What is a flight charge, and how do stairs and long carries change your bill?

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A flight charge is a fee for carrying items up or down stairs, and a long carry is a fee for carrying them a long way between the truck and your door. Whether you can be charged either one depends on the kind of move. On an interstate move, they are accessorial charges the mover’s own tariff may list. On a move that stays inside Georgia, the state’s maximum rate tariff has no flight or long-carry charge: stairs and distance can only add time on an hourly move, and you are not liable for a charge the tariff does not list.

On a move within Georgia

DPS Maximum Rate Tariff No. 7 contains no flight, stair, elevator, or long-carry item. The tariff says a carrier may not “charge customers for any transportation or services rendered in connection with such transportation other than those prescribed herein”, and DPS’s moving guide says: “Please note that you are not liable for any charges that are not specified in the Maximum Rate Tariff.”

Georgia’s rules also say what the transportation rate already covers. Except as the rules provide otherwise, it includes “the physical handling of all articles in a shipment from their pick-up location to the household good carrier’s vehicle for transportation”, stowing them, unloading at the destination, and handling them to the spots you choose (Rule 570-38-3-.07(8)). Carrying goods down your stairs and across a long walk to the truck is part of that.

So stairs and distance change a Georgia bill in one way:

  • On an hourly move of 50 miles or less, they take crew time, and the clock runs while the crew works. A third-floor walk-up costs more than a ground-floor unit because it takes longer, not because a separate fee applies.
  • On a weight-and-distance move of more than 50 miles, the rate is set by weight and mileage, and stairs add no line of their own, outside the narrow case below.

The carrier is also expected to look before it prices. Under Rule 570-38-3-.05(3)(a), it must “make reasonable efforts to ascertain the characteristics and accessibility of each point of origin, delivery location, and the articles comprising a shipment” before giving you an estimate or bill of lading. A carrier that skips that step and moves you anyway is not entitled to charge for ancillary services under that paragraph, and must complete the move as agreed without additional charge to the extent the move is possible. A carrier that did check has one narrow opening: if loading or delivering an item directly turns out to be impractical, impossible, or to need additional labor because of the building or the item, it may, with your agreement, use ancillary means and charge for them, but only at the rates in DPS’s rules and tariff (Rule 570-38-3-.05(3)(b) and (c)). On an hourly move, the rules cap those services at the hourly rate.

On an interstate move

Across state lines, the federal consumer booklet in Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375 defines a flight charge as “An additional charge for carrying items up or down flights of stairs” and adds that such charges “may be in addition to the line-haul charges.” Long carries are named in 49 CFR 375.401(f), which requires the mover to determine charges for “any accessorial services such as elevators, long carries, etc.” before preparing the bill of lading.

How each one is measured, per flight, per distance band, or another way, is set by the mover’s tariff, so ask how it is figured and get the amount written on the estimate. Stairs and long carries are different from a shuttle, which uses a second, smaller truck when the large one cannot reach your home, explained in what a shuttle fee is.

What to tell the mover before the estimate

  • Every staircase, at both addresses, and which floor you are on.
  • How close the truck can park to each door, including loading zones and permit rules.
  • Whether there is an elevator, whether you can reserve it, and whether large pieces fit.
  • Gates, narrow streets, and long paths through a complex.

On a Georgia move, this lets the carrier estimate the hours accurately. On an interstate move, it lets the mover price any access charges before you sign. For apartment moves where stairs and elevators drive the clock, see how to prepare for an apartment move in Atlanta. For the full list of what can and cannot be added to a bill, see what hidden fees and accessorial charges inflate a moving bill.

If a Georgia estimate shows a flight or long-carry line, ask the carrier which tariff item it is charging under before you sign.

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