Packing and Unpacking in Gresham When You Take MAX to the New Place
Family-Owned & Operated | ODOT #275978 · USDOT #3604556 | $56.40/hr Per Packer | Google 4.8★ Rated | Open 7 AM–10 PM, Every Day
- ODOT For-Hire Carrier #275978USDOT #3604556Licensed & InsuredBBB A+ AccreditedGoogle 4.8★ RatedFamily-Owned · Hillsboro, OR
Gresham has had light rail since the region's first MAX line opened on September 5, 1986, running from downtown Portland to just east of Cleveland Avenue. Eight Blue Line stations are located within the city, from E 172nd Ave east to the Cleveland Ave terminus, with E 162nd Ave just outside on the Portland line. For a household moving without a car, that line changes the packing plan: the truck carries the house, and the people get to the new address on a train, a bus, or on foot.
If you are not driving on moving day, packing shifts in a few places. Nothing gets a last-minute spot in a back seat. Supplies cannot be picked up on the way over. And whatever stays with you has to fit what TriMet lets riders bring aboard.
Our packers drive to Gresham from our Hillsboro yard and bill $56.40 an hour each.
What You Carry Aboard Has to Fit TriMet's Rules
TriMet publishes a short page on what riders may bring on its buses and trains. The rules on carts, bags and food are the ones that decide how much of your household travels with you.
A cart no wider than 18 inches
TriMet allows two- or four-wheeled shopping carts, but they "can't be more than 18 inches wide or more than 30 inches tall (excluding wheels and handles)." Measure the cart you own before pack day, then set aside only what fits in it: prescriptions, the folder with your lease or closing papers, keys, chargers, a laptop, and a change of clothes. Anything left over after the cart is full goes into a labeled box, and our packers can handle that part.
Bags that keep the aisle clear
Luggage and backpacks are welcome, as long as they don't block the aisle or doorway. The rule on everything else: "Large items and objects, including bags of cans and bottles that block doors and aisles, leak or smell cannot be brought on board." A rolling suitcase and a backpack per person is one way to draw the line, and the walk at each end will tell you whether it is one bag too many. Floor lamps, a desk printer, a mirror or a laundry basket of loose odds and ends belong on the truck, where nobody has to argue with a crowded platform about them.
Food in closed containers only
Food and drinks may come aboard in closed containers, and eating on TriMet is not allowed. That rule matters the night the fridge gets cleared. Open jars, a half-used bottle of cooking oil, and leftovers in takeout tubs are the kinds of things the leak-or-smell line describes. Decide a few days ahead what gets eaten, given away or tossed, and keep only sealed snacks and water for the trip.
The stop you leave from and the stop you arrive at
The Blue Line touches the length of the city, from E 172nd Ave at the west edge out to Cleveland Ave at the east end, so the two ends of a move inside Gresham can sit a few stops apart. Settle before pack day which station you leave from, which one you arrive at, and how long the walk is on each side. That walk, with a loaded cart in one hand, is the real limit on what travels with you. If the new address sits a long block uphill from the platform, take a layer out of the cart and add it to the list in the packers' box. A cart you can lift onto a platform by yourself is worth more on moving day than a cart that holds one more bag.
Without a Car, the Pack Crew Brings the Supplies
A household with a car can fetch another roll of tape at noon. Without one, that errand becomes a bus trip, so the supply list gets settled on the estimate call.
Cartons, paper and tape come with the crew
Tell us the rooms, the number of kitchen cabinets and anything unusual, like a wall of books or a large TV. We plan box sizes from the published list, and our packers arrive with the cartons. If you already have sturdy cartons, say how many, and we bring only what is missing. Plan on a higher carton count than a driving household would need. Everything that would have ridden loose in a trunk or a back seat has to be boxed instead, and that shows up as boxes on the estimate.
