Somewhere between packing your third box and realizing you own more books than you remembered, a nagging thought shows up: is it even worth calling a moving company for this? A studio or one-bedroom load feels too small to fuss over, yet too heavy to haul up a stairwell by yourself. The good news is that small moves have their own logic, and once you understand it, they can be genuinely cheap and fast.
Why do movers charge a minimum even for a tiny load?
The short answer is that a truck, fuel, and a two-person crew cost roughly the same to dispatch whether they’re moving a studio or a four-bedroom house. A minimum charge – usually pegged to two or three hours of labour plus a travel fee – covers the crew showing up, doing the job, and getting back. Even if your entire apartment fits in one truck load with room to spare, someone still had to drive across the city, carry your things, and reset for the next appointment.
It’s less a penalty than a floor. Movers know a small job rarely takes the full window they’ve blocked out, but they can’t run a business booking half-hour jobs. Once you see the minimum as the cost of getting professionals to your door, the math on a small move stops feeling unfair.
Is it really worth hiring a crew for one bedroom’s worth of stuff?
For a lot of renters, yes – and the reason isn’t the number of boxes. It’s the awkward pieces. A mattress that won’t bend around a landing, a couch that has to come out a narrow door, a dresser you’d rather not scrape down three flights. Two experienced people move that furniture in the time it takes you to talk a friend into helping, and nobody wrenches a back.
Cost is the other half. When people around London Ontario compare notes online about who to call, threads about sprint moving and similar local outfits tend to circle back to the same point: a small, well-run crew often beats the true cost of a DIY day once you add truck rental, gas, and the pizza-and-beer debt you owe your helpers. If you value a Saturday, hiring out can be the frugal choice, not the indulgent one.
How long should a small apartment move actually take?
A studio with everything boxed and ready is frequently loaded in under an hour. A one-bedroom with a bed frame, a couch, a table, and a dozen boxes usually runs two to three hours door to door, including drive time. Elevators, long carries from the parking lot, and stairs are the biggest variables. If your building has a freight elevator you need to book, reserve it early – waiting on a lift eats billable time fast.
What can you do yourself to shrink the bill on a small move?
Plenty, and none of it is complicated. Have every box sealed, labelled, and stacked by the door before the crew arrives – loose items scattered around a room slow everything down. Break down your bed frame and disconnect electronics ahead of time. Empty dresser drawers so a piece isn’t heavier than it needs to be. Park a spot for the truck or reserve the loading zone, so nobody circles the block. Each of these trims minutes, and on an hourly job, minutes are money. Move small, fragile, or valuable items – jewelry, documents, a laptop – in your own car and off the clock entirely.
How do you find a sprint moving crew that takes small jobs seriously?
Ask directly whether they do small moves, because some companies quietly steer studio jobs to the bottom of the schedule. Look for a clear quote that spells out the minimum, the travel fee, and the hourly rate afterward. Read recent local reviews from other renters, not just glowing testimonials on the company’s own page. A crew that answers your questions patiently over the phone tends to be the same crew that shows up on time and doesn’t nickel-and-dime you at the end.
What surprises trip up first-time renters on moving day?
The classics: forgetting to reserve the elevator, not measuring whether the couch clears the new doorway, and assuming a “quick” move means the crew skips the paperwork. Read what you sign, confirm the arrival window the day before, and keep a cash tip on hand if the crew earns it. Damage disputes almost always trace back to something that wasn’t written down, so photograph anything fragile before it goes on the truck.
A small move rewards preparation more than any other kind. Box early, ask the right questions when you book, and understand why the minimum exists, and your studio or one-bedroom relocation can be over before lunch. Treated seriously, small is exactly where hiring professionals pays off.