Moving into a Miami building
Ask your building for its move-in rules before you pick a date: the elevator reservation, the loading area, the hours a crew may work and whether it wants a Certificate of Insurance. Send us the exact COI wording, with the certificate holder and any additional insured names, and the certificate is issued to match. Street space and any permit the city asks for are booked in your name. When the truck cannot stop near the door, the crew carries farther, so put a long walk, stairs or a small freight elevator on your item list; each one changes the work we price.
The road: about 2,200 miles of I-10
From downtown Los Angeles the truck takes I-10 east past Palm Springs into Arizona, through Phoenix and Tucson, across the southern edge of New Mexico to El Paso and over the long West Texas stretch to San Antonio and Houston. I-10 keeps it along the Gulf Coast after that, with a turn onto I-12 to pass north of New Orleans, until I-75 and Florida's Turnpike take it south through Florida to Miami.
Four driving days and a three-hour clock change
Roughly 38 hours of the trip is driving. Under the FMCSA hours-of-service rule a driver gets 11 hours at the wheel and then needs 10 hours off, so the road fills four days, and delivery is planned for 5 to 8 days after loading. Miami runs three hours ahead of Los Angeles (49 CFR part 71), and our Irvine office keeps Pacific time.
- Loading day in Los Angeles: blankets on the furniture, beds and tables taken apart where a doorway needs it, the truck loaded from your list.
- Four days east on I-10, then south through Florida.
- Miami: each piece set in its room and rebuilt, with any damage noted on a Damage Report before the crew goes.
Desert heat on the Arizona stretch
The National Weather Service counts 111 days a year at 100 degrees or hotter in Phoenix (1991 to 2020 averages), the first one around May 2 and the last around October 5 (NWS Phoenix). The truck crosses that desert early in the trip. On a summer move, pack candles, vinyl records, photos, medicine and anything else that can melt or warp in a box you drive yourself. Flammable liquids, firearms, explosives, and gasoline or propane containers stay off our trucks in any season.
Furniture you leave in Los Angeles
Each piece that stays behind comes off the item list, so it is out of the price too. In the City of Los Angeles, LA Sanitation takes bulky items from single-family homes, as many as you put out, at no added charge: sofas, tables, mattresses and box springs, rolled carpet. Book it through MyLA311 or at 1-800-773-2489 at least one business day before your trash day, with a short list of the items ready. Donating what still works is worth a look first. Cardboard goes only with a scheduled Move In/Move Out service, and in an apartment building the manager can tell you how bulky items leave.
The January 1 date in Miami-Dade
If you are buying in Miami-Dade, the homestead exemption lowers the taxable value of the home you live in. To claim it for a tax year you must hold title and live in the home as your permanent residence on January 1 of that year, then apply by March 1 (Miami-Dade Property Appraiser). A Florida driver license or Florida vehicle registration is among the proof the office accepts. If you already own the home, moving in on December 30 rather than January 2 can bring your first exemption a year sooner, so set the loading date with that in mind.
