Loading and Unloading Services in Dubai

What the crew brings, and what it does not

A labour only crew turns up with the handling equipment the work actually needs: sack trolleys, four wheel dollies, furniture skates for wardrobes and sideboards, ratchet straps and webbing, quilted furniture blankets, shrink wrap and a tool bag for taking beds and wardrobes apart.

They also bring floor runners, lift padding and door frame protection. On a labour only job most of the money at risk is the building deposit rather than the furniture, so the lift walls and the door frames are covered first.

What they do not bring is a truck. Labour only means the people and the equipment, and the vehicle is yours. If you would rather we supplied one, say so when you book and we will quote the truck as a separate line. A labour only booking also assumes your things are already packed and closed, though we can send cartons ahead if you ask.

How to load a truck so nothing moves on the road

Weight goes low and forward. The heaviest items sit against the front bulkhead and over the axle rather than at the tail, because a tail heavy truck steers badly and brakes worse. Fridges and washing machines travel upright and strapped to a side rail, never laid down to save space.

After that the load is built in layers rather than in a heap. Flat items such as mattresses, table tops, mirrors and headboards stand on edge against the side walls. Cartons go heaviest at the bottom, and the gaps are packed out with soft bags so nothing has room to slide. Each layer is strapped before the next one starts, which is the step most people skip. One strap thrown over the whole load at the end does very little when a truck brakes hard on Sheikh Zayed Road.

Blankets go between anything polished and anything hard, and nothing heavy is stacked on upholstery. In summer we load the items that suffer in heat last and take them off first, because the inside of a closed truck standing in the Dubai sun gets hot enough to spoil candles, vinyl and electronics.

Useful links: Roads and Transport Authority.

Stairs, small lifts and building rules

Your building does not care whose truck is parked downstairs. If you are moving in or out, most Dubai towers still want a move out or move in permit, still book the service lift in fixed slots, and may still hold a refundable deposit against damage to the lobby and the lift. Tell us which building it is and we can make the application for you.

When the lift is too small, or out of service, the job becomes a stairs job and the crew size has to go up. The problem in a stairwell is almost never the flight, it is the turn at the landing, so we ask for the width of the landing. Walk ups in Discovery Gardens and International City come up often enough that we usually know the layout before we arrive.

Access at the kerb matters just as much. Loading bays in Business Bay and Dubai Marina are often height restricted, and a three ton truck that cannot get under the barrier means a long carry or a second smaller vehicle. A long carry is time, and on an hourly booking time is the bill.

What changes the price of a labour only booking

Labour only work is charged by the hour with a minimum booking, so the total comes down to two things: how many movers the job needs and how long they are on site. Neither is a number worth guessing over the phone.

These are the things we look at before giving you a figure: