Moving labor help in Denver: hiring a crew without a truck

What labor-only means

Labor-only, sometimes called "moving help" or "load and unload", splits the move in two. You rent the vehicle: a U-Haul-type truck, a moving container, or a trailer. A crew of two or more comes for a set number of hours to carry, pad, stack and strap. You drive the truck, or the container company hauls the container.

Typical jobs:

• Loading a rental truck at your old home, then a second crew (or the same one) unloading it at the new one.
• Loading a container that will be picked up and shipped or stored.
• Unloading only after you drove a truck in from another state.
• Moving items within a home or between a home and a storage unit, with no long drive.
• Getting heavy pieces up stairs in a building where you can manage the boxes yourself.

What you give up is the crew's truck. That also means the crew's control of how the load travels: if a stack shifts because the truck was driven hard, that is a driving problem, not a loading problem, and the crew will say so.

Published labor rates vs full-service rates

The chart puts the two published bands on one scale. The labor band comes from one marketplace's listing page; the full-service band is the range across the Denver movers that print a two-mover rate.

Two things make the comparison less tidy than it looks:

• The labor list is not all Denver. On HireAHelper's Denver page, listed labor providers showed two-mover rates from $100 to $200 an hour, almost all with a two-hour minimum. The list includes some Colorado Springs firms. A firm based an hour south may charge travel or decline a north-metro job.
• The truck is not free. moveBuddha prints $172–$1,566 for the truck on a local do-it-yourself move. Add fuel, mileage, and your own time driving. The truck rental comparison works through that math.

Labor cost calculator

The calculator multiplies hours by the published two-mover band and applies a two-hour minimum. It does not estimate how long your job takes; ask the crew for that based on your inventory and access.

Permits and the PUC question

Colorado requires a household goods mover to hold a PUC permit. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission regulates household goods movers under title 40, article 10.1, C.R.S. A mover may not operate, offer to operate or advertise in Colorado without a PUC permit, renewed every year. (Colorado PUC, read 2026-09-29.)

The definition is built around transportation. Colorado defines a "mover" as a motor carrier that provides the transportation or shipment of household goods, and a motor carrier as a person operating a motor vehicle that provides intrastate transportation. (C.R.S. 40-10.1-101, read 2026-10-20.) A crew that carries boxes into a truck you rented and drive may not be transporting anything in that sense. We have not found a PUC statement that says so either way, so we do not tell you labor-only crews are exempt.

Street parking is still your job

The Denver street permit attaches to the vehicle, and the vehicle is yours. Denver requires a permit to park a moving truck or van in the street. Where there are parking meters you file a Parking Meter Request; otherwise a Right-of-Way Street Occupancy request. Street occupancy permits take at least five days to review. (Denver DOTI, read 2026-09-29.) A crew working from a truck double-parked in a travel lane wastes paid time when it has to move.

Who is liable for what

With a full-service Colorado mover, the contract must offer a valuation option. The contract must offer two cargo valuation options: released value, at the lesser of sixty cents per pound per lost or damaged article, or full replacement cost, where you declare the value of the shipment. (4 CCR 723-6-6608.) Permitted movers must also carry minimum insurance. Colorado movers must carry general liability insurance or a surety bond of at least $500,000, and cargo coverage of at least $10,000 per vehicle or sixty cents per pound per article, whichever is greater. (4 CCR 723-6-6008.)

Those rules are written for permitted movers. With a labor-only booking, the protection is whatever the crew's own terms and the booking platform's terms say. Split the risks before moving day:

For the full comparison of released value and full replacement value, see moving valuation and insurance in Colorado.

When labor-only makes sense

Size the vehicle before you book the crew. U-Haul lists its trucks as: 10-foot, 402 cu. ft., 2,850 lb max load, for a studio or 1-bedroom apartment; 15-foot, 764 cu. ft., 6,385 lb, 1–2 bedrooms; 20-foot, 1,016 cu. ft., 5,700 lb, 2–3 bedrooms; 26-foot, 1,682 cu. ft., 12,859 lb, 3–4 bedroom home. Cargo van 246 cu. ft.; pickup 76 cu. ft. Verify (U-Haul size table, archived January 2026.) A crew loads faster into a truck that fits the home than into one that forces a second trip.

What to agree in writing

1. ScopeLoad, unload or both; addresses; the vehicle and its size.
2. Price basisHourly rate, minimum, billing increment, and travel time.
3. CrewNumber of people and the equipment they bring (dollies, pads, straps).
4. CoverageWhat damage the crew or platform covers and how to claim.
5. PermitWhether the company holds a PUC HHG permit, and its number.

Send the crew an inventory and photos of the stairs, elevator and the walk from the street. A crew that knows about a third-floor walk-up brings the right number of people.

Moving day with a hired crew

• Pick up the truck early enough to park it before the crew's start time.
• Have everything boxed and taped. Packing on the clock is the most expensive packing there is.
• Take apart beds and tables ahead of time unless the crew agreed to do it.
• Keep valuables, documents and medicines in your car.
• Check the load is strapped and tied off before you drive away.
• Note the start and finish times yourself.

Common questions about moving labor in Denver