How to read a long distance quote

Long distance quotes are written to be hard to compare. Three questions cut through almost all of it, and you can ask them on the phone in two minutes.

Is this binding, or an estimate

An estimate is not a price. A binding quote is a price, and it is only binding if the word is on the paper. Ours are binding after a walkthrough and we put the date it expires on the same line.

By weight, or for the move

Priced by the pound means the number is decided at a weighbridge after your things are already on the truck. We price the move, not the weight, so the figure cannot move afterwards.

Same crew at both ends

Ask it directly. A lot of long distance loads are handed to a second company halfway, which is how things get lost between two inventories that never quite match.

What is the delivery window

A two hour window the night before is a real answer. A spread of five to ten days is a warning: it means your load is waiting for other loads going the same way.

Tolls and fuel

Ask whether they are inside the number. Ours are. A per-mile rate that excludes tolls on the I-95 corridor is not a per-mile rate.