Labor-Only Moving in Portland and Eugene
You have the truck, trailer or container. We bring the crew who know how to load it so nothing shifts.
- Loading
- Unloading
- Container loading
- In-home moves
The truck is the easy part to rent
Anyone can hire a truck. What is hard to hire is two people who know how to fill it so the load arrives in the same condition it left.
Labor-only is exactly what it sounds like: you supply the vehicle, we supply the crew. It is the cheapest way to use a professional mover, and for the right job it is genuinely the right answer rather than a compromise.
The skill you are buying is load design. Weight distributed so the vehicle handles, furniture tiered and tied so nothing walks on the motorway, and a wall built at the back so the last third does not fall forward at the first junction. That is the part that goes wrong when people load their own rental.
When it is the right choice
- You have already rented a truck and want it loaded properly.
- You are using a portable container and need it packed tight, because space in those is expensive.
- Unloading only. You drove it here; you would rather not carry it up the stairs.
- Moving within one property. Rearranging heavy furniture, clearing a room for flooring, or shifting between floors.
- A short local hop where a full-service move is more than the job needs.
If you want the vehicle, the crew and the responsibility in one place, that is a residential move instead.
Three ways crews get booked
Booked by the hour, with a minimum that we tell you before you book.
Load only
We fill your truck or container to a plan, tie it off and leave you to drive. The most common booking.
Residential movingUnload only
You arrive, we carry. Everything placed in the room it belongs in rather than stacked in the hall.
StorageIn-home labor
Rearranging, clearing a room before work starts, or moving heavy items between floors.
Junk removalSimple to book, deliberate on the day
Tell us the size and the vehicle
How much there is and what you have rented. That decides crew size and how long it takes.
An hourly rate and a realistic estimate
You are told the rate, the minimum and how long we expect it to take. A crew of two moving a house is not a saving if it takes twice as long.
Loaded to a plan
Heavy and square on the bottom, tiered up, tied off in sections. Protection on anything that would otherwise rub.
Walked before we leave
You see the load and sign off on it before the doors close.
What you are taking on
Labor-only is cheaper because you are keeping part of the job, and part of the risk. That is a completely reasonable trade, but it should be a trade you make knowingly rather than discover afterwards.
The vehicle is yours, the driving is yours, and goods in transit in a vehicle you rented are not covered the way a full-service move is. We are responsible for how we handle your things while we are handling them. Once the doors close and you drive away, the load is yours.
Worth knowing before you book
- Bring more padding than you think. Blankets and straps usually come from the rental company, and people consistently under-order.
- Have the vehicle on site and ready. The clock starts when the crew arrives, not when the truck does.
- Parking is your side of the job. A crew carrying a sofa an extra hundred metres is time you are paying for.
- Hazardous materials still do not travel, and we will not load them.
- We do not drive customer vehicles. Insurance, not preference.
Crews in both markets
Labor-only bookings run out of both offices, Monday through Saturday.
Labor-only, answered
How many people will I need?
Two for an apartment or a partial load, three or four for a house. A crew that is too small is not a saving, because you pay for the extra hours it takes.
Do you bring blankets and straps?
Padding and straps normally come with your rental truck or container, and most people under-order. Tell us what you have when you book and we will say whether it is enough.
Can you drive my rental truck?
No. We load it, you drive it. That is an insurance limit rather than a preference, and it is the same across the industry.
Is my load insured?
We are responsible for how we handle your belongings while we are handling them. Once the vehicle is loaded and you drive away, the load and the vehicle are yours. This is the main trade-off against a full-service move, and it is worth being clear about before you choose.
Can you load a portable container?
Yes, and it is worth doing properly. Container space is expensive, and the difference between a well-loaded and a badly loaded container is often a second container.
Got the truck already?
Tell us the size of the load and what you have rented, and we will quote the crew.