The trunk load, boxed or wrapped instead
On a driving move, some things never see a carton: the vacuum, pillows and a duvet, the desk chair, a rolled rug, the TV tucked behind the front seats. With no trunk, each of those needs a place on the truck. A rug gets rolled and wrapped, and pillows and a duvet fill a large or wardrobe carton. Ask to have them wrapped or boxed on pack day with the rest.
The spot the packers leave alone
Point out one surface before the crew starts, a kitchen counter or a closet shelf, and ask them to work around it. The cart load sits there through the day: prescriptions, the lease or closing folder, keys, and the charger you will want on the platform. During a drive, that pile ends up in a car the night before. Without a car, it has to survive a full pack day inside a house being emptied, and it does so only if someone is shown where it is.
Cartons marked to open first
Ask the packers to mark two or three cartons "open first" and load them near the end so they come off early: towels, sheets for one bed, toilet paper, a kettle or coffee maker, a power strip. The truck takes the drive while you take a train, a bus, or a walk, so you and the furniture land at the new address on separate clocks. Those cartons cover the stretch between the two.
Gresham Packing Rates and Box Prices
Price a Gresham pack dayPacking labor: dedicated pack day
- 1 packer: $56.40 per hour
- 2 packers: $112.80 per hour
- 3 packers: $169.20 per hour
- 4 packers: $225.60 per hour
Boxes and supplies
- Small $6.30 · Medium $7.45 · Large $9.45 · Wardrobe $31.55
- TV box $55.85 per use, or $199.65 to buy
Moving crew and truck, if you book the move too: Monday–Saturday, 7 AM–7 PM
- 2 movers + truck: $150.35 per hour · 3 movers + truck: $206.75 per hour · 4 movers + truck: $263.15 per hour
- 3-hour minimum · $56.40 per hour for each additional mover or packer
- Evenings after 7 PM Mon–Sat, and Sundays (3-hour minimum): $195.20 / $273.40 / $351.60 per hour
- Holiday rate (3-hour minimum): $230.50 / $325.50 / $420.50 per hour
Butterfield Moving is a licensed family company based in Hillsboro, and the drive from our yard to Gresham runs about 45 to 60 minutes. For a city that far out, a pack crew is booked for the next day or later, so say on the call which day you want. The drive from our Hillsboro yard is part of the hours, billed at the same hourly rate as the crew. Wrapping, padding, and taking furniture apart for the truck are included in the moving crew's hourly rate.
Released Value, Replacement Cost and Claims
Released value at $0.60 per pound is the legal floor, not a plan. Replacement-cost protection is available if you choose to purchase it. We will submit a claim upon request.
Gresham Packing Questions
Do we have to book the moving crew as well?
No. Packers can box the house for a truck you rent or a crew you arrange elsewhere, and come back to unpack later.
I want to take my bike on MAX. Should you pack it?
Leave it out if you plan to ride with it. TriMet's rule: "Only single-seat bikes, folding bikes, and recumbents the size of a standard bike are allowed on board." A second bike can be padded and strapped in the truck.
What about a double stroller or a wagon?
TriMet strongly recommends a folding umbrella-style stroller and says large and double-wide strollers are not practical on buses and trains. Wagons are allowed if they keep the aisle and doorway clear. A bulky stroller can go on the truck with the furniture.
What Our Customers Say
If There Is No Car in the Plan
Say so early when you call (503) 506-4149, because it moves the carton count before it moves anything else: everything that would have ridden loose in a back seat gets boxed. After that, the call is the ordinary one: rooms, cabinets, anything out of the usual run. The estimate is free, and someone answers from 7 AM to 10 PM.
Call (503) 506-4149 → Free Gresham Packing Estimate, 7 AM–10 PM Every Day
Hours
Monday–Sunday, 7 AM–10 PM. Messages left outside those hours get returned.
Butterfield Moving LLC · 2092 NE Aloclek Dr, Suite 516, Hillsboro, OR 97124 · Moving…Like Butter™