Binding and non-binding estimates and which one you actually signed, the document that governs the move, weight and how it is verified, delivery windows and delay, valuation compared with insurance, filing a loss or damage claim and the time limit, a shipment held for extra payment, and interstate compared with local moves.
On an interstate household goods move the carrier may not provide a period shorter than nine months for filing a claim, or shorter than two years for bringing a civil action after it gives written notice that the claim is disallowed. A valid claim is a written communication identifying the shipment, asserting liability and demanding a specified or determinable sum. The carrier must acknowledge it within thirty days and pay, decline or make a firm settlement offer within one hundred and twenty.
An interstate household goods shipment charged by weight must be weighed either as an origin weigh or a back weigh, with the vehicle fully equipped, nobody aboard, and the fuel tanks handled consistently. The shipper may observe every weighing and, after being told the billing weight and total charges but before unloading begins on an origin weigh, may demand a reweigh. The reweigh weight then governs the freight bill, and weight tickets must accompany the invoice.
Interstate household goods carriers must provide reasonable dispatch service and must tender the shipment on the agreed delivery date or within the period stated on the bill of lading. When a delay becomes apparent the carrier must notify the shipper by a listed method, at its own expense, and record the notification. Delay is claimable under the federal claims rules, and the carrier must acknowledge a written claim within thirty days and dispose of it within one hundred and twenty.
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.
On an interstate move the carrier's liability for lost or damaged household goods is replacement value up to the declared value of the shipment, unless the shipper waives that in writing in favor of the released rates set by the Surface Transportation Board. Released rates pay by weight rather than by value. Separate insurance sold by or through the carrier is a different product with its own policy, and the bill of lading must show evidence of it, including the premium.
On an interstate move the carrier must give up possession once the shipper pays the applicable delivery ceiling: the binding estimate, or 110 percent of a non-binding estimate, plus later-requested services and capped impracticable operations charges. Knowingly and willfully failing to deliver household goods in violation of the contract exposes the carrier to a civil penalty of at least $10,000 per violation, criminal liability, and suspension of its registration.
A household goods move that crosses a state line falls under federal regulation: written estimates, a bill of lading with prescribed contents, weight rules, delivery ceilings, valuation choices and a nine-month claim floor. A move entirely inside one state is governed by that state, because federal preemption of state authority over motor carrier prices, routes and services expressly does not apply to intrastate transportation of household goods.
Federal household goods rules do not set a cancellation period or cap a deposit for an interstate move. What governs is the carrier's published tariff, which it must make available for inspection, together with the written agreement. Payment method matters: a deposit charged to a credit card carries statutory billing error and claims-and-defenses rights that a bank transfer or cash payment does not. Intrastate moves are governed by state rules, which in several states are stricter.
An interstate household goods carrier must prepare and issue a bill of lading before receiving the shipment, and it must contain the terms and conditions of the contract. Federal rules list seventeen required items, including the pickup and delivery dates, the form of payment, the maximum demandable at delivery, and the valuation choice. The estimate and the inventory attach to it and become an integral part of the contract, and a copy must travel with the shipment.
On an interstate household goods move the carrier must give a written estimate before the bill of lading is signed, and must mark it binding or non-binding. A binding estimate fixes the total for the goods and services listed on it. A non-binding estimate does not fix anything, but a carrier must release a collect-on-delivery shipment when the shipper pays 110 percent of it, plus later-requested services and capped charges for impracticable operations.
Storage in transit is temporary storage of a shipment between pickup and final delivery, and the carrier's liability under the bill of lading continues through it. Before the storage period expires the carrier must notify the shipper in writing of the conversion to permanent storage, the nine-month claim period that follows, the fact that its liability is ending, and that the goods will fall under a warehouse operator's rules and charges. That notice is due at least ten days ahead.
A carrier is liable for loss or damage occurring during transportation of the goods on its bill of lading, but certain shipper actions reduce that liability. Cartons packed by the owner are inventoried as such, and concealed damage inside them is hard to attribute to the carrier without external evidence of mishandling. Dangerous and perishable articles hidden in a shipment fall outside the carrier's liability, and high-value articles must be notified in writing.
