The right moving company is not simply the company with the lowest headline price. It is the company that can identify who will move you, inspect the real shipment, explain the price, put every service in writing, and show how delivery and damage will be handled.
Ask each finalist the same ten questions. Record the answer beside the document that proves it. You will finish with comparable offers instead of three friendly sales calls that describe different jobs.
1. Are you the carrier, a broker, or both?
A carrier physically transports household goods. A broker arranges for a carrier to do it. Ask for the company’s legal name, business address, USDOT number for an interstate move, and the name and number of the carrier expected to perform the work. Search the FMCSA record yourself; do not rely on a logo or a screenshot sent by sales.
Good answer: “We are the carrier,” or “We are the broker and will identify the assigned carrier in writing,” followed by records that match the estimate. Warning: the company avoids the question, uses several unexplained names, or will not provide a number.
2. Which rules apply to this move?
Interstate household-goods moves fall under federal consumer rules. Moves wholly within one state may be governed by state or local licensing and estimate rules. Ask which regulator, license, tariff, and complaint process apply to the exact origin and destination.
3. How will you inspect everything that is moving?
A useful estimate begins with a complete walkthrough—at the home or by a careful live video process—and a room-by-room inventory. Include closets, attic, garage, patio, storage unit, packed boxes, disassembly, appliances, exercise equipment, safes, artwork, and anything being discarded or added later.
4. What kind of estimate is this, and what can change it?
Ask whether it is binding, binding-not-to-exceed where offered, or non-binding; whether transportation is based on weight, volume, time, or another lawful state method; and how additions are documented. Get the answer on the estimate, not in a text message that is missing from the contract.
5. Which services and access charges are included?
Ask how each included service appears in the price and which event triggers an added charge. Share city loading rules, parking distance, elevator dimensions and hours, gate codes, low bridges, narrow roads, and driveway limits. Distance is only one cost factor; traffic, local policy, access, inventory, labor, timing, and storage can materially change the job.
6. What must I pay, when, and by what method?
Ask for the deposit, cancellation and rescheduling terms, payment methods, amount due at pickup and delivery, and the rules if a non-binding total changes. The FTC warns against movers that demand cash or a large deposit before the move. Never sign blank documents.
7. What protection am I selecting for loss or damage?
For an interstate move, the mover must offer Full Value Protection and Released Value. Released Value limits the mover’s liability to 60 cents per pound per article. That is not replacement coverage: a 50-pound table lost under released value has a maximum mover liability of $30. Ask for the valuation selection form, deductible or declared value terms, extraordinary-value procedure, exclusions, and claims instructions.
8. What pickup and delivery dates will be written into the agreement?
Ask for the pickup window, delivery date or spread, how notice is given, who provides updates, whether the load will be transferred or combined, and what happens after a missed agreed window. For an interstate shipment, the agreed dates belong on the bill of lading.
9. