| Fee | When it applies | How it is billed | How to avoid surprises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long carry | Truck cannot park close to the door | Per hundredweight, per additional distance band | Photograph the access at both ends; share with quoter |
| Stairs / flights | Each flight above the first | Per flight, per move | Disclose floor and elevator status upfront |
| Shuttle service | Tractor-trailer cannot reach the address | Flat charge for the smaller vehicle and extra handling | Confirm whether the carrier needs a shuttle for the lane |
| Packing materials | Boxes, paper, tape supplied by mover | Per item used, at the carrier's material rates | Buy your own boxes for non-fragile items |
| Full-pack labor | Mover packs all contents on move day | Separately priced service on the estimate | Self-pack everything except fragile and specialty items |
| Full-value protection | Replacement-cost coverage for goods | A percentage of the value you declare, set in the carrier's tariff | Compare against the released-value default of 60 cents per pound per article |
| Storage-in-transit | Goods held by carrier between pickup and delivery | Per hundredweight, per day, with a monthly minimum | Lock both pickup and delivery dates before signing |
| Fuel surcharge | Varies with diesel price | A percentage of the linehaul charge | Should appear as a line item on the estimate |
| Bulky article | Pianos, safes, gun safes, hot tubs | Per item | Itemize on inventory; flag during survey |
| Express / expedited delivery | Guaranteed pickup or delivery date | Flat premium on the linehaul | Worth it only when the date is non-negotiable |
Accessorial rates are set in each carrier's own filed tariff, company by company, and bestmovers.info holds no copy of those tariffs. The rates that circulate online as industry averages have no filing behind them, so publishing one here would be a guess with a dollar sign on it. What is durable is the list itself: knowing that long carry, shuttle, stair and storage charges exist is what lets you ask for each one in writing before you sign.
The four most common surprise charges
Shuttle fees are the largest single surprise on long-distance moves into urban or rural addresses. If the customer's destination address can't accommodate a 53-foot trailer, the carrier transfers the goods to a smaller vehicle. The customer pays for that transfer.
Long carry is the second-biggest. Anything beyond 75 ft of carry from truck to door (or door to truck) triggers it. NYC walk-ups, large-lot suburban driveways, and apartment complexes with restricted truck access are the typical triggers.
Stair charges add up faster than people expect, because they are billed per flight at each end. A third-floor walk-up at both pickup and delivery is six flights of charges on one bill, not one charge.
Packing materials get quietly added when the crew packs at the door. Cartons, paper and tape are billed at the carrier's own material rates rather than at hardware-store prices. The mark-up is legitimate, it is disclosed in the tariff, and it adds up across an entire home.
Questions to ask before signing
- Will any portion of either address require a shuttle?
- How is long carry measured and at what threshold does it trigger?
- How many flights of stairs are included before stair charges apply?
- Are packing materials included in the estimate or billed separately?
- What is the cost difference between released-value coverage and full-value protection?
- What's the storage-in-transit rate and minimum?
- Is the fuel surcharge a fixed amount or a percentage that floats?
- Are there bulky-article fees for any item on my inventory?
When 'low' quotes are actually high
A quote well below the others on the same inventory usually means accessorials are stripped out. The customer pays the difference at delivery. This is the most common pricing pattern in scammy broker-led sales — the headline number wins the booking; the real number arrives with the truck.