Cargo Engineering Since 2010
High-Yield Packing for
High-Value Moves.
Industrial-grade materials engineered for the 750-mile journey to Phoenix or the steep hills of the Bay Area. Double-walled boxes. Anti-static wrap. pH-neutral paper. We do not just box it. We secure it for every mile, every curve, and every temperature change on the route.
Moving + Storage under one roof, one company, one point of contact Plus complimentary moving blankets, wardrobe boxes, and floor protection with every move.
What do professional packing services include?
As of June 2026, Ontrack Moving® provides professional packing services across the Bay Area, as an asset-based carrier, USDOT #2551548, with a 0% Federal Out-of-Service Rate and a 4.9/5 rating from 2,847 verified reviews. Full packing means our crew packs every room with supplied materials; partial packing covers the fragile rooms you choose, such as kitchens, glassware, and artwork. Materials and labor are itemized in your written estimate. Every move carries a $10,000,000 Combined Protection Tower for building and property liability, with standard $0.60/lb cargo liability per article.
Packing Services: Quick Facts
- Service Options: Full packing, partial packing, fragile-only, unpacking
- service areas: San Francisco Bay Area (40+ cities) and Phoenix Metro (15+ cities)
- Materials: Boxes, paper, bubble wrap, tape, wardrobe boxes, dish packs included
- Timing: Same-day or day-before packing available
- Credentials: USDOT #2551548 | CA License CAL-T190721
- Specialty Items: Artwork, antiques, electronics, china, crystal
Choose your level
Three Ways We Can Help
Full-Service Packing
We pack everything. Every drawer, every closet, every cabinet. You do not touch a box. Our careful, efficient crews handle every room so you never touch a roll of tape. Ideal for busy professionals, families with young children, or anyone who values their time.
Includes:
- All rooms packed by our crew
- Professional-grade packing materials
- Boxes labeled by room and contents
- Specialty wrapping for fragiles
- Wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes
Partial Packing
You choose which rooms or items we pack. Our crews are gentle with fragile items and treat your belongings with care. Most clients select kitchens, china cabinets, and fragile collections while handling clothing and linens themselves.
Common choices:
- Kitchen (dishes, glassware, appliances)
- Dining room (china, crystal, stemware)
- Home office (electronics, files)
- Art and collectibles
- Garage (tools, fragile equipment)
Packing Supplies Only
You pack, we provide the materials. Professional-grade boxes and supplies delivered to your door. Same quality our crews use on every job.
Available supplies:
- Small, medium, large boxes
- Wardrobe boxes
- Dish pack boxes with dividers
- Packing paper and bubble wrap
- Tape and markers
The specification advantage
Not All Boxes Are Created Equal
The box you grab at the liquor store is single-walled corrugated with a 32 ECT rating. That is fine for a local move across town. It is not fine for 750 miles of highway vibration in a fully loaded 26-ft truck. Here is what we use instead.
Ontrack Industrial Grade
- Double-walled corrugated cardboard (44+ ECT): The higher Edge Crush Test rating means your bottom boxes hold the weight of the entire stack without buckling. This is what prevents the crushed-box disaster at delivery.
- Ink-free, pH-neutral packing paper: Standard newspaper leaves permanent ink transfer on fine china, white linens, and lacquered wood. Our clean newsprint is acid-free and safe for direct contact with any surface.
- Anti-static pink bubble wrap: Mandatory for our Silicon Valley clients moving home servers, high-end gaming rigs, or networking equipment. Standard clear bubble builds static charge. Pink anti-static wrap prevents ESD damage to circuit boards.
- Dish pack boxes with cell dividers: Double-walled construction with honeycomb inserts that isolate each piece of stemware. No glass-on-glass contact, period.
Retail / Big-Box Grade
- Single-walled corrugated (32 ECT or less): Fine for storage in a garage. Not rated for interstate freight stacking. Bottom boxes collapse under load, crushing whatever is inside.
- Newspaper or printed newsprint: Cheap and available. Also leaves ink stains on your grandmother's china that do not wash off. Acidic paper yellows fabric over time.
- Standard clear bubble wrap: Adequate for cushioning but generates static electricity during friction. One discharge can fry a motherboard or corrupt a hard drive. Not suitable for electronics.
- Generic boxes with no dividers: Glasses wrapped in paper, stacked touching each other. One hard brake on the I-10 and you hear the crack.
Room by room
What We Pack
Kitchen
- Dishes and plates
- Glassware and stemware
- Pots, pans, cookware
- Small appliances
- Pantry items (sealed)
Bedrooms
- Clothing (wardrobe boxes)
- Bedding and linens
- Dresser contents
- Closet items
- Shoes and accessories
Living Areas
- Books and media
- Decorative items
- Electronics
- Lamps and lighting
- Photo frames
Home Office
- Computers and monitors
- Printers and equipment
- Files and documents
- Office supplies
- Reference books
Bathrooms
- Toiletries and cosmetics
- Towels and linens
- Medicine cabinet items
- Cleaning supplies
- Hair appliances
Garage & Storage
- Tools and hardware
- Sports equipment
- Holiday decorations
- Gardening supplies
- Stored items
Special handling
Specialty Item Packing
Items that require extra care and specialized techniques
Artwork & Paintings
Picture boxes, corner protectors, and custom crating for valuable pieces. We handle gallery-quality art with trained, professional care.
China & Crystal
Dish pack boxes with cell dividers, individual paper wrapping, and proper layering technique for heirloom dinnerware.
Electronics
TVs, computers, and audio equipment packed with anti-static materials and proper cushioning. Original boxes used when available.
