When we registered as LifeTime Moving in 2018, the name was a promise: we wanted customers who used us once to use us for life — every apartment, every house, every job relocation, every downsizing, every retirement move. That meant we couldn't be transactional. We had to be the company you remembered well enough to call again three years later and recommend to your sister-in-law.

That philosophy shows up in small things: we follow up after every move to confirm nothing was damaged, we keep your inventory and contact info on file so your second move is easier than the first, and we offer returning-customer pricing to anyone who's moved with us before. It also shows up in big things: we own our trucks, employ our crews directly (no day-labor), and refuse to broker out interstate moves to anonymous carriers.

For local moves within Illinois, we bill hourly. The clock starts when the truck arrives at pickup and stops when the last item is placed at delivery, including a fixed travel-time charge based on distance. Crew sizes are matched to your inventory — a one-bedroom apartment typically gets a 2-man crew on one truck; a four-bedroom house gets 4-5 movers across 1-2 trucks. We post our hourly rates publicly because we don't think pricing should be a negotiation.

Local move add-ons are clearly itemized: piano moving (upright or grand), gun safes, pool tables, hot tubs, and oversized art each have a posted flat fee. We don't charge stair fees on standard apartment moves. We don't charge for shrink wrap, pads, or blankets. We don't charge for furniture disassembly or reassembly. If you have a 30-minute travel time between addresses, you get charged for 30 minutes — not for an hour rounded up.

Interstate LifeTime Moving runs work differently. We quote based on cubic feet of inventory and a per-CF rate that varies by destination state. The most common destination corridors: Illinois to Florida, Texas, California, Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee, New York, and the Carolinas. We add a 15% fuel surcharge calculated before any volume discount, then apply a tiered volume discount (10% under 500 CF, up to 25% over 1500 CF), then add itemized add-ons.

For interstate moves we offer a guaranteed delivery window — typically 7–14 business days from pickup to delivery for standard runs, faster for direct lanes. You'll get tracking updates by text. The crew that loads your shipment in Illinois is in many cases the same crew that delivers it; on coast-to-coast lanes we hand off to a vetted partner crew with a documented chain of custody. No load gets brokered to an unknown carrier — ever.