Moving industry know-how
Running storage
The basics of a moving company's storage business — tenancy and agreements, monthly billing, access, insurance, and what happens when a customer stops paying.
- 2 min read
- Checked against MoveBoard
- For owners & admins
On this page
Many moving companies store customers' goods between homes, or for months and years. Storage brings steady monthly income — and a few responsibilities.
Two kinds of storage
- Storage in transit (SIT) — short, temporary storage on a long-distance move, under the move's terms. See SIT and conversion to permanent storage.
- Permanent (warehouse) storage — the customer rents space by the month. From here on you are a warehouse, not a carrier, and a storage agreement governs.
The storage agreement
Before you store anything, have the customer sign an agreement that covers:
- what is stored (an inventory, with condition notes), and in what (vaults, loose, a unit),
- the monthly rate, when it is billed and how it is paid,
- the warehouse's liability limit (often per pound or a declared value) and any protection the customer can buy,
- access — how and when the customer can visit or take items out, and the charges for it,
- what happens if the customer stops paying,
- how either side ends the agreement, and the move-out charges.
Billing
Most companies bill monthly in advance, by card on file. Price by vault, by cubic foot or by unit, with handling in and out charged separately. Raise rates with written notice.
When a customer stops paying
Every US state has laws on warehouse liens (and, for self-storage, lien acts): a warehouse can hold the goods for unpaid charges and, after the legal notices and waiting periods, sell them. The steps — written notices, timing, advertising the sale — differ by state and must be followed exactly. Talk to a local lawyer before any lien sale.
Insurance
Your warehouse needs its own cover (warehouse legal liability, property). Customers' own contents often aren't covered by their homeowner's policy while in your warehouse — tell them so, and offer protection if you can.
In MoveBoard
- Each customer in storage is a storage tenant with its own window, agreement, ledger and statement — see The Storage page and The storage agreement.
- Monthly charges run by themselves on the card on file — see Monthly storage billing. Declined cards are listed for follow-up — see Declined storage cards.
- Move-ins and move-outs are recorded on the tenant — see Move-ins and move-outs.
Related guides
- StorageThe Storage pageYour warehouse at a glance — who is in storage, who moves in or out today and tomorrow, what it brings in and who owes money.
- StorageThe storage agreementThe agreement a storage customer signs — how to set up its words and fields, where it is signed, and what signing it starts.
- StorageMonthly storage billingHow MoveBoard bills each storage tenant every month, charges the autopay card, adds late fees and reminders — and what happens to a missed billing day.
- StorageDeclined storage cardsWhen a storage card is declined, the customer gets an email and a text with a link to update their card and pay — and you see it on the Storage page.
- StorageMove-ins and move-outsHow a moving-and-storage order becomes a storage tenant when it is booked, and how its move out is made, linked and dated.
- Moving industry know-howSIT and conversion to permanent storage (375.609)What storage in transit is, how it differs from a carrier's own hold, the clock that turns it into permanent storage, and the notice the customer must get before it does.
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