Most moving companies make you call just to hear a rate. If you’re asking how much movers charge in New Orleans per hour, here is the straight version: the rate is set by crew size, and the total is that rate times the hours your move takes. This guide covers how the clock works, when a third mover pays for itself and what slows a job down in this city. When you want your own number, the calculator shows a ballpark price in about a minute.
What Drives Your Moving Cost
Two things decide an hourly moving bill. The crew size sets the rate, and everything else on this list sets how long the crew is on the clock. Know these six and you can read any mover’s quote, ours included, and see where the hours come from.
More rooms means more pieces, more trips and more hours. A studio and a four-bedroom house are different jobs: the crew size, the truck space and the time on the clock all grow with what you own, and the garage, attic and patio count too.
Two movers cost less per hour and take longer. Three cost more per hour and finish sooner. On bigger homes the totals often land close together, and the third mover can come out ahead. The calculator picks the crew size for your home, so you don’t have to guess.
Local moves are billed by the hour, and the drive between your two homes is part of the job. Companies differ on when the clock starts: some count from the moment the truck leaves their lot, others from arrival at your door. Ask before you book.
Weekends, the end of the month and summer are the busiest stretches in New Orleans. AD Movers charges the same rate any day, with no weekend surcharge, but mid-week and mid-month dates have the most open start times.
Shotgun house doorways, raised front steps, narrow streets where the truck can’t park at the door, shared elevators downtown. None of these carry a separate fee on a local move with us; they show up as time, which is why the calculator asks about them.
Full or partial packing and taking furniture apart and putting it back together all add hours. Pianos, gun safes, pool tables and hot tubs carry a specialty charge on top of the hours. Pick only what you need.
The fastest way to get your number: Answer a few quick questions about your move at admoversla.com/moving-quote/ and the calculator turns crew size and hours into a ballpark price in about 60 seconds. The final price is confirmed before move day.
Billing Questions, Answered
These are the questions customers ask us most on the phone before they book. Ask them of every company you compare, and write down the answers.
Does the clock start when they leave the warehouse or when they show up at my door?
It is the billing question that matters most. Some companies charge “portal to portal,” meaning the clock runs from the time the truck leaves their facility until it gets back, so the drive to and from your neighborhood lands on your bill. Others start at your door. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you’re buying, in writing, before move day.
✔ AD Movers: how time is counted is spelled out before you book, and the final price is confirmed before move day.
Is there a minimum charge? What if my move only takes 90 minutes?
Most hourly movers have a minimum, because sending a licensed crew and an equipped truck costs the same whether the job is big or small. A small move will usually hit it. Ask what the minimum is, then use all of it: add the boxes in the hall closet, the pieces at your mother’s house, the TV that needs to come off the wall.
✔ AD Movers: the minimum is shown in your quote before you commit, not revealed at the end.
What if movers deliberately slow down to run up the clock?
It is a fair worry with any hourly job. Warning signs are long breaks, one box per trip when a dolly could take four, and a truck loaded so loosely that things need to be re-stacked. Your best protection is a company with a long public review history and crews who work for the company, not day laborers picked up that morning.
✔ AD Movers: Over 115 verified Google reviews at 4.8 stars. We move efficiently because faster moves mean more jobs for us.
Are there hidden fees I should know about — fuel, stairs, long carries, credit card?
Some companies add a fee per flight of stairs, a long-carry charge when the truck can’t park close, a fuel surcharge or a materials charge on top of the hourly rate. Each one sounds small, and together they change the total. Ask for a written list of everything that can be added before you agree to anything.
✔ AD Movers: no fuel surcharge, no weekend surcharge, and stairs show up as time, not a separate fee. Specialty items and packing are the main add-ons, and both are quoted before you book.
Should I tip my movers? How much is appropriate?
Tipping is optional, and every tip goes 100% to the movers. Many customers tip when the crew worked hard, and our tipping guide covers what people usually do. Cash is easiest to split. A shotgun house full of heavy pieces, a July afternoon or a third-floor walk-up are the jobs where a tip, or cold water, means the most.
✔ AD Movers: we never ask for tips. They are appreciated, never expected, and they never change the price.
What if something gets damaged during my New Orleans move?
