How much should moving and hauling helpers charge?

Moving and hauling help is almost always billed hourly with a posted minimum, not as a flat per-move price — clients expect to see an hourly rate before they book. Set your real hourly rate here; the calculator assumes a standard local job length, but you should still quote a per-job minimum (commonly 2-3 hours) so a short drive-and-load job stays worth it.

What moves the rate

• Crew size — a solo mover working alone bills less per hour than a 2-person crew, but many solo operators hire a helper for a single job and bill accordingly
• Truck/vehicle you provide — labor-only (client already has a truck or POD) bills lower than labor-plus-your-truck, since you're also covering fuel, mileage, and vehicle wear
• Move size and item difficulty — studio/1-bedroom loads price far below a full house; stairs, long carries from the truck to the door, and oversized/heavy items (pianos, safes, appliances) commonly add a surcharge
• Packing vs. loading only — packing boxes/wrapping furniture takes real extra time and is often quoted as a separate hourly add-on
• Local move vs. pure hauling/junk removal — a junk-removal or single-item haul is usually priced per load or per truck-fill rather than hourly for the whole job
• Minimum job charge — most solo movers set a 2-3 hour minimum so a quick job still covers travel and setup time
• Local cost of living and competitor rates in your metro

baseHourly of $55 sits in the middle of the $40-100+/hr per-person range solo/independent movers report charging, below the $80-150/hr some 2-person labor-only crews charge in competitive metros since this models one person working alone; typicalRateRange (40-100/hour) spans solo help through a well-equipped, in-demand operator. Real jobs should be quoted with a stated per-job minimum (2-3 hours) plus surcharges for stairs, long carries, and oversized items, since a pure hourly number doesn't capture those job-specific costs. The $3,200/yr expense default reflects a solo operator who already owns (or has steady access to) a pickup truck or cargo van for personal use and adds business coverage rather than buying a dedicated commercial truck: commercial auto insurance to cover business use of the vehicle (~$1,500-2,000/yr, since personal auto policies typically exclude paid hauling work), general liability insurance for accidental property damage during a move (~$600-1,000/yr), basic moving equipment (hand truck/dolly, furniture blankets, ratchet straps, ~$500-800 to start with ongoing replacement), and scheduling/invoicing software (~$300-400/yr) — notably lower than a licensed moving company's costs (owned box truck, cargo insurance, workers' comp for employees), which run tens of thousands of dollars and aren't relevant to this solo, labor-and-a-pickup-truck scale.