If you are planning a move, you should know that the standard moving charges are not the only costs to prepare for. Depending on your circumstances, there are several extra moving charges you may also have to pay. Below is an overview of these extra charges and how you can manage them, if possible.

Flight Charge

The movers may charge you this fee if your house is not located on the ground floor and the movers can't use the elevator. For example, moving items up and down three flights of stairs is difficult and dangerous, and it makes sense to compensate the movers appropriately.

There is nothing you can do if your apartment doesn't have an elevator. However, if the apartment does have an elevator, reserve it for the moving day so your movers don't charge you a flight charge fee.

Shuttle Service

The shuttle service fee applies if the moving truck has to pack a long way from your front door and the moving company has to use a smaller vehicle to shuttle between your house and the moving truck. This makes sense because the shuttle service gives your movers extra work. Instead of loading your items directly into the truck, they have to load the small vehicle, drive it to the truck, unload it, and load the moving truck.

Whether you can avoid this charge depends on the reason your moving truck can't come close to your house. For example, snow accumulation, obstructions, and inadequate parking space can trigger shuttle service.

Extra Stops Fee

The standard moving fee caters for picking up your belongings at one place and delivering them to one destination. You have to pay extra fees if you want the movers to pick up your items at different locations or drop off the items at different locations. This makes sense since multiple pickup or drop-off points takes more time and work.

You can avoid the extra stops fee if you collect all your belongings at a central location so the movers don't have to visit multiple pickup locations. For example, if you have items in a self-storage facility, you can bring them to your home before the moving day instead of having the moving company collect the belongings at home before picking up the ones at the storage unit.

Travel Fee

The travel fee compensates the moving company for the time they will spend on the road from their offices to your collection point. This charge makes sense if your collection point is far from the moving company's premises. Distance and traffic can increase the travel fee. There is only one thing you can do to reduce travel fees — use a moving company as close to your collection point as possible.