Hiring Movers for a PCS Move (PPM/DITY) in North Carolina

The rules for a military move belong to the military, not to us. We are a moving-labor company near Raleigh, and the official facts below come from Military OneSource, linked where each one appears. For anything about money, your entitlement or your paperwork, your transportation office has the final word. What we can add is the moving-day side: how a crew fits around the weigh station, the rental pickup and the clock.

A PPM in one paragraph

A personally procured move (PPM) is a PCS move where you move some or all of your things yourself instead of having the government send a moving company. You may also hear it called a DITY (do-it-yourself) move. You arrange the vehicle, you prove the weight you moved, and you file the paperwork afterward. Military OneSource's PCS moving FAQs cover the basics, including a partial PPM alongside a government move.

"Do it yourself" describes who arranges the move. It does not mean you have to carry every dresser yourself. Hired loading help is one way to handle the heavy part.

Start with your transportation office

Military OneSource says to contact your transportation office first for a personally procured move. Do that before you reserve a truck, book a container or call a crew. The office can tell you what applies to your orders, what papers it will want, and what it will and won't pay for.

One question to ask there directly: whether paid moving labor counts as a cost you can claim on your PPM. We have not found an official page that answers it, so we won't guess. Ask, and get the answer before you plan around it.

Military OneSource also says that if your costs go above the incentive, the government is not obligated to reimburse you for those expenses. That is one more reason to know your numbers before moving day.

If you are stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, the base Personal Property Office page is the place to start. Our Goldsboro area page has a few local notes for moving near the base.

Weight tickets shape the whole day

Military OneSource says you need full and empty weight tickets of the vehicle, and that privately owned truck-scale locations can be used. That means the truck gets weighed twice: once empty, before anything goes on, and once full, after the last box.

For a portable container, the same FAQ says to tell the delivering company to weigh the container empty before drop-off. Ask for that when you book the container, not on the morning it arrives.

The weigh station adds two stops to moving day. Plan them in before you set a start time for the crew. If the empty weigh happens after the crew arrives, the crew stands in your driveway with nothing to load.

Where hired labor fits

In a PPM with a rental truck, the jobs split cleanly:

1. You reserve the truck or container, pick it up and get the empty weight ticket.
2. The crew loads it, heavy pieces first, built in tight tiers so the load doesn't shift on a long drive.
3. You drive it to the scale for the full weight ticket, then on to your new duty station.
4. A crew at the other end unloads it.

We serve anywhere within 75 miles of Raleigh, so we can load at Seymour Johnson or anywhere around Goldsboro. If your new base is outside that range, you would book a local crew there for the unload. If both ends are inside it, a load here, unload there move is one job: we load, follow the truck and unload.

Not sure what size to rent? Our guide on what size rental truck you need compares the sizes from each company's own pages.

Keep every receipt

Military OneSource lists what the transportation office needs back: copies of your weight tickets, vehicle registration, moving receipts, and a few other documents. It also says you have 45 days from the planned move start date to turn in all paperwork.

Set up one folder, paper or on your phone, before moving day. Into it go:

• Both weight tickets, empty and full.
• The truck or container rental agreement and final receipt.
• Any receipts for moving supplies.
• The receipt from your moving crew, in case your office says labor counts.

Snap a photo of each paper the day you get it. A weight ticket left on a dashboard is easy to lose.

A loading-day order that keeps the truck schedule

This is the order we suggest for a PPM loading day. Your office's rules come first, so check this against what it tells you.

1. Pick up the truck. Leave room for paperwork at the rental counter.
2. Get the empty weight ticket at the scale on the way home.
3. Park where you will load. Off base in Goldsboro, city code keeps trucks off residential streets except to travel, load and unload (Goldsboro Code §72.11), so plan the driveway or a short street stop.
4. The crew loads. Set the crew's start time after you expect to be back from the scale, with some room to spare.
5. Walk through the house before the crew leaves. Closets, the attic, the shed.
6. Get the full weight ticket before you head out.

Our guide on how to load a moving truck explains the loading order step by step if you are doing part of it yourself.

What slows a PPM loading day

• The empty weigh runs late, and the crew starts on the clock with an empty truck.
• Boxes are still open. Taped, labeled boxes stack. Loose items take extra trips.
• Nobody has decided what stays. Things the government is shipping, things going in your car and things going on the truck need to be in separate spots before the crew starts.
• Beds and tables are still together. Tell us which pieces need taking apart so we can plan the time and bring tools.

What it costs to book the crew

Our rates are for moving labor and cover the whole crew. Two movers are $90 per daytime hour for hours 1 to 3, then $81 per hour from hour 4. Every job has a two-hour minimum. Hours from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. cost 25% more. Our page on what moving labor costs near Raleigh has worked examples.

What to send when you ask for a quote

A PCS note is a little different from a regular one. These details help us plan:

1. Your report-by or move-out window, and the date you have in mind.
2. Where we load (base housing or off base, and the town) and where the load is going.
3. The truck size or container company and size you have reserved, or are thinking about.
4. When you expect to have the empty weight ticket, so we can set the start time.
5. What the government is shipping and what goes in the PPM load, if you have a partial PPM.
6. Stairs, heavy pieces and anything that needs taking apart. If something is unusual, tell us and we'll tell you honestly whether it is a job for us.

You can send your PCS details through the quote form or call (919) 400-1844. Joey calls or texts you back, you agree on the plan and the price, and then the date is booked.

One customer in Whitakers shared this after their move:

★★★★★

“… Very respectful of our home and our belongings. They also gave us an unbeatable price. …”