Published: September 2026 | Reading Time: 12 minutes
Choosing a moving company is unlike hiring most home services, because moving has its own federal consumer protection programme — and it exists for a reason. The FMCSA states that thousands of Americans report moving fraud every year, which is what happens when a stranger drives away with everything you own.
The upside is that the rules are clear and the checks are quick. These ten cover what to verify, what paperwork you are legally owed, and the two or three answers that should end a conversation.
- 1. A written estimate based on an in-person survey
- 2. The USDOT number, checked in the federal database
- 3. Whether you are hiring a mover or a broker
- 4. The complaint history
- 5. The type of estimate, and the 110 percent rule
- 6. Which liability coverage you are being signed up for
- 7. The paperwork they are required to hand you
- 8. What is excluded, and which extras apply to your property
- 9. The deposit, the payment method and the delivery window
- 10. Who actually turns up, and what happens if something breaks
- The Red Flags the FMCSA Publishes
- A Sensible Order to Do This In
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. A written estimate based on an in-person survey
The FMCSA’s first step in selecting a mover is to get written estimates from several companies, each based on an actual in-person inspection of your household goods. A video survey is a reasonable modern substitute; a price quoted over the phone from a description is not.
The reason matters. Nobody can weigh your shipment or judge access from a phone call, so a sight-unseen number is a starting position rather than an estimate — and it is the number that gets revised upward once the truck is loaded.
2. The USDOT number, checked in the federal database
Any company moving your belongings across state lines must hold a USDOT number issued by the FMCSA. Ask for it, then verify it yourself in the FMCSA’s registered mover database rather than accepting a number printed on a quote.
Rules for moves within a single state are set at state level instead. For those, the FMCSA points consumers to their state attorney general’s office to find out what registration or licensing applies locally.
3. Whether you are hiring a mover or a broker
This is the distinction that catches most people, and the FMCSA flags it specifically. A carrier owns the trucks and moves your goods. A broker sells your job to a carrier you have not met, vetted, or chosen.
Brokers are not automatically a problem, but you should know which you are dealing with, because every check on this list applies to whoever actually shows up on moving day. If it is a broker, ask which carrier will perform the move and run your checks on that company instead. A broker who cannot or will not name the carrier is asking you to trust a stranger twice over.
4. The complaint history
The FMCSA’s database holds complaints filed against registered movers, and checking it is the third of its five steps. Pair that with the Better Business Bureau and your local consumer protection office.
What you are looking for is patterns rather than a single unhappy customer. Repeated complaints about the final price exceeding the estimate, about delivery windows, or about damage claims going unanswered tell you how the company behaves when things go wrong.
5. The type of estimate, and the 110 percent rule
Estimates come in two forms, and the difference decides what you can be charged on delivery day.
A binding estimate fixes the price for the shipment as described. A non-binding estimate is a projection, and the final price is based on the actual weight and services. What protects you there is a federal limit the FMCSA describes plainly: movers are required by law to deliver your goods for no more than 10 percent above the price of a non-binding estimate.
That is the 110 percent rule, and it is worth knowing before delivery day rather than after. Ask in writing which type of estimate you have been given.
Price is step four, not step one
The FMCSA puts “don’t choose on price alone” fourth in its five steps, ahead of anything about saving money. On a move, the cheapest quote is frequently the one that becomes the most expensive after loading — which is exactly what the 110 percent rule exists to limit.
6. Which liability coverage you are being signed up for
Interstate movers must offer two levels of liability, and they are not equivalent.
Released Value Protection is free and caps the mover’s liability at no more than 60 cents per pound per article — the FMCSA’s own example is a 25-pound television compensated at $15. Full Value Protection costs extra and makes the mover responsible for repair, replacement or a cash settlement at current market replacement value.
Full Value applies automatically unless you sign a specific statement choosing Released Value. So the check here is simple: read what is already ticked on the paperwork before you sign it. And if you own anything worth more than $100 per pound — jewellery, china, furs — list it on the shipping documents, or the mover can limit liability on it.
Our breakdown of what a moving company costs covers how these options and the add-on services affect the total.
7. The paperwork they are required to hand you
Before an interstate move, a mover must give you two documents: the booklet Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move and the FMCSA’s Ready to Move brochure.
This is a genuinely useful test, because it costs a legitimate company nothing and a rogue operator everything. Failing to provide them is on the FMCSA’s own list of red flags. Read the booklet too — it explains the liability options and how to file a claim for damaged or lost items, which is precisely the knowledge you need before you need it.
8. What is excluded, and which extras apply to your property
Ask what is not in the price, and ask specifically about your two addresses rather than in general. A company that has worked your building before will already know the answers.
- Long carry charges, if the truck cannot park near the door
- Stair or elevator fees, at both ends
- A shuttle fee, where a full-size truck cannot reach the property
- Bulky item charges for pianos, safes and gym equipment
- Materials, and whether boxes and wrapping are billed separately
- Fuel surcharges, often a percentage rather than a fixed figure
- Storage-in-transit, if the delivery date slips
Get these named in the written estimate rather than described as possible additional charges. Vagueness here is where a competitive quote quietly stops being competitive.
9. The deposit, the payment method and the delivery window
A demand for cash or a large deposit before the move is on the FMCSA’s red flag list, and it is the single most reliable warning sign in the industry. Pay by a traceable method, and keep a meaningful balance owing until your goods are delivered.
Ask for the delivery window in writing on a long-distance move, and ask what happens if it is missed. Goods arriving three weeks late while you sleep on a floor is a real outcome, and a company with a clear policy has thought about it.
10. Who actually turns up, and what happens if something breaks
Ask whether the crew are employees or day labour, whether the truck is company-owned or rented, and who supervises the job. The FMCSA lists rental trucks on moving day, rather than company-owned or marked vehicles, among its red flags.
Then ask the question people only think of afterwards: what is the claims process, and how long do I have to file? Note the answer, photograph your belongings before they are loaded — particularly anything already scratched or dented — and keep the inventory sheet the crew produces. That document is what a claim is argued from.
The Red Flags the FMCSA Publishes
These come straight from the agency’s own list, and several are easy to spot on a first phone call.
- Estimates given sight unseen, by phone or online, with no survey
- No written estimate, or a promise to work out the cost after loading
- A demand for cash or a large deposit before the move
- Being asked to sign blank or incomplete documents
- No Your Rights and Responsibilities booklet or Ready to Move brochure
- A website with no local address, registration details or insurance information
- Claims that all your goods are automatically covered by their insurance
- The phone answered as “Movers” rather than with the company’s name
- Offices or warehouses in poor condition, or that do not exist
- Rental trucks on moving day instead of company-owned or marked vehicles
- A sudden claim on the day that you have far more belongings than estimated
That last one is the classic hostage scenario: the goods are on the truck, the price has doubled, and the leverage has changed hands. Every check above exists to keep you out of that moment.
A Sensible Order to Do This In
Shortlist three or four companies, from neighbours, a state or federal directory and reviews rather than from whoever advertises hardest. Book in-home or video surveys with all of them on the same brief.
While you wait for the estimates, run the checks: USDOT number, complaint history, mover or broker, and a look at the website for a real address. When the written estimates arrive, compare them on scope and estimate type rather than on the total, then choose and get the coverage decision in writing.
Give yourself six to eight weeks where you can. Peak season fills early, and a rushed booking is how people end up accepting the only company still available.
