Moving Resources
Guides and reference material from the crews who move Atlanta every day — how we protect a home, how to prepare for moving day, and the data behind the metro’s moving patterns.
Stage 01 · Before You Book
The decisions that set your price before a truck is booked
A local move is billed by the hour, so most of what a move costs is decided in the two or three weeks before anyone loads a dolly. These are the four calls that move the number most.
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Book earlier for a month-end date
Month-end dates go first. Plan on two to three weeks ahead for the end of a month, about a week for mid-month, and call the office for same-day.
Check a date and get a written price → -
Decide what is not making the trip
You are paying for hours, so every box that does not go is time you do not buy. Sort before the estimate, not on move day. We move what you keep — we do not haul off donations or junk.
What a move actually costs → -
Pick the crew size on the clock, not the truck
Two movers and a truck run $160 an hour; three run $200. The larger crew costs more per hour and usually finishes in fewer of them, so compare the total, not the rate.
Two movers or three → -
Verify the license before you book anyone
Georgia licenses household goods carriers through the Department of Public Safety, Motor Carrier Compliance Division. LIOO Moving is certificated by MCCD, and you can check any mover the same way.
How to verify a Georgia mover →
Stage 02 · The Estimate
Read the estimate the way the crew reads it
An estimate is a plan priced by the hour, not a fixed total. Four things on it decide what the last line says.
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Know which minimum applies to your date
Standard local moves bill a 2.5-hour minimum. It is 3 hours on weekends, on same-day moves, and on moves 25 or more miles from downtown.
See the minimums on the booking page → -
The hourly rate is all-inclusive, with one named exception
No separate fuel, stair or weight charge is added to the job. The one disclosed exception is a $100 specialty-item fee on pianos, gun safes and any single item over 300 pounds, so flag those before you book.
Heavy and specialty items → -
The deposit is not an extra charge
A 25% reservation deposit holds the date and is credited to your final bill. It comes off what you owe at the end; it is not a fee on top of the rate.
Reserve a date → -
Expect the final bill to differ from the estimate
Your item list sizes the crew and the truck; it is a planning instrument, not a fixed quote. Access, stairs, parking and how packed you are on the day all move the hours.
Estimate versus final bill →
Stage 03 · Booked, Not Yet Moved
The weeks between a reservation and a loading dock
This is where moves quietly go wrong — a building nobody called, a date that shifted, a dresser nobody emptied. Five things to settle while there is still time.
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Your arrival time is a window
You pick a window at booking — morning 8–10, midday 11–1, or afternoon 2–4 — and we confirm the arrival time the day before. Windows exist so the crew ahead of you can finish properly instead of every job carrying a padded buffer.
What happens after you book → -
Ask who reserves the elevator — it depends on the building
Some buildings take the freight-elevator reservation only from the resident through the leasing office; others let us arrange it directly. Ask yours early. Either way we supply the building's certificate of insurance and schedule the crew around the window you secure.
Apartment and high-rise moves → -
Empty the dressers
We recommend it for three reasons: the carry is easier, dressers travel standing on end and the weight of full drawers can break the legs, and nothing can fall out on the stairs.
The full preparation guide → -
If the date has to move, say so early
Once a reservation is made, the deposit is non-refundable if the move is 72 hours or less away. Outside that window there is room to move things, so call as soon as a closing or a lease slips.
Changing or cancelling a move → -
If you want Spanish, request it at booking
Spanish is available. Ask for it when you reserve the date so dispatch can plan for it, rather than hoping for it on the morning of the move.
Note it on your reservation →
Stage 04 · Move Day and After
The day itself, and the week after the truck pulls away
Move day has its own step-by-step guide. What people miss is the short clock that starts the moment the job ends.
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Move day has its own guide — use that one
Everything from the night before through delivery — what to have ready, what the crew brings, what should ride in your own car — lives on one page instead of being scattered across this one.
How to prepare for moving day → -
Know what the included protection actually covers
Every job includes released valuation at $0.60 per pound per item, capped at $2,000 a move and $1,000 on labor-only jobs. It is not insurance. Full-value protection is optional and has to be elected before the crew starts.
What movers are liable for in Georgia → -
Damage claims run on a two-day clock
Report damage within two calendar days of the job finishing, with the move date, the order number, a description and photos. Walk the rooms and look behind the furniture before that window closes.
Floors, walls and property damage → -
Tipping is never required
No invoice from us will ever include it, and no crew will raise it. If you decide to, the convention is cash per mover rather than one lump sum, sized to how demanding the day turned out.
How much to tip movers →
Scope
What we do not do
Worth knowing before you plan around it. Each of these is a standing company rule, not a case-by-case judgment, so you can arrange the alternative early instead of discovering it on move day.
- Custom crating. Fragile and high-value pieces are padded, blanket-wrapped and boxed in picture and TV cartons. Anything that genuinely needs a built crate goes to a specialist crating or fine-art handler you arrange.
- Plastic moving crates. We do not supply crate systems or crate rental. Desks and cabinets pack into boxes, and materials are sold on their own if you want us to bring them.
- Boat and trailer towing. We do not tow boats, jet skis or trailers, and we do not arrange a tow vehicle. Kayaks, paddleboards, dock furniture and outdoor gear do get padded and loaded.
- Golf carts. We do not load or trailer them. You arrange the cart's own trip; everything in the cart garage moves with the household.
- Junk and donation hauling. We move what you are keeping. What you are discarding needs its own pickup, booked separately from the move.
Booking is open 24/7, including nights, weekends and holidays, at the same rates. LIOO Moving is a licensed Georgia household goods carrier certificated by the Department of Public Safety, Motor Carrier Compliance Division.