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Why choose SOS Moving?
As well as people moving to a new place in inspiring films, you’ll also literally snap your fingers and get everything in your new home. Our professionals can accomplish a move of any complexity, so even an antique piano of your grandmother will be safely transported to a new place.
We provide a dedicated move coordinator to create a customized plan, complete with a detailed inventory and a guaranteed delivery window. This is our promise of a predictable, surprise-free relocation. Request your free long-distance quote today.
Our commercial service is built for the SGV's professional sector. We have the expertise to move delicate diagnostic equipment for medical and dental clinics in Arcadia and the confidential files for the many law and accounting firms in San Marino. Our meticulous process ensures your assets are protected and your business is operational with minimal delay.
Sure, our movers can bring packing materials and boxes if you need them. Make sure you mention that you need them to our operators in advance.
No, tips are not included, and it’s up to you how much to tip your movers. Tips are always appreciated but not required.
Your apartment moving cost depends on factors, such as the type and size of your property, the complexity of your move, the number of bedrooms, the volume of your items, zip code, etc. At SOS Moving, we offer flat and hourly rates. The hourly rate depends on the number of movers to be involved and the size of the moving truck. Flat rate is based on the volume of belongings you need to move, and it’s the best option for long-distance moves. To know your moving cost, please contact us or submit a form on our website to request your free quote.
You should schedule your move date as early as you can. If you’re moving locally, at least 1-2 weeks in advance, for long-distance moves, we recommend getting a quote at least 2-4 weeks before your move date.
You can choose any convenient day for your relocation, and yes, we can help you move on weekends and holidays.
A safe relocation is our goal, so we’ll provide you with a detailed list of items that are prohibited to transport. It includes perishables, hazardous materials, firearms, batteries, etc. We also don’t recommend packing your personal and irreplaceable items, including family heirlooms, family photos, jewelry, documents, etc. Carry them with you during the move.
We accept cash, all major debit and credit cards, and certified checks. We don’t accept personal checks. There will not apply any transaction fee on card transactions.
Yes, we’ll contact you prior to delivery. We’ll deliver your belongings within the given moving arrival window. In case the window is no longer possible, we’ll also contact you in advance and set another delivery time.
San Gabriel is the Los Angeles County city around the old San Gabriel Mission, not the whole valley that shares its name. The city sits on a gently sloping valley floor, so steep driveways and hillside streets rarely figure in a move here. Age does. The city's 2021–2029 Housing Element study counts 52.3% of all units as more than 60 years old, against 32.1% for the wider Southern California (SCAG) region, and 17.1% were built in 1939 or earlier.
For local movers in San Gabriel, an older house changes the setup more than the schedule. Before the first dresser leaves a bedroom, the crew pads door frames, lays runners over original floors and takes beds and dining tables apart so they clear doorways without scraping.
Townhouses are the second pattern. Attached single-family homes make up 12.5% of the city's housing, compared with 7.2% across the region, and in a townhouse the furniture usually travels up or down an interior staircase rather than across one floor. On those jobs, banisters and stairwell walls get padded before anything heavy starts down.
More than half of San Gabriel households rent, 55.4% of occupied units by the same study, and 26.6% of all units sit in buildings with five or more apartments. Our apartment moving crews work to the manager's rules on entrances, loading spots and elevator bookings. If an HOA or management company asks for a certificate of insurance, SOS issues one for $50; booking the elevator or loading area stays with the resident. Households also run large, at 3.14 people per home on average, so a crew of three or four often fits a San Gabriel move better than two.
San Gabriel clears its streets overnight. From 2:00 to 6:00 a.m., only vehicles with a city permit may park on them, and the city won't issue that permit for commercial vehicles or anything carrying advertising. A loaded moving truck therefore has no legal overnight spot on a San Gabriel street, so loading and unloading are planned inside SOS's 8AM–6PM day, and the truck leaves the curb when the crew does.
For the truck itself, the city sends residents and service companies to the Public Works Engineering Division at City Hall on Mission Drive. Engineering handles special on-street parking permits for large trucks, moving vans, moving containers and temporary storage bins. Call before your date and ask what your block needs; like reserving an elevator, that call is the client's part of the prep.
A portable storage container or a roll-off bin placed in the street needs a permit from the same division. The city's form asks for barricades at both ends of a bin in the roadway and seven days to process, and roll-off bins have to come from Athens, which holds the city's exclusive franchise. A bin kept completely on private property, outside the public right of way, needs no permit.
New residents meet the same system with their own cars. An annual or six-month overnight permit requires DMV registrations that already show the San Gabriel address, and apartment renters need the landlord or manager to sign the application and state how many spaces come with the unit. Until the paperwork catches up, temporary nightly permits from the kiosk outside the police station on Del Mar Avenue, or online, cover up to seven nights per purchase. Even with a permit, Valley Boulevard, Las Tunas Drive and San Gabriel Boulevard between Las Tunas and the I-10 stay off-limits from 2 to 6 a.m.
