Below are the questions Hannah and Megan field most often from Lee’s Summit families and their KC east-side neighbors planning a move. If yours is not here, pick up the phone and a real person at our Independence Avenue office will walk you through it. (888) 711-4778.
How does Summit price a local KC east-side move — hourly or flat?
Either way, your call. A two-mover crew with a 26-foot truck is $135 an hour, a three-mover crew is $185 an hour, and a four-mover crew is $235 an hour, with blankets, dollies, walk-boards, straps, and basic tools built into the rate. If you would rather have a single number locked before move day, we also quote flat bands by home size — a one-bedroom in Lee's Summit lands at $670 to $990, and a three-bedroom out in Blue Springs or Raytown usually falls in the $1,820 to $2,720 range. Megan will tell you which one looks cheaper for your specific situation.
Is there a deposit on the calendar, and how much?
Yes — a $150 deposit holds your date, and it comes straight off the final total rather than being an add-on. Until the deposit is in, the slot stays open to anyone, so for the busy summer weekends and end-of-month dates it is worth getting on the calendar a few weeks ahead. We take card, ACH, or a check dropped off at the Independence Avenue office.
What is actually included in the hourly or flat-rate price?
The truck, the fuel for an in-town job, the uniformed Summit crew, and the gear — moving blankets, four-wheel dollies, hand trucks, ratchet straps, walk-boards for the basement walkouts so common around here, and the wrenches and drivers to break down and rebuild beds, tables, and cribs. Shrink wrap and pads on a normal household move are in the price. Packing materials like boxes, paper, and specialty crating are separate, and Megan will list every one of them on the written estimate.
Can Summit pack the whole house instead of just moving it?
We can, and a lot of Lee's Summit customers have us do exactly that. A full-pack crew boxes the place room by room, labels every carton by destination, and brings our own newsprint, paper pads, and cartons in every common size so nobody is waiting on a U-Haul-store run mid-pack. Plenty of folks have us pack the fragile kitchens, art, and electronics, then handle the closets and garage themselves to trim the cost.
On a long-haul move to St. Louis or Chicago, is it the same crew the whole way?
Yes, and it is the thing Wyatt is proudest of. The Summit crew that loads your boxes in Lee's Summit is the crew that drives the tractor and unloads at the door in St. Louis, Springfield, Omaha, Tulsa, or Chicago. Nothing is handed off to an interline carrier, nothing sits in someone else's warehouse for a week, and you keep the same phone contact from your driveway to the new house.
How do insurance and valuation work on a Summit move?
Every shipment includes released-value protection at $0.60 per pound at no extra charge — that is the federal default. We also carry cargo coverage up to $1,000,000 per load, and you can step up to full-value protection if you want a damaged or lost item covered at its real replacement worth rather than by weight. Megan walks through both options before you sign anything, with the actual cost on each.
Is Summit really licensed in Missouri for this work?
Yes. We hold a household-goods carrier permit through the Missouri Department of Transportation for in-state moves, and we are registered with the federal regulator for the interstate runs to St. Louis, Chicago, Omaha, and Tulsa. We are happy to send the credentials and a certificate of insurance for your building or your HOA office before move day.
Are you a broker or some kind of matching service?
No, and that is worth being clear about. Summit Transportation is the moving company. We own the eight trucks in our Independence Avenue yard, the crew loading them is on our payroll as W-2 uniformed employees, and the people who quote your move are the people who actually do it. We do not collect your details and sell them to outside carriers, we do not auction your job, and the trucks have our name on the side, not somebody else's.
Do you move through KC winters with the ice storms?
Every winter, yes. KC weather flips fast — a 50-degree week can drop into a freezing-rain night, and the long sloped driveways out toward Cedar Creek and Lake Lotawana ice over quickly. Our crews salt and lay matting before a loaded dolly rolls, pad pieces against road slush, and build extra footing time into the schedule. If a NWS warning is bearing down on your date, Hannah will call and talk options before things get unsafe.
What if the date has to shift, or a tornado warning lands on move day?
Spring around here means storm season, and we plan for it. If a watch or warning lines up with your morning, the crew chief calls and we either start earlier, delay a few hours, or shift the date — whatever keeps your stuff and our people safe. Your $150 deposit follows the booking to the new slot. For non-weather reschedules, give us as much notice as you can and we will work the calendar with you.
Can Summit handle a piano, a gun safe, or other heavy specialty piece?
Yes. Uprights, baby grands, gun safes, slate pool tables, antique armoires — Brandon and the senior crew chiefs handle them with the right four-wheel skids, piano boards, ramps, and ratchet straps. Specialty handling starts at $395 depending on the piece, the stair count, and whether we are pulling it out of a finished basement. It gets priced on the written estimate so there is no surprise on the day.
Do you hold our shipment if the closing dates do not line up?
We do. Around the KC market, the sale and the purchase rarely close on the same Friday, so this comes up almost every week. We can hold your goods in short-term storage at our Lee's Summit yard and then deliver once the new place is ready. It stays with Summit the whole time rather than being trucked to a third-party warehouse, so you deal with one company from the first carton to the last.
Is tipping the crew expected at the end of the move?
Tips are never required and never built into our rate. If the crew hustled, took good care of your floors and your furniture, and finished on time, a tip is a kind way to say so. A common range is somewhere around 10 to 20 percent of the labor cost split among the movers, or a flat dollar amount per person on a long day. It is your call and the crew is grateful either way.
How far ahead should we book a Lee's Summit move?
Weekday slots in the off-season usually open up with a week or two of notice. Weekends, the last few days of any month, and the busy May-through-September stretch are the slots that fill first — two to four weeks ahead is safer for those, and the busy summer Saturdays sometimes book a month and change out. The sooner the $150 deposit lands, the more likely the exact date and crew you want are still on the board.