descriptionThe Franchise Dossier
FDD Sourced
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Two Men and a Truck. All figures sourced from public FDD filings.
Franchise dossier · Moving services

Owning a Two Men and a Truck: what actually happens

VERDICT · AN ASSET
A real, sellable logistics business with high disclosed sales, but it is a people-and-trucks operation whose margin is thin and whose entry fee grows with the market you want.
You'd pocket / yr*
$60K–$400K
1 unit · before your salary
Your time
45–60 hrs/wk
semi-absentee OK
Becomes an asset at
~1 unit
real wealth: 1 big market
Agreement term
10 yrs
then renewal
Year one, honestly

Year one is a fleet and labor build: leasing a warehouse/office, putting two to four trucks on the road, and hiring and constantly re-hiring movers and drivers in a high-turnover, injury- and claims-prone job. Moving is sharply seasonal (May to September carries the year), so a first winter with a fixed truck and insurance bill is the cash test. The disclosed $2.86M average is for franchises open a full year, most of them long established; a new market should expect a fraction of that while it builds reviews and referral sources.

Where each sales dollar goes
Supplies / goods ~14%Labor ~43%Rent ~4%Franchisor fees ~7%Other opex ~24%Left before debt & you ~13%

Illustrative split for a typical unit (industry estimate). The green slice is store cash flow before your loan payment and before paying yourself a salary — not profit.

If you want out

Established franchises change hands as operating companies: a buyer is paying for a protected market, a truck fleet, a trained crew, a review base and repeat/referral volume, valued on a multiple of earnings. Transfers need franchisor approval and a transfer fee, and trucks depreciate, but a multi-million-dollar mover in a defined market is a sellable asset in a way a home-based service territory is not.

Smart for

Operators comfortable managing a large hourly workforce and a truck fleet, with the capital to carry a seasonal first year.

Dumb for

Anyone wanting a light, low-headcount or passive business, or underwriting year one against the mature $2.86M average.

The disclosure it's built on

The verdict above is our read of the numbers Two Men and a Truck files with regulators — here they are, cited.

Two Men and a TruckFDD 2025
Item 5 · Initial franchise fee
$50,000
Item 7 · Initial investment
$146,950 – $506,450
Item 6 · Royalty
6% (+1% technology fee)
Item 6 · Ad / brand fund
1%
Item 19 · Avg unit revenue
$2,862,607
Item 20 · US units (~2024)
313
SOURCE1851 Franchise 2025 FDD breakdown: Metro fee $50,000-$165,000, Item 7 Metro $146,950-$506,450 (Mod Market $92,100-$247,500), 6% royalty, 1% ad fund, 1% tech fee, Item 19 figures, all medium-high confidence; VettedBiz shows the same Item 7 range and fee range. Sources disagree on Item 7: Franzy and SharpSheets show $165,700-$538,700 for Metro, which appears to be a different FDD year, so the range is medium confidence. Unit count 313 franchised (Franzy) vs 339 US locations (VettedBiz), medium confidence. The 10-year term was seen only in a search summary, not in an opened document: low confidence.
The catch

The $50,000 fee is the floor, not the price. The Metro Market fee is $50,000 only where the brand has never operated, $85,000 where it has, and rises with population to $165,000 for a 1,000,000-person market, all due at signing and non-refundable. The $2.86M average is also a mature-system number: it covers only Metro franchises open the full year, the median is about $500,000 lower, and the lowest full-year franchise did $457,576. On top of the 6% royalty and 1% ad fund there is a 1% technology and support fee (minimum $1,200 a month), so the franchisor takes 8% of gross before a single mover is paid.

*How to read these numbers. Disclosed (FDD): fee schedule, Item 7 range, 6% royalty, 1% ad fund, 1% tech fee, Item 19 gross sales (average, median, high, low). Item 19 does not disclose profit. Cost-structure %, take-home and hours are ESTIMATES from moving-industry operator benchmarks (medium-low confidence, wide range). Term (10 years) is low confidence. — "You'd pocket" is estimated owner cash flow for one average unit before a salary for your own full-time work, so it is not take-home pay. Averages are not promises; your unit could earn far less. This is analysis, not advice — read the current FDD in full and talk to current and former franchisees before you commit.

Seriously considering Two Men and a Truck?

Pressure-test the affordability, then read the full FDD and validate Item 19 (or its absence) with existing franchisees. When we add vetted franchise-consultant and financing partners, they'll be clearly disclosed here and never change our analysis.

Run a rough affordability check →