Corporate relocation services and where a moving company fits
“Corporate relocation services” covers two different kinds of work, and it helps to separate them. A relocation management company, or RMC, runs the program: it helps shape the relocation policy and administers it, manages benefits and expenses, handles tax gross-ups, runs home sale programs, and arranges destination services and immigration support. A moving company carries out the physical move: walking through the home, then packing, crating, storing, transporting and delivering the household.
Most of the corporate relocation companies and executive relocation companies that appear in search are RMCs. Elite Moving & Storage is the moving company. We do not administer relocation policy, benefits, home sales or visas. We carry out the household move for executives and employees relocating into or out of Southern California, working alongside your company’s RMC where its program lets the company name the mover, or directly with HR when there is no RMC in the picture.
That division of labor suits everyone. The RMC keeps the program, the benefits and the paperwork. HR gets a mover that reports on its schedule. The transferee gets a crew that treats their home like a private client’s.
Executive relocation services, handled like a private client move
An executive household is rarely a standard shipment. There may be art and sculpture, a wine collection, a wardrobe that should never be folded, antiques, two homes moving at once, or a family and household staff who need a clear schedule. Executive relocation services from Elite follow the same standards as our white glove moving:
- A private walkthrough, in person or by video, at a time that suits the household
- An itemized inventory, with high-value pieces listed individually
- Custom crates built to size for the art, stone, glass and chandeliers that need them
- Floors, stair rails and door frames protected at both homes
- Unpacking, placement to a floor plan and debris removal
For larger properties with household staff, several residences or significant collections, see estate moving.
Discretion for executive households
Relocating executives are often moving while news of the appointment is still private, or into homes they would rather not see photographed. On a relocation, discretion is mostly a question of who knows what, and when. The crew receives the schedule and the house rules it needs for the job, inventory photographs stay in the move file, and the move details go only to the people HR or the household names.
Communication runs through the people the executive chooses, usually an executive assistant, a chief of staff or a family office, rather than the executive directly. Anything the company or the household asks for, such as a side entrance for the crew or rooms that stay closed, is written into the plan before move day.
Employee relocation services for teams moving to or from Southern California
Not every relocation is a C-suite move. When a company opens an office in Southern California, consolidates teams, or transfers a group of employees at once, the household moves need a consistent process: the same walkthrough, the same inventory format, the same estimate structure and the same status reporting for every transferee. HR can compare estimates side by side, and each employee gets the same standard of move as the next.
When the office itself is moving too, office and commercial moving covers the workplace, and we keep the office schedule and the household schedules aligned.
Inbound transferees are usually still in another city while their move is planned, so we handle the local details for them. Arriving in Southern California can mean HOA move rules and gate registration in a planned community, elevator reservations in a Westside or Downtown high-rise, a hillside driveway that needs a smaller shuttle truck, or a street parking permit for the truck. Each one is noted at the walkthrough, priced into the estimate and handled before move day.
Working with HR, mobility managers and executive assistants
Corporate employee relocation services work when everyone knows who is doing what. The household move usually runs in five steps:
- Authorization. HR or the RMC sends the transferee’s details and what the policy covers, such as packing, crating, storage days and excluded items.
- Walkthrough and estimate. We walk through the home, in person or by video, and send an itemized, written estimate for approval before anything is booked.
- Scheduling and status. We schedule with the transferee or their assistant and report status to HR, the mobility manager or the RMC’s move counselor.
- Move and delivery. Packing, loading, storage if needed and delivery, with the inventory checked at both ends.
- Billing. For a managed move, invoices go to the company or its relocation provider against the approved estimate. When the employee takes a lump-sum benefit instead, we work with the employee directly.
Storage-in-transit and temporary housing
Relocation dates rarely line up. The old home sells or the lease ends before the new home closes, the family spends a few weeks in corporate housing, or a school calendar sets the date. Storage-in-transit bridges the gap: the household is packed, inventoried and held in storage, then delivered when the new home is ready.
A split shipment makes temporary housing easier. Clothing, a working home office and the children’s essentials go to the temporary address, and everything else waits for the permanent home. Most relocation policies cap the storage days they cover, so we track the count and flag it to HR before it runs out.
Relocations into and out of California
Many corporate relocations cross state lines: an executive moving from New York to Los Angeles, or an employee transferring from Orange County to another state. Interstate moves fall under federal rules enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), not California’s rules for moves within the state, and an interstate mover must be registered with the FMCSA and hold a USDOT number. Within California, a household mover needs a permit from the Bureau of Household Goods and Services, shown as a CAL-T number. Both are public records, and worth checking before HR approves a mover.
Valuation differs too. An interstate mover must offer Full Value Protection and a Released Value option, and Released Value, at 60 cents per pound per article, applies only if the customer chooses it in writing. Within California, basic liability is also 60 cents per pound per article, which is rarely enough for an executive household, so valuation should be agreed in writing before move day.
For how longer moves are planned, see long-distance moving and the Los Angeles to New York route.
