When getting ready to move out, it’s critical that you only work with a legitimate moving company that is properly licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and in particular – by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The thing is that if you fail to do your homework beforehand, you could potentially end up hiring dishonest movers who will try out various tricks to scam you out of your money. Unfortunately, the so-called rogue movers do exist and they are especially active during the peak of the moving season (May-September) when professional moving services are in high demand for obvious reasons.
You must make sure a moving company is legitimate before you decide to hire their services. The good news is that it shouldn’t take you more than 5-10 minutes to check the legal status of a mover – a security check that can save you from a lot of trouble down the road.
Here are the detailed steps that will show you how to check if a moving company is legitimate:
Step 1. Learn what makes a moving company legitimate
The very first step is to understand what it means for a moving company to be legitimate. In order to be legal, a moving company must be registered with and licensed by either the State Department of Transportation or by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or by both.
- Local (intrastate) movers. Local moving companies must have a license by the State Department of Transportation within the state they operate in. Unlike interstate movers, in-state movers are not allowed to operate outside the boundaries of the state of origin.
- Interstate movers. All long-distance movers that perform interstate moves must be licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. As proof of proper registration, each interstate mover receives a USDOT number.
Read also: What are the red flags of moving fraud?
Step 2. Understand what a USDOT number actually means
A USDOT (U.S. Department of Transportation number) is a unique identifier assigned by the U.S. Government to a state-to-state moving company. In reality, the government uses the USDOT number to keep track of a mover’s safety records – registration status, reviews, ratings, inspections, crash investigations, and so on.
But most importantly, a USDOT number identifies a moving company that is legitimate and that’s what you as a shipper of household goods should care about. An interstate moving company with a USDOT number means that the company is registered with the FMCSA, complies with strict federal regulations concerning safety, is adequately insured, and can be held accountable in case of complaints or disputed by customers.
It’s important to note that while USDOT numbers are not federally required for local movers, 38 U.S. states currently demand that all moving companies have a valid USDOT number in order to operate in the state.
Step 3. Check if interstate movers are legitimate
When you receive cost estimates from various interstate moving companies, one of your priority tasks is to check if those state-to-state movers are legitimate. And the best way to do it is, of course, to check their USDOT numbers.
Here’s how to do a USDOT number lookup:
- CLICK HERE to visit the official website of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA);
- USE the search tool to check whether an interstate mover is properly registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation;
- ENTER the name of the interstate company that has provided you with a cost estimate and hit the Search button.
- SELECT the name of the moving company you wish to research in case there are several movers with similar names.
- TAKE a closer look at the company details on the next page: Name, USDOT number, MC number, Address, Phone number, and Fax number. Also, you will have access to the mover’s safety and insurance data, as well as to other useful information such as fleet size, complaint history, and a safety rating (if available).
Remember that all for-hire interstate moving companies must be licensed and insured, and the presence of a valid USDOT number to a mover’s name means that you’ll be working with a legitimate moving company that’s properly registered and authorized for operation.
See also: How to check a DOT number
Step 4. Check if intrastate (local) movers are legitimate
Depending on the state-specific requirements, local movers may or may not be required to have a valid USDOT number to operate legally on the territory of the state. As mentioned above, 38 states currently require that instate moving companies have a USDOT number to be legitimate.
Use the status verification steps above to check whether the local moving company you’re researching has obtained a USDOT number.
If not, then contact the department of transportation in your own state to check whether a local moving company that has no USDOT number is properly licensed to operate within the state.
Click here to access the contact information of FMCSA Service Centers (Eastern Service Center, Midwestern Service Center, Southern Service Center, and Western Service Center) or speak directly with the Field Office in your own state.
Another good way to check the legal status of a local moving company is to contact the State Movers Association in a specific state and request more legal information about the instate mover that you’re researching. Here you can access the full list of State Movers Associations in the country.
Good advice: Important things to know when hiring local movers
Step 5. Make sure your movers are accredited and trustworthy
One additional way you can ensure that you’re working with legitimate and reliable movers is to check if the moving company you’re researching is BBB-accredited – that is, it’s a member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
The official website of the Better Business Bureau will let you search for BBB-accredited movers by writing MOVING COMPANY in the FIND field and then refining your search by specifying your city, state, or ZIP code in the NEAR field.
The resulted information about a moving company will help you decide whether or not you can trust a random mover with your prized possessions:
- Business card. This is the contact information of a trustworthy mover.
- Accreditation. The quickest way to see if a mover is BBB-accredited or not.
- BBB rating. The Better Business Bureau assigns ratings to professional moving companies – from A+ (the highest) to F (the lowest). The BBB rating is calculated on the basis of important information that the BBB has about moving companies, including possible customer complaints.
- Customer reviews. The BBB website gives you the chance to check out customer reviews about the mover you’re thinking about hiring so that you can a better understanding of how reliable the pros are.
- Business details. It’s important information about the moving company in question.
- Customer complaints. This is the section that you should be really interested in as you’ll be able to read customer complaints lodged against movers. Ideally, there won’t be any complaints against the moving company you want to work with.
Must-read: How to find qualified movers
