LIOO Moving · Moving & Storage
Storage During a Move: How It Works and When You Need It
Storage turns one move into two legs — load-and-hold, then deliver. The decision that matters is who handles your goods at each leg, because every extra handling is an extra chance for damage and an extra bill.
Key Takeaways
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LIOO does not run a warehouse or offer weekly or monthly storage: its crews load a unit you rent and return to empty it. With two movers and a truck, the 2.5-hour standard minimum makes the floor $400 a visit, or $800 in labor before the unit rent. Weekends, same-day jobs and moves 25 or more miles from downtown carry a 3-hour minimum, or $480 a visit.
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A Georgia storage facility holds a lien on everything in your unit and can start the sale process after 30 straight days in default.
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Home and renters policies often cap goods in storage at about 10% of the personal property limit.
The three routes Compared honestly
Storage during a move runs through one of three routes: a mover’s warehouse, a self-storage unit or a portable container.
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Mover’s warehouse (storage-in-transit): a carrier that operates its own warehouse packs and loads once, holds your goods in vaults, and delivers when the new place is ready. Fewest handlings and one accountable company, but no access during the gap, and only movers with a warehouse can offer it. LIOO does not run a warehouse. What LIOO’s moving & storage service does is the next route: our crew loads a unit you rent and returns to unload it, so you keep one company and the published hourly rate without a warehouse in the chain.
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Self-storage unit: generally the lowest monthly rate, as PODS itself says, plus month-to-month flexibility and access to your things. You do the loading twice, or a crew does: LIOO loads the unit on the way out of the old home and empties it into the new one, two visits on the same hourly card. Makes sense for any gap length when you want access or when no warehouse mover fits.
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Portable container: loaded in your driveway, stored at a yard, redelivered. Flexible, but driveway/HOA rules apply and loading is on you — container loading crews close that gap.
What decides it Three questions
Three questions decide which storage route fits a move: how long the gap is, whether you need access, and who is accountable.
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How long is the gap? Under a month: the fewer handlings the better, so a crew loading and unloading a unit on the route between the two addresses usually beats doing it yourself. Many months: self-storage’s lower monthly rate is what matters, and a container’s monthly fee starts to add up.
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Will you need access? Warehouse-held goods aren’t browsable; a self-storage unit is, and a container is only while it sits in your driveway. Pull aside a “first-night + might-need” set before anything goes in.
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Who’s accountable? One crew loading and delivering means one call if something’s wrong while your goods are being handled. Once goods are unloaded at a storage facility you chose, that facility counts as the destination and the carrier’s liability ends, under Georgia Rule 570-38-3-.05. Georgia’s required rental wording then leaves care, custody and control of the contents with you. A container carrier or warehouse mover answers under its own contract, so read it before load day.
Packing for storage Slightly different rules
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Everything boxed and sealed — storage time is dust time. Label a running inventory list as boxes leave.
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Nothing damp, nothing perishable, no fuel in tools. Georgia’s rental wording bars explosives and highly inflammable goods. Georgia summers are hard on candles and vinyl — keep heat-sensitive items with you.
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Furniture wrapped (paper or blankets, not plastic directly on wood for long stays) — standard prep in a packing service job.
Cost logic
Storage pricing is monthly and size-based; the bigger cost swing is the labor legs on each side. Loading everything twice yourself is free but slow; paying crews twice is the hidden cost of the “cheap” unit. Run both totals for your actual gap length before deciding — and get the labor legs quoted in writing with the crew size and hourly rate named, so you can add the unit or container fee to a known number. LIOO’s moving & storage page has a worked example.
How long can a mover keep your goods in storage?
On a move inside Georgia, a household-goods carrier can keep a shipment in storage in transit for up to 180 days. Storage in transit means the carrier holds your goods partway through the move. Under Georgia Rule 570-38-3-.14, goods can be stored only once in transit. After 180 days the warehouse counts as the final destination, its own rules and charges apply, and the carrier can no longer charge for storage. Once you ask for delivery, a carrier that takes more than five days, not counting holidays, through no fault of yours has to stop charging storage, unless Georgia’s Department of Public Safety accepts a longer period as reasonable. A mover holding goods over an unpaid bill is a separate issue, covered in our guide to estimates and final bills.
What happens if you stop paying for a storage unit in Georgia?
A Georgia storage facility can sell what is in your unit if the rent stays unpaid. The rental wording required by O.C.G.A. § 10-4-213 gives the owner a lien on everything in the space from the day it arrives. A payment not made by the seventh day of the month puts you in default, and the owner may then deny access without notice. Default then dates back to the day the payment was due. After 30 straight days in default, the owner can send written notice giving at least 14 days to pay, advertise once a week for two weeks, and hold a public sale at least 15 days after the first advertisement. You can pay what you owe and take your goods back any time before the sale. Keep your address and email current, because the notices go there.
Does insurance cover goods in a storage unit?
Homeowners and renters insurance can cover goods in a storage unit, usually at a lower limit than at home. Farmers says off-premises coverage is usually 10% of your personal property limit, so a $30,000 policy would cover $3,000 in the unit, and that some facilities require proof of coverage. Allstate gives the same proportion and says covered perils typically include fire, lightning, theft and vandalism. Farmers warns that some renters policies cover stored property only against theft, and that floods and earthquakes need added coverage. Read the rental agreement too: under the same Georgia statute, a limit on the value of stored property in that agreement counts as the maximum value of everything in the space.
Common questions
What is storage-in-transit?
A moving company that operates its own warehouse loads your goods once, holds them in vaults during the gap between homes, and delivers when the new place is ready — one company across the whole chain, but no access during the gap. LIOO Moving does not run a warehouse; its crews load and unload a storage unit or container you rent instead.
Is self-storage cheaper than mover storage?
Per month, usually yes. The swing cost is the labor on both ends: loading and unloading the unit yourself is free but slow, and a crew doing it is two visits on the published hourly rate. Price the unit plus the labor legs against a warehouse mover’s or container carrier’s quote for your actual gap length.
Can I access my things in mover storage?
In a mover’s warehouse, generally no — goods are held loaded and wrapped in vaults. In a self-storage unit you rent, yes, whenever the facility’s gate is open. Either way, set aside anything you might need before the storage leg begins.
Tell us both dates and what’s going into storage — you’ll get one written quote covering the load into your unit or container and the delivery back out.