METHOD & SOURCES

A planning number you can understand.

Build a useful list before talking to a moving team. The planner combines approximate item allowances or your measurements, keeps moving choices separate and compares planning scenarios with published truck capacities.

What the item volume means

A preset is an allowance. It represents a typical item or bundle. Our first catalogue contains published reference allowances and our own trial values for size variants; it is awaiting calibration against Sterling surveys. It does not identify your exact furniture model or establish a tariff. Measure unusually wide, tall, fragile or heavy pieces.

A measurement replaces the preset. Enter the exterior length, width and height of the item in its shipping configuration, including its protective package where applicable. For inches:

cubic feet = length × width × height ÷ 1,728

A 24 × 24 × 24-inch package has an 8-cubic-foot rectangular envelope. Quantity multiplies that envelope. For centimetres, each dimension converts to inches using 2.54 cm per inch. The metric display uses 1 cubic foot = 0.028316846592 m³.

An irregular sofa, a dismantled frame and a stack of chairs do not behave like interchangeable solid boxes. A rectangular envelope is a transparent comparison; it is not a packing simulation. For a dismantled bundle, measure the separate packages rather than an imaginary box around every part.

Count the contents once

• A “bed with mattress” allowance includes the ordinary frame, mattress and base. Use separate parts only when they are additional or replacing the bundle.
• A cupboard or bookcase allowance excludes its contents. Add those packed contents as boxes.
• A protected TV allowance includes an approximate protective package. Screen size is a diagonal; it does not specify the package’s width, height or depth.
• For books, choose small cartons and review their weight. A low cubic-foot total does not make a dense load light.
• Include suitcases, loose bags, outdoor belongings and storage-unit contents. A bedroom count cannot find them for you.

Moving, staying and undecided

Only moving items enter the primary inventory total. Staying items are kept in your list with no shipping volume. Undecided items are separate and added to the upper planning scenario so you can see the difference before choosing.

Checking a room records your own walk-through. It does not certify the inventory or approve a written price. Editing an item marks that room unchecked again. Check cupboards, closets, a basement, attic or shed as well as visible furniture.

Loading scenarios, not a confidence score

The default lower scenario adds 10% to the moving inventory; the upper scenario adds 25% to moving plus undecided items. These are editable trial assumptions for loading flexibility, not measured error bounds or a guarantee that missing items are covered. Preset allowances already vary in what they represent; the added percentage is a planning sensitivity, not a second automatic packing-material charge.

For 200 cubic feet moving and 40 undecided, the defaults show 220–300 cubic feet. If an item is missing from the list, the tool cannot know its size. The moving team should confirm the actual shipment and loading arrangement.

Vehicle space, payload and fit

The planner uses the volume classes supplied by Sterling’s owner: high-roof cargo van up to350cuft;16-foot truck up to700;20-foot truck up to1000;26-foot truck up to1700;28-foot moving truck up to2400. These are approximate planning capacities, not interchangeable specifications for every truck of that length.

The gauge shows the upper planning scenario, including your loading allowance and undecided items. Exactly at a class capacity the same class remains; above it the gauge switches to the next class. Above2400cuft it shows multiple vehicles: full large trucks plus a smaller class for the remainder. This is a volume illustration, not a packing solution or vehicle reservation.

Payload ratings and door dimensions for this fleet have not been supplied. Even when you enter every item’s weight, a volume match does not certify payload, axle loading, door clearance, access or availability. The moving team must check those details. Rental-fleet payload figures are not used for these vehicles.

What the budget calculation does

Hourly scenarios use your whole-crew hourly rate, lower and upper working hours, any entered minimum, additional billable travel hours and known extra charges. It does not multiply a whole-crew rate by the crew size again. Unknown charges are described as not supplied, even though they are not added to the subtotal.

DIY scenarios combine your rental rate × days × vehicle count, total driving miles ÷ MPG × fuel price, any entered mileage charge and known extra charges. Include every vehicle, return or repositioning miles and repeated trips in the total. There is no live rental-price feed.

Neither mode is a Sterling quote. Unentered materials, taxes, protection, storage, parking, hotels and other services are outside the displayed subtotal. Volume and distance alone do not determine the total cost. See our local moving, long-distance moving, packing and storage information.

Sterling local moves are usually hourly; estimated hours do not fix the final total or guarantee completion within a minimum. A long-distance flat quote covers the same agreed shipment and scope. Changed items, packing or access require a reviewed written scope and price.

Your data and the quote handover

The inventory saves in local storage in this browser, on this device. There is no account or cross-device cloud sync in this version. Download a move-plan JSON file to keep a backup or open it on another device. Files include any route and notes you entered, so keep them somewhere you trust.

“Request a written quote” places a text copy of this version in temporary browser session storage and opens Sterling’s existing quote form. It does not itself submit a lead, reserve a date or charge you. The form displays the transferred inventory for you to review; it sends the information when you submit your contact details there. If handover cannot be saved, the planner shows an error and keeps your inventory here.

Google Maps opens only when you choose its link. The locations you entered are included in that link so Google can display the route. There is no automatic address lookup or background photo upload. This first version does not recognize objects from photos or videos.

Reference material

These public sources informed the research and selected reference allowances. They do not endorse this planner, and a value from one company is not a universal measurement of an object.

• Piece of Cake: inventory volume and flat-price scope
• National Removals: published item allowances
• Removals Hull: room-based inventory
• Conklin: traditional estimating table — an estimating reference, including legacy item types, not a modern product-dimension standard.
• FMCSA: written estimates and unexpected costs for interstate moves

First catalogue version: 20261006-trial-v1. The next calibration should compare customer lists, survey corrections and actual loading requirements, preserving the earlier plan version for comparison.