The short answer

Book the clearout for the week before pack-out. Not the week after, and definitely not the same day.

Pricing is published so you can put it in the budget the moment orders drop: $241 for a quarter truck, $338 for 3/8, $431 for a half, $513 for 5/8, $587 for 3/4, $661 for 7/8, $732 for a full truck. Or by item - sofa $126, queen mattress and box spring set $143, patio table $89, patio chair $30 each, refrigerator $164. Minimum $75 per visit.

A typical two-bedroom clearout around Mayport Road or out in Argyle is commonly a full truck at $732. A three-bedroom house in Oakleaf or Fleming Island with a full garage is often more.

Why pack-out day is the deadline

Two reasons, and both cost real money.

The packers pack everything. Every service member has heard the stories, and they are true because the crew's job is to box the contents of the house, not to make judgement calls about what you wanted. Leave a bin of garage junk in the corner and it gets wrapped, boxed, weighed and shipped across the country, where you will unpack it and throw it away.

Weight is money. Your household goods weight allowance is set by rank and dependent status, and anything over it comes out of your pocket. That means every mildewed patio chair, every box of warped plywood and every tired garage refrigerator is a direct charge against you. Removing 800 pounds of things you were going to bin anyway is one of the few PCS costs you have total control over.

So the sequence is: purge, then pack-out, then clear quarters. In that order.

What never earns its weight out of Jacksonville

Northeast Florida produces a very specific list of things not worth shipping, and it is the same list every summer:

  • Outdoor furniture. Salt air at Mayport, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach pits aluminum frames and eats fixings, and the UV destroys straps and cushions. It will not look acceptable in San Diego or Norfolk and it is heavy.
  • Anything stored in the garage, carport or shed. With no basements here, that is where everything lived, and Jacksonville humidity means mildew in upholstery and swollen particleboard. Ship a moldy armchair in a sealed container for two weeks and everything packed near it arrives smelling of it.
  • The grill. Charcoal $59, propane $71. Note that the propane cylinder cannot ship and cannot go on our truck either.
  • Hurricane supplies. The plywood cut for these windows, the sandbags, the shutters. They fit this house and nowhere else.
  • Pool and beach gear. The above-ground pool frame at $145, floats, the sandy cooler, boogie boards.
  • Cheap flat-pack furniture. It will not survive the move, and if it has been in a Florida garage it has already lost.

If you are going OCONUS, be harder still. The allowance is tighter, and furniture is frequently the first thing to cut.

Hazardous materials: two different rules

This trips people up every year, so be clear on it.

Hazmat cannot go in a household goods shipment. That covers gas and diesel, propane cylinders, paint, aerosols, pool chemicals, pesticides, solvents and car batteries. The movers will not take them.

We cannot take them either. Household hazardous waste goes to a Duval County drop-off facility - check the city's current locations and hours. Empty the mower and the generator can, drop the propane tank off separately, and deal with the pool chemicals before the week gets busy. This is the errand everyone leaves to the last day and it is the one with fixed opening hours.

The Jacksonville geography of a PCS

Where you are determines how the day runs.

  • Naval Station Mayport. Sailors cluster in Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, along the Mayport Road corridor and into Intracoastal West. Beach-area rentals are frequently duplexes with exterior stairs and a small screened porch. The stairs do not change the price.
  • NAS Jacksonville. The Westside pull - Orange Park, Argyle Forest, Oakleaf, Fleming Island. Single-family houses with two-car garages, which is exactly where the volume is.
  • Base housing. Clearing quarters comes with an inspection and a firm date. Book the removal a couple of days before the inspection, not the morning of.

And remember the county is roughly 875 square miles. If you live in Oakleaf and your sponsor is at Mayport, that is not a quick errand - budget the drive time into the week.

Worked totals

The patio purge. Patio table $89, four patio chairs (4 × $30 = $120), propane grill $71. $89 + $120 + $71 = $280. A quarter truck is $241, so book the quarter.

Beds you are not shipping. Queen mattress and box spring set $143 plus two twins (2 × $82 = $164). $143 + $164 = $307.

Nursery you have outgrown. Crib $67 plus baby gear - stroller, highchair or playpen - at $33. $67 + $33 = $100.

The garage. Usually a 3/8 truck at $338, or a half at $431 if the hurricane supplies have been accumulating.

Whole two-bedroom clear. Commonly the full truck at $732.

Timing, and why summer is the hard part

PCS season in Jacksonville is concentrated into a few weeks either side of the school year, and it collides with two other things: the local student move-out in late spring, and hurricane season opening on June 1.

Practical consequences:

  • Book early. The good windows in June and July go first, and they go to whoever called two weeks ahead.
  • Build in slack. If a named storm affects Northeast Florida, every crew in the region is rebooked at once and your window may move. With a hard report date, do not schedule the clearout for the last possible day.
  • Morning windows are better. Loading a garage in a Jacksonville July afternoon is genuinely unpleasant, and the afternoon thunderstorms are reliable.

How to run it with short-notice orders

If orders dropped late and the timeline is compressed, this is the fastest path:

  • Walk the house on your phone, room by room, including the garage, shed and lanai. Send the video.
  • We price from that and confirm in writing. No estimate visit, no morning spent waiting for someone to look at your garage.
  • Book the window before pack-out. Tell us the date so we can prioritize it.
  • If the service member has already detached, a spouse or a designated friend can meet us - just agree the scope in advance so nobody is making calls on the day.

Published prices exist for exactly this situation. You can budget the number before you know anything else about the move.

Frequently asked questions

When should I do a PCS clearout in Jacksonville?

The week before pack-out. The packers will box anything left in the house, and every pound counts against your household goods weight allowance, so junk shipped is money you pay personally.

How much does a PCS clearout cost?

A patio purge is often around $280 itemized, or $241 as a quarter truck. A garage is usually $338 to $431. A full two-bedroom clear is commonly the full truck at $732. All prices are published up front.

Can you take my paint, propane tank and gas cans?

No, and neither will the movers. Hazardous materials cannot go in a household goods shipment and they cannot go on our truck. They go to a Duval County household hazardous waste drop-off - check the city's current locations and hours.

Do you charge extra for the exterior stairs on a beach duplex?

No. There is no stair fee and no carry-distance fee, which matters around Mayport and the beaches where most rentals are walk-ups with outside staircases.

I have already detached. Can my spouse handle the job?

Yes. Agree the scope in writing in advance - which rooms, which outbuildings, what stays - and anyone you designate can meet the crew. We price from video, so the number is fixed before the day.

How far ahead should I book in summer?

Two weeks if you can. June and July are peak PCS season here, they overlap local student move-out, and hurricane season can wipe out a week of schedule with little notice. Do not leave it to the last available day.