Edmonton Moving Company Prices

Moving prices explained

Why is there a "travel" or "truck" fee?

Most local companies charge by the hour. It's $xxx/hr, plus 1 hour travel. Your first response to this is "I'm moving 10 minutes away... why am I paying for an hour?". The travel is not during the move, it's before and after. Edmonton takes about a rounded half hour to go halfway across in a 5 ton truck.

There is a reason that time needs to be charged for. Let's say I charge $100/hr. On a very small move, if we get there and the whole thing takes an hour, your bill is would only be $100. its about 50 to $55/hr for labor on a moving truck, it takes us 2 hours of labor to do your 1 hour move. That's $100. The truck burns 20 or $30 in fuel, plus a slew of other small daily expenses and now It cost your moving company $160.00 do do your move. Making sense? On smaller moves, the travel fee insures the mover does not take a loss on the move if it does not take long.

Now on a larger move, the travel offsets what the actual hourly rate would be when not accounting for smaller moves. It's not practical to quote a different rate for every size job, thus the "travel" or "truck" fee.

What exactly are the rates?

Look at it like there are 5 types of Edmonton movers you can hire.

IMPORTANT ---Note that this list is in order of price... Not the level of service you will get. This is not the retail industry, Walmart buys in volume and the smaller guy can't compete. In This industry the smaller company has significantly less expenses, however anyone can buy a truck and call themselves a mover in Edmonton. This creates an excessive inconsistency in price vs. service level that cannot be controlled. It's up to you to do a bit of digging if you want move day to go smooth without costing a fortune!

1. Van Line Affiliated Moving Companies

These companies start at 140 or 150/hr for a truck and 2men. generally 30 or 40/hr more per man. In peak season I've seen 3 men for $235/hr. They adjust their rates accordingly for the season, but are generally pricey. They will likely do a good job, at least 1 of them will know exactly what they are doing. One expects this at this price point. You may wonder why they do not have great ratings, but think about it. They have the most difficult customer base. The more a mover charges, the worse it is if something goes wrong.

2. Local mid size Edmonton Movers

130 to 140/hr for 2men, 160 or 170 for 3. These prices will change in different seasons but not so much as van lines. I have seen a local company that does great service drop to $140/hr for 3men to keep his guys working, but this is rare. Some do amazing service and are the best moving companies in Edmonton. Some not so much. It's generally evident with a bit of research in the online reviews. These companies have more to gain by doing a good job though, integrity is everything when you are a local company!

3. National Franchises

$120 to $130/hr for 2men, $140 to 160 for 3. once again, I have seen these companies drop to $100/hr when things get bad but rare. The problem is someone has a hand in the cookie jar... Franchise fees and booking percentages eat up the profit leaving the guy doing the actual work with less. As a result the men doing the actual work may not be your first choice. Very well marketed, 1 or 2 are great but do not look at the national ratings. Look up their local google page.

4. Independent Owner/operators

100 to 120/hr for 2men, 140 to 150 for 3. prices do not change. this is bottom dollar operating cost for a moving company that has proper in insurance and equipment. But there is no need to charge more. In busy season, there is a great profit in working the hours, and significantly lower operating costs in the slow season. There are not many of them, most are not perfect however. I should not say this as I am an owner/operator and a very clear exception to this(check our online ratings), just trying to be as unbiased as possible. Checking ratings is a must in this category. You could be getting the service level of a great local company at a lower independent rate, or they may belong in the next category...

P.S. Do not confuse the company "owner /operators" with actual owner/operators. That's a national franchise.

5. Guys on kijiji

60 to $80/hr for 1 or 2men, $110 or so for 3. It's kind of all over the map in terms of what you get vs what you pay for. The pictures of the trucks in the ads are not what you get, they are all cube vans. Don't get me wrong, this may be what you need... Just look closely and be picky. I generally run an ad on kijiji for the back link and smaller filler moves and its obviously my truck, I am in the picture in uniform. The company name is on the truck. There are a couple of decent Edmonton movers on there I'm sure, but 90% of the pictures are copied and pasted off the internet so don't be surprised if the equipment level is poor. If you are moving only a few items though, the travel charge of the larger company makes them not nearly as cost effective as the "little guy". They have no operating costs because kijiji ads and cube vans are cheap! The line in the sand is when you have a lot of loose items going a distance to the truck. Equipment and experience starts to make up the time and the lower rate actually starts costing you more so once again be careful.

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