The estimate is the invoice
Unless you add something on the day, the number you were given is the number you pay. Access fees are assessed at survey, photographed, and printed.
Since 2011
A moving company that writes things down
We started with one truck in North Park and a habit of over-explaining the paperwork. Fifteen years later that habit is most of the business.
Who we are
Fourteen movers, eight crews, one dispatch board
Little Box Movers is a family business working out of a yard on Ruffner Street in Kearny Mesa. We do not franchise, we do not broker your move to somebody else, and the truck that shows up has our name on it.
Most of what we are known for came out of arguments we lost. The stair fee on the estimate exists because of a bad afternoon in 2013. The photographed stairwell exists because of a sofa in Golden Hill that did not fit and nobody had measured. The written valuation explainer exists because a customer once signed released value and discovered what sixty cents a pound means the hard way.
- 4.9from 1,284 reviews
- 11years in North Park
- 8crews on the board daily
- 2 hrminimum, no travel padding
How we work
Four rules the crews are held to
Say the awkward thing early
Shuttle needed, sofa will not fit, that is a bulky article. All of it is easier at survey than at two in the afternoon with a truck on the kerb.
Crews are trained, not sourced
Every mover does two weeks of padding, wrapping and securement work before they touch a customer's furniture. Nobody is day labour.
One lead, all day
The person who walks the house with you at 8:20 is the person who signs the bill of lading at 4:30, on the same phone number.
Since 2011
Fifteen years of learning where moves go wrong
Nearly everything on this site exists because something once went badly and we wrote down how to stop it happening again.
- 2011
One truck, one phone, North Park
Marisol bought a used 16 ft box truck and rented an office above a taco shop on 30th Street. First month: nine moves, all of them apartments.
- 2014
The first written access policy
After one too many arguments about stairs at four in the afternoon, we started photographing stairwells at survey and printing the fee on the estimate. It is now the thing customers mention most.
- 2017
Kearny Mesa yard and the vault warehouse
Moved out of the alley parking and into a yard with racking. Storage in transit started the same year because closings kept slipping and people kept renting units they did not need.
- 2021
Bulky articles brought in house
Dontae built the piano and safe programme so we stopped subcontracting the hardest lifts to people we could not train.
- 2026
Fourteen movers, eight crews, still family run
Same dispatch board, written at 6:15 every morning. Same rule: the number on the estimate is the number on the invoice unless you added something.
Since 201101
Marisol Ibarra
Founder and operations lead
Started Little Box with one 16 ft truck and a flip phone above a taco shop on 30th Street. Still writes the dispatch board every morning at 6:15.
- CPUC household goods carrier filing
- Certified cargo securement instructor
- Speaks Spanish and English on site
Since 201402
Dontae Whitfield
Crew lead, bulky articles
Runs every piano, safe and slate job on the board. Will spend twenty minutes measuring a landing turn rather than five minutes regretting it.
- Piano and organ handling certification
- Rigging and hoisting trained
- Class B commercial licence
Since 201703
Priya Raghunathan
Move coordinator
Builds the cube sheets and writes the estimates. If a number on your paperwork looks wrong, she is the one who will find out why in under an hour.
- Certified moving consultant coursework
- Handles all COI and HOA paperwork
- Long-distance tariff and weight-ticket specialist
Since 201604
Alejandro Cruz
Lead packer
Trains every new packer on the dish pack and the void fill. Claims he can hear a badly packed carton from across a room, and he is usually right.
- Fragile and fine-art packing trained
- Custom crate fabrication
- Trains the annual packer intake
Since 201905
Rebecca Ostrowski
Warehouse and storage manager
Runs the vault racking and the inventory system at Kearny Mesa. Knows which vault your grandmother's sideboard is in without opening the laptop.
- Warehouse inventory control
- Forklift certified
- Manages claims documentation
Since 201806
Thomas Nakamura
Commercial project lead
Plans office moves backwards from Monday morning. Has never yet had a client open late, and mentions it about once a week.
- Commercial relocation planning
- IT and server room handling
- Building COI and dock coordination
Licensing and insurance
The numbers you are entitled to ask for
Any household goods carrier working inside California must hold a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. Anything crossing a state line needs U.S. DOT and MC numbers. All three are public records, and a mover who will not give you theirs is telling you something.
- CAL-T 000000 — CPUC household goods carrier permit (demo placeholder)
- U.S. DOT 0000000 · MC 000000 — interstate authority (demo placeholders)
- Workers compensation on every crew member, no subcontracted labour
- Cargo and general liability, certificates issued to your building on request
- Full Value Protection offered as the default on every move
Same-day moves
Lease fell through on a Tuesday?
We hold two crews back every weekday for same-day and next-day work. Call before 11:00 am and there is a good chance we can be at your door by two.
Same-day slots are first come, first served and depend on the board.