Ask every mover what coverage they carry and how a claim works, and get the answer before move day. It is also worth a call to your homeowners or renters insurance company to ask if your belongings are covered while they are on a truck. For heirlooms and art, take photos of their condition before the move.
✔ AD Movers: every full move is insured, furniture is blanket-wrapped, and LPSC #8127 is on record with the state.
The Decision Most People Get Wrong
“Should I pay less per hour for two movers, or more per hour for three who finish faster?” The answer depends on your home size and how hard it is to get things out. Below are general ranges for crew size and hours, with the boxes packed before the crew arrives.
Lower hourly rate, longer job
Higher hourly rate, faster job
These ranges are typical, not promises: stairs, a long walk to the truck and a second stop add time, and packing on move day can roughly double it. Our ballpark calculator picks the crew for your home and turns the hours into a price in about 60 seconds.
Local Knowledge That Matters
On an hourly bill, anything that slows the crew costs you time. In this city these six come up most often, and every one of them can be planned for before move day if you tell us about it when you run the ballpark.
Narrow one-way streets, little open curb and busy sidewalks mean the truck often can’t stop at your door, so every trip is a longer carry. Tell us the block and whether the building has a carriage way, a courtyard or a back entrance. Those details change how the crew loads and how long it takes.
A shotgun house is one room wide, with the rooms lined up front to back. Furniture from the back bedroom travels through every room and out one front door, which takes longer than a center-hall house of the same size. Measure your sofa and your doorways before move day so nothing is a surprise.
During Carnival, streets on and near the parade routes close for hours, and a truck may not be able to reach your block at all. If your date falls in parade season, check the schedule for your neighborhood or pick a day with no parades nearby. We go over the route with you when we confirm the details.
July and August afternoons slow everyone down, and a crew carrying a sleeper sofa up front steps in that heat has to pace itself to stay safe. An early start gets the heaviest pieces on the truck before the worst of it. Leaving the A/C running at both homes helps the crew keep its speed.
Many older New Orleans houses sit up on piers, and many homes rebuilt after Katrina, in Lakeview and elsewhere, were raised higher still. That means front steps on every trip, sometimes steep and narrow. Appliances and heavy furniture go up or down them one at a time, so tell the calculator about the steps.
In Uptown, the Bywater or the Marigny, parked cars often fill the curb and the truck ends up down the block. Apartment and condo buildings in the CBD and Warehouse District often book freight elevators and loading docks by time slot. Reserve yours early and tell us the window so the crew arrives when it opens.
Save Real Time & Money
Hourly pricing means you control part of the cost. Every hour the crew doesn’t need is an hour you don’t pay for. These seven habits come from 1,000+ moves across New Orleans since 2013.
If your boxes are packed, taped and labeled when the crew walks in, you’re not paying a moving crew to pack. On a bigger home this is the single largest saving, because packing on move day can roughly double the clock.
Bed frames, dining tables and flat-pack furniture can be taken apart the night before. Put the bolts in a labeled bag taped to each piece so reassembly at the new place goes quickly too.
Roll up rugs, prop doors open and clear the hallways and the front steps. Park your own car somewhere other than the spot in front of the house, so the truck can get as close as possible.
Fridays, Saturdays and the last week of the month are the busiest. The rate is the same any day, but a Tuesday in the middle of the month gives you the widest choice of start times.
An early start in summer beats the worst of the heat and keeps the crew at full speed for the heavy pieces. It also leaves you the afternoon to unpack the kitchen before dark.
Every item that goes on the truck adds a little time. The things you’re “maybe keeping” can be sold, donated or hauled off before move day. Fewer pieces, fewer trips, fewer hours.
Stairs, long carries, narrow doorways, a piano, a shared elevator, a second stop: surprises on move day slow everything down. The more you put in the calculator, the closer your ballpark is to the final price.
What Customers Say on Google
Word for word from our Google Business Profile, where AD Movers is rated 4.8★ across 115 reviews.
“The guys were nice and did a good job. They moved our furniture and went to storage units we had near by and got the rest of our furniture. I highly recommend them.”
“We only had a large, very heavy conference room table to move, but they were very professional AND very reasonable. After moving the table, they even helped clean the heavy glass topper.”
“Absolutely amazing team! Not only were they on time and fast but super friendly! They made the process of moving much less stressful. Highly recommend!”
