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Philadelphia, PA

Long distance movers in Philadelphia

Philadelphia will not process a no-parking permit requested less than three business days out — it is a refusal, not a delay. We file it early, and we tell you at survey whether the street needs a shuttle.

  • Permit filed early 72 hours is a hard floor
  • Narrow streets shuttle where a trailer will not fit
  • COI issued direct to management
  • USDOT 2138595 · MC-744411 checkable on FMCSA SAFER
Broad Street in Philadelphia at night, traffic drawn out in light trails toward City Hall

Licensed interstate carrier

Our authority is public record — and so are our reviews. FMCSA register

PA PUC approves rates
stricter than licensing
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Philadelphia, PA

What a long distance move from Philadelphia involves

Philadelphia treats a late moving permit as a no, not a risk.

We file on time, post the signs, and quote one binding price before you pack. It sits inside the price you were quoted rather than arriving afterwards.

The rest is the ordinary work: a survey that counts what you own, a binding price in writing, our own crew loading and delivering, and thirty days of storage if your dates slip.

Moving services in Philadelphia

Why people book us for a move from Philadelphia

1,789
Households moved
160
Crew
28
Cities
  • Two movers among cartons, one reading from a tablet Your quote is your final price, in writing after the survey
  • A mover carrying a large carton against his chest, close in Trained crews on our own payroll, never day labor
  • A mover carrying a carton through a kitchen as a resident stands aside Licensed and insured under our own USDOT and MC authority
  • A man at the door of a green storage unit, working the latch Thirty days of storage included on long distance moves
  • A hand marking a date on a wall calendar with a pen We file and pay the Philadelphia street permit as part of the booking

What it costs

What moving from Philadelphia typically costs

Price comes from weight and mileage first, then access — and in Philadelphia access means the curb permit and the stair.

Home size Typical weight To Los Angeles To Chicago
Studio or 1 bed one bedroom of contents 2,000 – 3,500 lb $2,759 – $6,561 $1,859 – $4,701
2 – 3 bedrooms the most common interstate move 4,000 – 9,000 lb $4,036 – $8,826 $2,408 – $6,468
4+ bedrooms often needs a trailer to itself 10,000 – 14,000 lb $8,305 – $12,491 $4,355 – $8,594

The dollar ranges are the MARKET rate for these lanes, not our quote: Philadelphia to Los Angeles and Philadelphia to Chicago. moveBuddha's monthly dataset of live quotes across vetted movers, last updated 31 August 2026. Weights are the industry rule of thumb. We price your move from a survey of your actual inventory and give you one binding number in writing, which is why no figure above is presented as ours.

Get a binding price

Included and extra

What your final price includes

The complaint in this industry is always the bill that grew. This is the line between included and extra, before you have to ask.

  • Included One truck, one crew The crew that loads you is the crew that unloads you.
  • Included Storage for 30 days Useful when a closing slips.
  • Included Basic cover 60 cents for every pound an item weighs.
  • Extra Full cover Pays to repair or replace what we list together.
  • Extra Packing and crates Up to 15 boxes is partial, more than that is full.
  • Extra Car shipping Open or enclosed.
  • Extra The street permit Its own line on your estimate, not hidden in a total.

How the price is built

How your move from Philadelphia works, step by step

Four points where something is decided. The first has a deadline attached.

  1. File the permit

    More than three business days out, because a later request is refused rather than delayed. We file it as part of the booking.

  2. Survey, and the street

    We count the inventory and look at whether a trailer can reach the address, where a shuttle would stand, and what the stair will turn.

  3. Load day

    Signs posted and the curb held. Where the street will not take the trailer, a smaller truck works the door and transfers.

  4. Transit and delivery

    One carrier, one crew, and a delivery window rather than a promised hour — weather and hours-of-service limits are real constraints.

Long distance moving routes from Philadelphia

Road distance and the transit window we plan against on the lanes we run most from Philadelphia.

All routes
Permit
$25 per 40 feet, which is two spaces
Center City
$50 a day instead of the standard rate
Permit notice
72 hours a hard minimum, not a guideline
To the west coast
7–12 days Philadelphia to Los Angeles, 2,741 mi

Permit figures published by the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

Philadelphia's moving permit deadline is a no, not a risk

Most cities treat a late permit request as a risk. Philadelphia treats it as a no.

The city issues a Temporary No Parking permit for a move, and a request made less than three business days — seventy-two hours — before the date is not processed. Not delayed, not prioritized differently: refused. On a street of rowhouses with curbside parking on both sides and no driveway anywhere, that is the difference between a truck at your door and a carry from wherever the crew could legally stop. We file it as part of the booking, well inside the window.

The fee is straightforward and worth knowing before it appears on an invoice: $25 per forty feet of curb, forty feet being two parking spaces — except in Center City, where it is $50 a day.

Then the streets, which in much of the city are older than the vehicles. A 53-foot trailer cannot enter large parts of South Philadelphia, Queen Village or Old City, and where it cannot the job runs as a shuttle from a legal spot. The rowhouses match: narrow stairs with a turn at the top, and a front door that decides what travels whole.