Antiques
Furniture blankets, custom wrapping, and careful handling for irreplaceable family heirlooms and collectibles.
Climate-specific wrapping
Breathable Protection for the Mojave Corridor
We pack for 115 degrees. On a Phoenix route in July, a closed truck can exceed 140 degrees internally within 30 minutes. That is why load sequencing matters: temperature-sensitive items like leather, fine wood, and wine go in first, before the truck bed absorbs radiant heat. Our crews dispatch from Peoria at 5:00 AM so loading and unloading happen in the coolest hours.
The Heat-Mitigation Protocol
Leather sofas, hardwood dining tables, and lacquered credenzas get heavy-duty padded wrapping and priority load sequencing. Temperature-sensitive items are loaded first, before the truck bed absorbs radiant heat. On the Bay Area to Phoenix corridor, this scheduling discipline protects furniture.
Bay Area: Moisture and Fog
San Francisco fog means ambient moisture during loading. We use vapor-barrier wrap on electronics and climate-sensitive items, then transition to breathable pads for the desert leg. For hillside walk-ups, our Berkeley movers and Oakland movers stage fragile packs indoors before the carry. Two climates, two protocols, one truck.
Bag and Tag: Every Screw Counts
We use a serialized Bag and Tag system. Every remote control, shelf pin, bed bolt, and cable is bagged in a labeled zip-lock and taped directly to the main unit it belongs to. No mystery "junk box" of random hardware at the end of your move.
Efficient and organized
Eduardo, Carlos and Luis were courteous, helpful, efficient and friendly. Furniture was packed up well, quickly loaded on the truck and delivered in a timely manner. We even had one stop along the way to drop off some furniture to our son which they did. All furniture that was disassembled was reassembled on site, they followed directions and were very...
Verified on Google
Highly recommend this team
Mauricio, Rodolfo and Santiago were awesome! Very professional! Highly recommend commends!
Verified on Google
Highly recommend this team
Ontrack guys Jonathan, Edwin, Valentine were all friendly and professional. They moved everything quickly. Overall it was an awesome experience. Highly recommend.
Verified on Google
The value gap
What You Actually Get
The difference between carrier-grade packing and what most movers provide.
| Ontrack Moving | Generic Movers | |
|---|---|---|
| Box Quality | Double-walled corrugated, 44+ ECT rating. Rated for interstate freight stacking. | Single-walled, 32 ECT or less. Retail grade that collapses under load. |
| Packing Paper | Ink-free, pH-neutral newsprint. Safe for direct contact with china, linens, and lacquer. | Standard newspaper. Leaves permanent ink transfer on white surfaces and fine china. |
| Bubble Wrap | Anti-static pink wrap for electronics. Prevents ESD damage to circuit boards and drives. | Standard clear plastic. Generates static charge during friction. Risky for electronics. |
| Furniture Wrapping | Climate-aware: breathable quilted pads for leather and wood on desert routes. No heat damage. | Shrink-wrap on everything. Traps moisture in heat, clouds finishes, stains leather. |
| Hardware Tracking | Serialized Bag and Tag manifest. Every bolt, pin, and remote taped to its unit. | Loose in a "parts box." Good luck finding the right screws at reassembly. |
| Crew | Uniformed, vetted & supervised employees. Trained packers, not temporary staffing with tape. | Whoever showed up that morning. No training protocol, no accountability. |
USDOT #2551548. Every material choice is engineered for the specific route, climate, and cargo. That is what a carrier does.
Common questions
Packing Services FAQs
Professional packing services in the Bay Area and Phoenix typically range from $60 to $80 per packer per hour, plus the cost of materials. A standard 3-bedroom home usually requires 2 packers for 6-8 hours. Materials (boxes, paper, tape) are included in most full-service quotes. All moves include $0.60/lb per article basic liability coverage at no additional charge. Contact (888) 914-8787 for a free estimate.
Full packing means our crew packs every item in your home, from kitchen cabinets to closets. You do not touch a box. Partial packing lets you choose specific areas or types of items. Most clients choose partial packing for kitchens and fragile rooms (dishes, glassware, china, artwork) while handling clothing, linens, and non-breakables themselves. This balances convenience with cost savings.
Packing time depends on home size and contents. A 1-bedroom apartment typically takes 2-3 hours. A 3-bedroom house takes 4-6 hours. Larger homes or those with extensive collections, libraries, or fragile items may take longer. We assess your specific situation during the quote process and can schedule packing the day before your move if needed.
Yes. Fragile items are our specialty. We use dish pack boxes with cell dividers for glassware, custom paper wrapping for each dish, and picture boxes or custom crating for artwork. Our packers are trained in proper techniques for china, crystal, electronics, antiques, and collectibles. These items receive the most careful attention during the packing process.
Yes. Many clients prefer to have us pack the day before moving day. This separates the chaos of packing from the activity of loading, giving you time to do a final walkthrough of your packed home. For larger homes (4+ bedrooms), we may recommend packing over two days before your move to ensure everything is properly prepared.
Yes. Unpacking is available as an add-on service at your destination. Our crew removes items from boxes, places them where you direct, and takes all packing materials and empty boxes with them when finished. Unpacking is particularly helpful for kitchens where items need to go directly into cabinets and drawers. If you want packing, moving, and unpacking handled together as one booking, see our full-service moving page.
We cannot pack hazardous materials including flammables (gasoline, propane), explosives (fireworks, ammunition), corrosives (certain cleaning products), or perishable food. We also recommend clients pack personal documents, medications, jewelry, cash, and irreplaceable sentimental items themselves to keep these items in their possession throughout the move.
