If you have been checking out movers in Orange County, odds are you have seen the phrase “double drive time” on various moving company websites. In a nutshell, double drive time refers to the round-trip time for the movers from the pickup point to the drop off point. All California moving companies are required by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to charge customers for double drive time. The explicit language of the law is “the time used [for calculating your total price for the move] shall be the total of loading, unloading, and double the driving time from point of origin to point of destination.”
Here is an example of how double drive time is calculated. Say a person is moving from point A to point B:
In this case, the total round trip time to travel from point A to point B is 20 minutes + 20 minutes = 40 minutes. So the total time charged for the move is 3 hours (loading) + 4 hours (unloading) + 40 minutes (drive time) = 7 hours and 40 minutes.
In short, movers in Orange County charge double drive time because it is required by California law. The point of the law is to protect consumers by providing transparency and visibility to the customer surrounding the total driving costs being paid. Double drive time laws are also meant to protect the moving company by compensating them for their total time spent driving.
Double drive time simply means that you will be charged a total rate that includes the time the movers spent driving from their warehouse to the initial pick-up point. According to the CPUC double drive time laws, the customer is responsible for the drive time between the initial pick up point and the drop-off point while the moving company handles the driving time between the warehouse and origin location.
If you are looking for movers in Orange County give Priority Moving a call at 858-256-4808. Our full-service team of professional movers has handled over 40,000 moves!