How We Bill
AD Movers built the calculator so you can see crew size, hours and a ballpark price before anyone calls you. Here is what stands behind that number.
How It Works
See the ballpark, confirm the details and the final price, then the crew shows up with everything it needs.
Fill out the short form above or visit our quote page. Enter your home size, move date and the details that add time: stairs, an elevator, a long walk from the curb. The ballpark shows in about 60 seconds.
Pick a day, weekday or weekend at the same rate. We go over parking, elevator windows and any parade closures with you, then confirm the final price before move day.
Your crew arrives with blankets, dollies, straps and floor runners. If anything changes on the day, like an extra room of furniture, the crew lead tells you before anything is added.
Your New Orleans Crew
Our crews have carried sofas through shotgun doorways and armoires down raised front steps across the city, so they don’t spend your hours working out the basics. Furniture is blanket-wrapped, door frames are padded and floor runners go down before the first piece moves. We work in New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, Chalmette, Harahan, Gretna, Harvey, Marrero and the rest of the metro.
Get Your Ballpark Price →
Equipped for Any New Orleans Move
Every full move uses our own truck, stocked with moving blankets, hand trucks, furniture dollies and tie-down straps. When you compare hourly rates, check what comes with them. A low rate that bills extra for blankets or a truck fee is a different number than it looks, and a crew with no gear spends your hours improvising.
Call 504-237-0855 →Your Billing Checklist
Areas We Serve
From the French Quarter to the Northshore and across the river to the Westbank, local moves are billed the same way: crew size and hours. Pick your area below for local details, or run the ballpark for your two addresses.
Common Questions
The hourly rate depends mostly on crew size: two movers and a truck cost less per hour than three or four. What decides your bill is that rate times the hours your home takes. The AD Movers calculator picks the crew for your home size and shows a ballpark price in about 60 seconds, with no phone call. The rate is the same any day of the week.
Ask every mover this, because companies count it differently. Some start the clock when the truck leaves their lot and stop it when it gets back, so the drive both ways lands on your bill. Others count from your door to the drop-off. With AD Movers, how time is counted is spelled out before you book, and the final price is confirmed before move day.
Most hourly movers have a minimum, because sending a crew and a truck costs the same whether the job is large or small. If your move is small, ask what the minimum is and plan to use all of it, for example by adding a few pieces from storage or a relative’s house. Your AD Movers quote shows the minimum before you commit.
For studios and one-bedrooms, two movers is usually the better value. Two-bedrooms go either way, depending on stairs and heavy pieces. For three bedrooms and up, three movers often finish so much sooner that the total is close to, or lower than, two movers working longer. The calculator picks the crew for your home automatically.
Some companies add a fee per flight or a long-carry charge. With AD Movers they are not separate fees: on a local hourly move, stairs, elevators and a long walk from the truck show up as time on the clock, which is why the calculator asks about them. Pianos, gun safes, pool tables and hot tubs are the exception and carry a specialty charge.
We work seven days a week, and the office answers (504) 237-0855 from 7am–7pm every day. Weekends cost the same as weekdays, with no weekend surcharge. In summer, an early start beats the afternoon heat and keeps the crew at full speed for the heaviest pieces, so morning slots are worth asking for.
Household goods movers in Louisiana are licensed by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and you can look any company up on its site before you book. AD Movers holds LPSC #8127, and every full move is insured. If a mover can’t give you a license number, keep looking; an unlicensed crew leaves you with nobody to answer to.
Same-week dates are often open. Weekend slots and end-of-month dates fill fastest, so booking 7 to 10 days ahead gives you the most start times for those. Around Mardi Gras, book further out, because parade-day street closures limit which days and routes work. Need to move this week? Call (504) 237-0855 and we’ll see what is open.
Give the calculator the real details, including stairs, elevators, the walk to the truck and every specialty item, and the ballpark is built on the hours your home actually takes. We confirm the final price with you before move day, and nothing is added without your OK. That is how AD Movers has run 1,000+ moves and kept a 4.8★ rating on Google.
Ready to Get Your Price?
Enter your home size and both addresses, and the calculator shows the crew, the hours and a ballpark price in about 60 seconds. Prefer to talk? Call 7am–7pm, seven days a week.
AD Movers is a licensed & insured New Orleans moving company providing local and long-distance moving across the areas we serve.
