Are California moving companies licensed differently?

Yes. Movers operating entirely within California must be licensed by the Bureau of Household Goods and Services. For interstate moves — California to any other state — the governing authority is federal: an active USDOT number and FMCSA operating authority. Ours are USDOT #4575745 and MC-1820728.

California Interstate Movers | Nationwide Moving Services

50STATE MOVERS INC box truck in its own livery parked at the front door of a house on delivery day after a California move

Blue floor runner laid from the front door through the entry of a California home on moving day

Sofas, tables and a mattress blanket-wrapped and shrink-wrapped, ready to carry out of a California home

Blanket-wrapped furniture and wardrobe cartons stacked and strapped in tiers inside the truck

How the day runs

Moving day in California, from door to door.

Four stages on every job our movers from California run — this is what each of them looks like.

Floors protected

Runners down and door jambs padded before a single box is carried.
Blanket-wrapped

Blankets, shrink and tape on every piece — not only the fragile ones.
Tiered and strapped

Each tier is strapped before the next goes up — that is what stops shifting.
Delivered to the room

Carried to the room you choose, inside the window we agreed in writing.

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Coverage

We load anywhere in California and unload in any continental state. Call +1 (888) 505-1086.

Our trucks work the whole of California, small towns included. A place that isn't on this list is usually still on a lane we already run — ring +1 (888) 505-1086 and we'll check the access before we quote you.

Los Angeles

San Diego

San Jose

San Francisco

Fresno

Sacramento

Long Beach

Oakland

Bakersfield

Anaheim

Stockton

Riverside

Irvine

Santa Ana

Chula Vista

Fremont

Santa Clarita

San Bernardino

Modesto

Fontana

Moreno Valley

Oxnard

Huntington Beach

Glendale

Ontario

Elk Grove

Santa Rosa

Rancho Cucamonga

Oceanside

Garden Grove

Lancaster

Palmdale

Corona

Salinas

Roseville

Hayward

Sunnyvale

Escondido

Pomona

Visalia

Fullerton

Torrance

Victorville

Orange

Pasadena

Santa Clara

Clovis

Simi Valley

Thousand Oaks

Vallejo

What we do

Six ways we handle a move.

California moves lean hardest on packing and white glove service. High-value inventories, art, and wine collections are common, buildings demand professional-grade protection, and the walk-ups and hillside homes that define the state's housing stock make crating and disassembly routine rather than optional. Storage matters too, because California closing dates rarely align.

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Long Distance

Long-haul household relocations across the continental map — scheduling, documentation, and unpacking on arrival included, with one crew responsible throughout.
White Glove

The top tier. Concierge-level service: we'll pack, transport, unpack, arrange, and even hang the art on the walls before we leave.
Residential

Household moves of every scale. Beds, wardrobes and tables are dismantled, transported and reassembled, and nobody drives off until it is all where it belongs.
Commercial

Offices, studios and workspaces relocated outside trading hours. The aim is simple: no lost working days between the old address and the new one.
Packing & Crating

Art, heirlooms, instruments, and glass packed the way galleries pack them, with bespoke crates constructed in your home for anything off-size.
Storage

Warehousing with climate control and 24-hour security. Use it for a week between closings or indefinitely; the inventory and the insurance run throughout.

Two 50STATEMOVERS crew carrying a blanket-wrapped item up the ramp into a loaded truck, moving blankets and cartons stacked inside

Pricing

How a California move gets priced.

There is no price table on this page on purpose. A figure quoted before anyone has seen your household is a guess, and guesses are what become revised invoices at the far end. What follows is what genuinely shifts the cost of a California move — each line itemized in writing before you sign, and binding once you do.

01Distance and lane

Your route sets the floor. Our California lanes run from about 270 miles to Nevada out to roughly 2,570 miles to Florida. Sharing a trailer with other households costs less than a dedicated truck; a dedicated truck buys you a delivery date instead of a spread.

02Access at both ends

Whether a trailer can reach your door changes the job. Long carries, stairs, freight elevator reservations, street permits, and shuttle service where a tractor-trailer physically cannot fit are all real work — we check them at survey so they land in the quote instead of on move day.

03How much packing you want

Full packing is what most long-distance customers choose, and it is the single biggest factor in whether a load arrives intact — a professionally packed box is built for a 2,000-mile ride, not a car trip. Most land somewhere between, having us handle the kitchen, art, and anything fragile. Custom crating for art, antiques, and oversized items is quoted separately.

04Storage between dates

Closing dates and lease ends seldom meet neatly. When there is a gap, your inventory sits in storage-in-transit until the new place is ready — priced in the original quote, not billed as a running surprise. Anything wooden, leather, or electronic belongs in a climate-controlled unit.

05Valuation and protection

The basic released-value coverage the federal rules require comes with every interstate shipment and costs nothing. Above it sits Full Value Protection, which pays to repair, replace, or settle in cash at today's market value — a line worth adding when the inventory is valuable.

Local notes

Moving from California: what's actually different.

