verify at fdacs.gov. Then ask for the quote in writing before move day, showing the hourly rate, the minimum hours, any travel or fuel charge, and what happens if the job runs long. A company that will not put its price in writing is the one to walk away from. We are happy to hand over our details so you can run those checks on us. Call (305) 333-9130.

Call first, pack second. Availability is the thing you cannot control, so lock in the crew and the date before you touch a box. When you call, have four things ready: the pickup and drop-off addresses, the floor and whether there is an elevator at each end, roughly how many rooms of furniture, and any heavy or awkward item such as a piano, a safe or a treadmill. Then pack in this order: a bag with medication, chargers, documents and a change of clothes that rides with you; then the kitchen and anything breakable; then closets; then the garage. Label boxes by the room they are going to, not the room they came from, so the crew can place them without asking. Anything you are not taking should leave the house before move day, because sorting on the day is what runs the clock up. If your building needs a certificate of insurance or an elevator reservation, tell us when you book and we will handle it.

Six questions separate a good crew from a bad day. What is the hourly rate, what is the minimum, and does the clock start at my door or at your warehouse? Is there a travel fee, fuel charge or stair fee, and is it written into the quote? How many movers and what size truck are you sending? Are blankets, shrink wrap, tape and dollies included or billed separately? What happens if the job runs longer than estimated? And what coverage applies if something is damaged, and how do I file a claim? Get the answers in writing before you book. A company that answers all six without hedging is the one to go with.

The building, not the furniture, is usually what decides how long the job takes. Most Miami condo and high-rise associations require three things before a truck can unload: a certificate of insurance naming the association, a reserved service elevator with a booked time window, and move-in hours that are often limited to weekdays. Some buildings also charge their own move-in fee or hold a deposit, and many require floor and elevator protection to be laid down. Call your building manager as soon as you have a date, ask for the move-in packet, and send it to us. We will complete the certificate of insurance and work to your elevator window. Where we run into trouble is a same-day call for a building that needs 48 hours of notice, so the earlier you tell us the address, the better. Call (305) 333-9130 and we will talk through your building.

Our local rate is $175 per hour with a 3-hour minimum, which is $575 for the minimum booking and includes two movers and one truck. What moves the number up or down is stairs, whether there is a service elevator, how far the truck can park from the door, how much is packed and ready when we arrive, and whether there is a piano, a safe or another specialty item. A studio or one-bedroom in Miami-Dade usually lands inside the minimum. A two-bedroom typically runs four to six hours. A three-bedroom house is usually a full day and often a larger crew. Long-distance and out-of-state moves are not hourly at all: they are priced on the weight and square footage of what you are shipping, and you get that number in writing before you commit. Tell us the two addresses and roughly what is in the home and we will price it properly instead of guessing. Call (305) 333-9130.