The Mission District is the old core, with City Hall and the historic Mission Playhouse on Mission Drive. Its streets are narrow and fan out from the Mission instead of following the grid used farther north and south, so the truck's stopping point gets worked out before arrival, not at the curb. Saturdays add a closure: the farmers market relaunched in April 2026 in front of the Playhouse, and Mission Drive between Broadway and Santa Anita Street closes during market hours, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A Saturday move near the Mission comes in from a side street.
On the residential blocks around Roses Road, Hermosa Drive and Country Club Drive, the city's historic resources survey has drawn draft district lines, among them Country Club West, Country Club East, Rosemont Park and the Oak Knoll Unit. The lines were still marked draft in the survey materials. The houses inside them are period homes, and their floors, trim and doorways get the full routine: runners from the front door to every room, padded frames before the first piece moves.
Valley Boulevard is the commercial spine, and the Housing Element notes that commercial uses line it and the city's other arterials. For an apartment or condo near Valley, plan the truck for a side street or the building's own lot, cleared with the manager ahead of time, rather than counting on curb space on the boulevard. Valley is also one of the three streets where even permit holders can't park overnight, which matters to anyone arriving with a second car.
| Where in San Gabriel | What changes on moving day |
|---|---|
| Mission District, around Mission Drive | Narrow streets that fan out from the Mission; on Saturdays, Mission Drive closes between Broadway and Santa Anita Street for the farmers market. |
| Draft historic districts near Roses Road, Hermosa Drive and Country Club Drive | Period houses: runners on original floors, padded door frames, beds and tables taken apart to clear doorways. |
| Apartments and condos near Valley Boulevard | Truck spot agreed with the manager; the manager also signs a new tenant's overnight parking permit application. |
| Attached townhouses | Interior stairs on most carries; a piano moves only with a four-mover crew. |
| Any block with a container or roll-off bin in the street | Engineering Division permit, seven days to process, barricades at both ends; roll-off bins from Athens only. |
From our base on Jillson Street, San Gabriel is about 9.5 miles, around 16 minutes without traffic, most of it up the I-710. The freeway ends at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra, so the last stretch always runs on city streets: Valley Boulevard east into town, or San Gabriel Boulevard north from its I-10 interchange. Once inside the city, the main arterials are San Gabriel Boulevard, Del Mar Avenue, Las Tunas Drive and Valley Boulevard.
One old bottleneck is gone. The Union Pacific line that used to cross the middle of town at street level now runs in a trench, with bridges carrying Ramona Street, Mission Road, Del Mar Avenue and San Gabriel Boulevard over the tracks. The project was completed in 2018, so a loaded truck no longer waits at crossing gates on those four streets.
The part nobody controls is the freeway at peak hours; the 710 and the 10 both slow during the morning and late-afternoon commutes. Every job runs within SOS's hours, 8AM to 6PM, Monday through Sunday, so a long day with two addresses is worth starting early in that window. Same-day moves are possible when a crew is free.
Pricing for moving services in San Gabriel follows the rates page. The city sits well inside 30 miles of the base, so the three-hour minimum applies rather than the four-hour one for distant addresses, and overtime starts after eight hours on the job. On distance, the rates page puts it in one line: double drive time applies to moves over 10 miles.
Anyone comparing piano movers in the San Gabriel Valley should start with the stairs. With one San Gabriel home in eight an attached townhouse, an upright often has to travel between floors on an interior staircase. SOS moves pianos only with a four-mover crew, for a $200 piano fee, and other items over 300 lbs, such as a heavy safe, carry a $150 charge with a crew of three. How an upright gets down an interior staircase is covered on our piano moving page.
Before packing, decide what isn't coming. Athens, the city's trash hauler, collects bulky items like furniture and appliances by appointment, with two free pickups a week for houses, apartments and condos, and items go to the curb no earlier than the day before. The city's handout asks apartment tenants to check with their manager first and condo owners with their HOA. Every piece that leaves that way is one less for the crew to wrap and load.
Alhambra shares the approach. The I-710 ends on Valley Boulevard in Alhambra, and Valley continues into San Gabriel, so a move between the two can run along a single boulevard. For that side of the line, see Alhambra moving crews.
Temple City lies east along Las Tunas Drive, which crosses San Gabriel and continues to Temple City's City Hall, so moves between the two can skip the freeway entirely. Our Temple City movers page covers the blocks past the city line.
Monterey Park sits along the same I-710 run from our base: the 710 forms its western edge and the I-10 its northern one. Moving in Monterey Park has its own page.