The practical detail changes by state — where the trucks can go, when the weather cooperates, who licenses whom. Here is how that plays out in California.

STEP 01

Roads & access

I-5 runs the length of the state and I-15 and I-40 carry most eastbound long-haul volume. The real complexity is urban: San Francisco requires temporary no-parking postings placed 72 hours ahead, most Los Angeles high-rises restrict moves to weekday business hours, and hillside addresses in the Oakland hills, Silver Lake, and La Jolla often need a shuttle because a 53-foot trailer physically cannot turn around. Wildfire closures on I-5 and the mountain passes are a real seasonal factor. Main corridors: I-5, I-10, I-15, I-80, US-101.

STEP 02

Timing your move

Summer is peak, and the last two weeks of August are the tightest in the state because of university calendars in Berkeley, Westwood, Davis, and San Luis Obispo. October and November are excellent value, with the caveat that late-season wildfire and Santa Ana wind events can close a route with little notice. Winter moves out of Northern California occasionally hit chain controls on I-80 and Donner Pass.

STEP 03

Who is moving, and why

The dominant outbound lanes from California are Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, and Florida, and they are driven overwhelmingly by housing cost and remote-work flexibility. The Bay Area and Los Angeles account for most of the volume; the Central Valley and Sacramento sit closer to break-even. Inbound moves have not stopped — tech, entertainment, and university hiring still pull households into the state — but the net flow has been outbound for several years running.

STEP 04

Licensing to check

Interstate moves out of California are federal: look for an active USDOT number and FMCSA authority. Ours are USDOT #4575745 and MC-1820728. Movers operating only inside the state answer instead to the California Bureau of Household Goods and Services (BHGS), which licenses movers operating within the state — a registration that is not authority to take your belongings across the line.

Good to know

The California details that cost people money.

These three catch people out in California often enough that we look for all of them at survey — which is how they end up in the quote instead of on the final invoice.

Street parking permits

San Francisco, Santa Monica, Berkeley, and much of Los Angeles require a posted temporary no-parking permit for a moving truck. These take 3 to 10 business days to obtain. We file them, but late bookings can mean a long carry from wherever we can legally stop.

Certificates of insurance

Almost every California high-rise and HOA requires a COI naming the building as additional insured, often with specific limits. We issue these routinely — send us the building's requirements as soon as you have them.

Hillside and canyon access

Homes in the Oakland hills, the Hollywood Hills, Topanga, and coastal San Diego frequently have no place to turn a tractor-trailer. We stage a smaller shuttle truck, which is a planned line item in your quote rather than a day-of surprise.

FAQ

California moving questions, answered.

What customers want settled before they choose between California movers and the national vans.

Do I need a parking permit for the moving truck in San Francisco or Los Angeles?

Nothing for you to file — the permit covers the truck at the curb, and we apply for it and post it. Most of San Francisco requires one, as do many Los Angeles and Santa Monica neighborhoods, and the posting has to go up days ahead. All we need from you is the exact address early; a late address is the most common avoidable problem on a California move.

How long does a move from California to Florida take?

Between 2,400 and 2,900 miles, so 8 to 14 days on a standard consolidated shipment and 5 to 7 on a dedicated truck. You get a delivery spread at booking and a confirmed 24-hour window once the load is dispatched.

Can you store my belongings between a California move-out and move-in?

Yes. Storage-in-transit is common on California moves because closing dates rarely line up. Your goods stay in inventoried vaults and are redelivered on your date. We quote the storage cost up front rather than accruing it silently.

Are moving companies in California required to be licensed?

Yes, and there are two separate authorities. Any company moving household goods across a state line must hold an active USDOT number and interstate operating authority from the FMCSA — ours are USDOT #4575745 and MC-1820728, and you can verify both on the FMCSA's public SAFER database before paying a deposit.

Movers working only inside California are registered instead with the California Bureau of Household Goods and Services (BHGS), which licenses movers operating within the state — and that is not the same thing. An intrastate registration gives no authority to carry your goods across the California line, which is the single most frequent problem we spot in paperwork customers send us to review. While you're checking, settle two more questions: is the price binding or an estimate that can be rewritten at delivery, and is the company a carrier with its own trucks or a broker selling the job on? We are a carrier, our prices are binding, and the crew and truck are ours.

Where we go

Neighbouring states and long-haul favourites.

Our California movers cover the continental US. The destinations below are the ones local households pick most; each links to a guide on arriving there — access, building rules, and the right time of year.

Nevada Arizona Colorado Washington Texas Florida Oregon North Carolina Georgia Tennessee New York South Carolina Pennsylvania Ohio Virginia Illinois Utah Idaho

Show all 48 states →

California Interstate Movers

Get a free quote

Moving day in California, from door to door.

Floors protected

Blanket-wrapped

Tiered and strapped

Delivered to the room

We load anywhere in California and unload in any continental state. Call +1 (888) 505-1086.

Six ways we handle a move.

Long Distance

White Glove

Residential

Commercial

Packing & Crating

Storage