I’m Renata Alvarez, and scheduling is my desk, which really means I spend my day hunting for whatever could derail a Jacksonville move before it happens: a storm advisory that bumps a report date, a bridge shut down for repair, a thunderstorm rolling off the river right at load-in. Almost every problem we’ve ever hit traces back to something flagged weeks out.
Hurricane Season Goes on the Calendar Like Anything Else
From June through November, a tracked storm can shift your date on short notice. Building that into the plan beats hoping it doesn’t happen.
- Watch the tropical outlook for the two weeks before your date so we can adjust together if something develops
- Keep a backup date in your back pocket in case a storm track pushes the load earlier or later
- June through September brings a near-daily afternoon storm — a morning load beats racing it
- August through October is peak season; build in schedule slack rather than booking against a hard deadline
A tracked storm won’t wait for your closing date to catch up. That’s why every booking made between June and November gets a backup slot built in from the start, instead of betting the forecast holds. — Renata Alvarez
The Bridge Question We Ask on Every Call
Cross-town moves almost always cross the Fuller Warren, Buckman, or Mathews Bridge, and hitting rush hour on any of them adds real time to a job that would otherwise stay on schedule.
Flag which bridge applies and roughly when you’d like to start during the booking call itself, well before the truck’s parked in your driveway. Trevor Simms, who leads our crews, has sat through enough five-o’clock backups on the Fuller Warren to know exactly how much that costs in paid hours nobody budgeted for.
Pick Your Season, Know the Tradeoff
Every First Coast season hands you one upside and one hassle worth planning around. Knowing both ahead of time is what keeps the date working in your favor.
| Season | Local conditions to expect | How we work around them |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | Dry and mild, but closings cluster around the holidays | Book a few weeks ahead of the December rush |
| Spring | Pleasant mornings, and PCS orders season fills our calendar | Reserve early and get your report date confirmed in writing |
| Summer | Our busiest months — hurricane season opens and a storm rolls through most afternoons | Morning loads, a backup date on file, a crew watching the radar |
| Fall | Hurricane season peaks through October, cooling off by November | Flexible scheduling with a storm contingency built in |
Military PCS Moves Need Their Own Checklist
A move tied to NAS Jacksonville or Naval Station Mayport runs against a report date that doesn’t move for a storm, a closing delay, or anything else.
- Confirm your report date and any base gate-access requirements when you book, not the week of
- Flag your weight allowance so we can size the truck and crew correctly
- Ask about short-term storage if new housing isn’t ready by your report date
- Pass along your relocation office contact if one is coordinating the move
Older Neighborhoods and Gated Communities Need Their Own Plan
A Riverside or Avondale bungalow on a narrow original driveway parks a truck differently than a newer Mandarin or Orange Park build, and a Ponte Vedra Beach gated community adds a guard gate and a reserved loading slot into the mix.
Notes for hurricane-season moves
Book storm-season dates early, since the calendar fills fast with other households doing the same thing. If your new place sits behind a Ponte Vedra Beach gate, send us that code in writing before we lock in the date. Moving into a Riverside or Avondale original, measure your own doorway and driveway widths, since these places went up long before anyone imagined moving equipment this size through them.
When Your Closing Pushes Back
- Get storage reserved the same day you lock in your move date. Locking it in now saves you from a last-minute scramble if the closing slips, and it typically runs $90–$260 a month depending on volume.
- Your things stay put until there’s a real address to send them to. One pickup, one delivery, nothing split across two trips.
- Storage doesn’t touch your quoted rate. It rides on the number you already signed, not a new agreement.
Common questions
What happens if a storm shows up in my week’s forecast?
We’re the ones calling you, not the other way around. A track anywhere near your date means we shift earlier or later rather than push a crew into the back half of a system.
Do you actually plan around bridge traffic?
On every job. Which bridge and what time gets confirmed during that first call, never guessed at once the truck is in your driveway.
None of this takes much: just picking a date with the storm, the bridge, and the report date already factored in, instead of leaving all three to chance.