Long-distance moving companies use two primary pricing models: weight-based and volume-based. The model your mover uses determines how much pricing certainty you can actually get — and which type of estimate is genuinely binding.
Weight-Based Pricing: The Industry Default
Most large carriers price by weight. They estimate your shipment weight before the move, pick up your belongings, drive to a certified weigh station, and calculate your final charge based on the actual weight. The problem: weight can't be verified until after the truck is loaded, which means the "estimate" isn't binding in any meaningful sense.
Weight-based estimates are also easier to manipulate. A dishonest carrier can take a longer route, add items to your load, or use a heavier-reading scale. Most moving complaints involving price increases after loading involve weight-based pricing.
Volume-Based Pricing: The AEY Model
Volume-based pricing uses cubic footage — the space your belongings occupy — as the pricing unit. Because cubic footage can be calculated item by item before the truck is loaded, the estimate is fixed before pickup. This is why volume-based binding estimates actually hold at delivery.
The calculation is transparent: each item has an established cu ft value, those are summed to produce a total volume, and the rate per cu ft is applied based on distance. Nothing changes after loading because nothing that determines the price was measured at the weigh station.
Binding Estimates: Which Model Supports Them?
A truly binding estimate requires knowing the price-determining factor before the truck is loaded. Volume can be known before loading (via inventory). Weight cannot. This is why weight-based binding estimates are necessarily approximations, while volume-based binding estimates can be genuine contracts.