What is Double Drive Time Charge
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WHAT IS DOUBLE DRIVE TIME
The Confusion
It’s not uncommon for clients not to take into consideration that, as with most companies, moving companies pay their employees (movers) by hours. And the clock starts as soon as the mover gets on the truck and leaves the warehouse. Before the Double Drive Time law was enforced, moving companies charged clients not only for time it took movers to relocate the client but also for travel time it took movers to get from the warehouse to the client’s home and back. There was one flaw with this way of charging clients – transparency. The time it takes to travel from the mover warehouse to client’s home, and from client’s new home back to the mover’s warehouse is essentially unknown to the client. Movers could charge as they wish and clients would not know nor would they have control over that timing. Whatever the explanation was, the clients had to take movers word for it.
Double Drive Time Law Brings Clarity
Before California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) – agency responsible for controlling moving industry – came up with Double Drive Time law, customers who hired moving companies on an hourly basis faced numerous conflicts and confusion. In the past, there was a lack of clarity regarding the bill customers would receive. They agreed on hourly charges instead of an all inclusive single price for the move. But when they received the final bill, customers noticed that the number of hours charged was more than what movers actually worked and traveled.
The Law For Transparency
To keep charges transparent, the state of California passed the Double Drive Time Law, which limits moving companies what they can charge for when it comes to driving time under hourly agreement. This in turn makes moving companies to be transparent about their hourly billing.
Excerpt on computation of time under hourly rates from CPUC Maximum Tariff 4.
Returning Clarity To Customers
Under the Double Drive Time law, moving companies are only allowed to charge for driving time from clients’ pick up location to their drop off location and are allowed to double it to cover moving company expenses (such as movers hourly pay and fuel). The law makes it more transparent for the clients when it comes to movers’ driving time they are being billed for.
Important terms
Warehouse or portal are most common terms used by a moving company to refer to their office. Under Double Drive Time law, the moving companies are not allowed to charge you for the time it takes for them to travel from their destination to yours and back.
Origin (aka pick up location) is the location where you are moving your possessions from. The moving company is not allowed to charge you time from their warehouse to your old home. The timer only begins from the time they arrive at your home. The billing starts here.
Destination (aka drop off location) is the place you are moving your possessions to. Once the movers leave your new home, the timer will stop. The billing stops at that time. From there, it does not matter how much time it takes for them to get to their office. You are not charged for this driving time.
Your take away
Although the term Double Drive Time may sound like it benefits the moving companies, the reality is different. When you look at the details of the law, it empowers the client by bringing clarity and transparency to the time it took the mover to complete the job.