One thing Pennsylvania does that almost no other state does: it does not merely license movers or make them file their rates, it approves them. A mover working inside Pennsylvania charges fees the Public Utility Commission has approved, which makes the PUC’s list of active carriers a genuinely useful thing to check.

What decides a Philadelphia move

A deadline the city will not bend

Three things. The first is the only one on any of these pages that can stop a move outright.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia behind a statue and autumn trees

72 hours and a later request is refused

The three-business-day permit deadline

Philadelphia does not process a Temporary No Parking request made less than three business days out. On a rowhouse street with curb parking both sides and no driveway, that is the difference between a truck at the door and a long carry.

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway at sunrise with City Hall and the skyline beyond

$25 / 40 ft $50 a day in Center City

What forty feet of curb costs

Forty feet is two parking spaces. Center City is charged differently, which is the kind of thing that turns up on an invoice unexplained if nobody mentions it first. We put it on the estimate.

The Philadelphia skyline above the Schuylkill riverfront walk

No trailer across much of the old city

Rowhouse streets a trailer cannot reach

South Philadelphia, Queen Village and Old City will not take a 53-foot trailer. A smaller truck works the door and transfers, and the rowhouse stair decides at survey what comes apart.

Permit fees and the notice requirement are published by the City of Philadelphia.

Protection

Moving insurance: what your belongings are covered for

Every interstate move carries released-value liability by law, and it is lower than almost everyone expects: sixty cents per pound of the item, not what the item is worth. On a rowhouse stair with a turn at the top, the things most at risk are rarely the heaviest ones.

Corrugated wrap being drawn off a roll
60¢ / lb
released value — free, but you have to choose it
Full value
the federal default if you choose nothing
$100k / $500k
auto transport, open or enclosed

What comes apart at the turn is decided at survey, not on the day.

What each level actually pays

Moving in less than a week?

Then the permit deadline is the first thing to check. Two ZIP codes gets it started.

323-379-1382 Get a price

Where we load in Philadelphia

Three kinds of address, three kinds of load.

Front steps and iron railings of Philadelphia rowhouses on a leafy street
Independence Hall in Philadelphia framed by autumn trees
The Philadelphia skyline reflected in the Schuylkill River beside the expressway
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Washington monument at sunset
Philadelphia City Hall tower among the surrounding office buildings, seen from a rooftop

  • Center City towers

    Center City · Rittenhouse · Logan Square

    A booked dock and a certificate to management. Center City is also charged differently for the curb, at $50 a day.

  • Rowhouse streets

    South Philadelphia · Queen Village · Old City · Fishtown

    Curb parking both sides and no driveway. A Temporary No Parking request made less than three business days out is refused.

  • The Main Line and across the river

    Ardmore · Bryn Mawr · King of Prussia · Cherry Hill

    Separate municipalities, and Cherry Hill is in New Jersey — so a move there crosses a state line and is already interstate.

Broad Street in Philadelphia at night, traffic drawn out in light trails toward City Hall

Reviews from customers on our long-distance lanes

“We shipped a car from Philadelphia to LA and it was a solid experience. Flat fee, no hassling, the person I dealt with was professional, the contract was digital and clear”

Read every review

Where to go next

Common questions about moving from Philadelphia

323-379-1382 All moving questions
How late can I get a parking permit?

You cannot get one inside three business days. Philadelphia does not process a Temporary No Parking request made less than seventy-two hours before the date — it is refused rather than delayed. That makes it the first thing to settle on a short-notice move, and we file it as part of the booking.

What does the permit cost?

$25 per forty feet of curb, and forty feet is two parking spaces. In Center City it is charged differently — $50 a day. We put whichever applies on the estimate rather than letting it appear later.

Can a full-size truck get to my rowhouse?

Often not. Much of South Philadelphia, Queen Village and Old City will not take a 53-foot trailer. Where it will not, a smaller truck works your door and transfers to the trailer parked on a through street — a line on the estimate, priced at survey.

My stairs have a turn at the top.

Common in a rowhouse, and it is what decides which things travel whole. We look at the stair and the front door at survey and agree then what comes apart, rather than discovering it with a sofa halfway up.

You are an interstate carrier — what about a move inside Pennsylvania?

Different regulator, and Pennsylvania’s is unusually strict. Interstate is federal: USDOT 2138595 and MC-744411, checkable on the FMCSA register. A move that starts and ends in Pennsylvania must be done by a mover licensed by the Public Utility Commission, carrying adequate insurance and charging fees the PUC has approved — not merely filed. The PUC publishes a list of active household goods carriers to check against.

What is my furniture actually insured for?

By default sixty cents per pound of the item — the federal released-value standard, included at no cost. That is weight, not worth. Full-value protection is the paid alternative on an inventory we declare together.

Moving out of Philadelphia?

The permit filed in time, the street checked, and a binding number before you commit.

323-379-1382 Get a price

Get a price for your move from Philadelphia

Two ZIP codes and a date is enough to start. A coordinator confirms the permit deadline, the street width and what the stair will turn before anything is booked.