Checking a Mover Before You Hire One
Almost every serious moving problem is visible in advance to someone who knows which two fields to look at. A registered name and a federal identification number are all that is needed to open the public record on a company.
The rule in short
Every interstate household goods carrier must publish its registered name and federal identification number in all advertising, in a prescribed form. That number opens the public record showing registration status, operating authority, insurance on file and safety history. Brokers hold separate registration and may only provide estimates under a written agreement adopting them as the carrier's own. A carrier must also maintain a written complaint procedure and an arbitration program.
An interstate mover must put its registered name and its federal identification number in every advertisement, in a set form. That number is the only thing needed to open the public record on the company, and checking it takes a few minutes.
The reason to do it is not that most movers are dishonest. It is that the small number of operations causing serious harm are usually visible in advance: no registration, registration under a different name, no insurance on file, or a pattern of trading names appearing and disappearing. None of that shows up in a sales call. All of it shows up in a public search.
The number and the name that must match
Advertising for interstate household goods services must be truthful and straightforward, and must carry two elements: the company's name or trade name exactly as it appears on the document assigning its identification number, or the name of the carrier under whose authority the advertised service will originate, and the identification number itself, displayed only in the prescribed form.
That gives a household a simple test. Take the name from the website, the name on the written estimate and the name that appears on the bill of lading, and check that all three are the same registered entity using the same number. A quote issued by one company under the authority of another is lawful, but the household should know which company will actually hold the goods, because that is the company the delivery and claim obligations sit on.
What the public record will show
The federal snapshot for a carrier is a concise record of identification, size, the commodities it carries and its safety history, including any safety rating, roadside inspection results and crash information. It can be searched one company at a time by identification number, registration number or name, free of charge.
Three questions are worth answering from it. Is the company registered at all, and under this name. Is its operating status current rather than lapsed or out of service. And does it in fact carry household goods, rather than being a general freight operation buying moving work through a website. A company whose record shows no household goods activity is not necessarily disqualified, but the mismatch is worth asking about directly.
Complaint handling is the other requirement that can be tested before booking. An interstate mover must establish and maintain a procedure for responding to shippers, including a communications system that lets a shipper reach its principal place of business by telephone, a telephone number, and a system for recording every inquiry and complaint in writing. It must also produce a clear written description of that procedure for distribution. Calling the published number and asking for that description is a two-minute test of whether the requirement is real at that company.
Brokers dominate the search results for long-distance moves, and many are entirely legitimate. The problem is structural: the deposit is taken by one company and the truck is sent by another, sometimes at a price nobody agreed. Before paying anything, ask for the name and identification number of the carrier that will perform the move, and ask whether a written agreement exists adopting the estimate as that carrier's own. If neither can be named, the estimate is not yet binding on anybody.
The documents to ask for before booking
| Document | What it establishes | When it is required |
|---|---|---|
| Written estimate | The price promise and whether it binds both sides | Before the bill of lading is executed |
| Rights and responsibilities booklet | The federal explanation of what a shipper is owed | When the written estimate is provided |
| Arbitration summary | How a loss or charges dispute will be resolved | Before the bill of lading is executed |
| Complaint procedure description | A phone route to the principal place of business | Maintained and distributed to shippers |
| Tariff availability notice | The right to inspect the rates behind the estimate | Before the bill of lading is executed |
Insurance filings and what they are not
An interstate household goods carrier must maintain minimum cargo security to compensate shippers for loss or damage, expressed as an amount for goods carried on any one vehicle and a larger amount for losses occurring at any one time and place. Those filings can be checked, and their absence is a serious sign.
They are also small. The minimums exist so that a carrier cannot operate with nothing behind it, not so that a family's possessions are covered. What decides the size of a claim is the choice made on the contract, which is the subject of why valuation is not insurance. A salesperson who answers a question about insurance by pointing at the federal minimum has not answered the question.
Where a carrier does sell or arrange insurance, it may only do so when the shipment is released at the low per-pound value, it must issue the policy or other evidence of it at the time of sale, and the policy must be written in plain language specifying the nature and extent of what is covered. Failure to issue that evidence exposes the carrier to full liability for the claims concerned, which is a strong incentive to hand over the paperwork and a useful thing for a household to know.
Signs worth acting on before money changes hands
A quote given without any survey of the goods and without a written waiver of one. A refusal to put the estimate in writing, or an estimate that does not say whether it is binding. A demand for a large deposit by a method that cannot be reversed. A company whose advertising carries no identification number, or carries one belonging to a different trading name. No telephone route to a principal place of business, when a complaint procedure with exactly that feature is required.
None of these individually proves anything. Together they describe the profile of the operations that produce the worst outcomes, including the ones covered under a shipment held until more money is paid. The cost of walking away at that stage is a lost afternoon of research. The cost of not walking away can be everything in the truck.
Finally, read what is actually being signed rather than what was described on the phone. The pricing promise lives on the estimate, as set out under binding and non-binding estimates, and everything else lives on the bill of lading that governs the move. Deposits and cancellation terms are separate again, and are covered under postponing or calling off a booked move.
Points to carry away
- Interstate movers must show their registered name and identification number in every advertisement.
- The identification number opens a public record of registration, authority and insurance filings.
- A broker is not a carrier and must have a written agreement before its estimate binds a carrier.
- Every interstate mover must run a complaint procedure with a telephone line and a written log.
- Notice of the arbitration program has to be given before the bill of lading is executed.
Questions readers ask
How is a broker different from the company that shows up?
A broker arranges transportation and does not perform it. It holds its own registration, and it may provide an estimate only where there is a written agreement with the motor carrier adopting that estimate as the carrier's own. Where that agreement exists, the carrier must comply with all the estimate rules, including releasing the shipment on payment of no more than 110 percent of a non-binding estimate. A quote from an arranger with no named carrier behind it is a quote nobody is yet bound by.
What should a company be able to produce on request?
Its registered legal or trading name and identification number, a written estimate marked binding or non-binding, the federal booklet on a shipper's rights and responsibilities, a written description of its complaint procedure, a summary of its arbitration program, and notice that its tariff sections are available for inspection. Each of these is required rather than optional. A company that treats any of them as an unusual request is telling a household something worth listening to before the deposit is paid.
Do online reviews count for anything here?
They are weak evidence compared with the public filings, and they are easy to manufacture. What is worth more is consistency across the record: does the registered name match the name on the quote, the name on the website and the name that will appear on the bill of lading, and is the same identification number used everywhere. Operations that fail move under a new trading name and leave the old registration behind, so a mismatch between names is more informative than a bad rating.
Sources
- 49 CFR 375.207 — Required items in advertisementsRequires the registered name and identification number, in a prescribed form, in all advertising.
- 49 CFR 375.209 — Handling complaints and inquiriesRequires a telephone line, a written record of complaints and a written description of the procedure.
- 49 CFR 375.213 — Information for a prospective shipperLists the documents that must accompany the estimate and precede the bill of lading.
- 49 CFR 375.409 — Broker estimatesPermits broker estimates only under a written agreement adopting them as the carrier's own.
- 49 CFR 387.303 — Minimum financial responsibilitySets the minimum cargo security a household goods carrier must maintain.
- FMCSA SAFER Company SnapshotPublic record of a carrier's identification, operating status and safety history, searchable free.
- 49 U.S.C. 14708 — Dispute settlement programRequires arbitration to be offered and notice of it given before goods are tendered.
National Attorney Hub is a publication, not a law firm. This article states general rules and cites its sources; it is not advice about any particular case, and the law differs by state and changes over time.
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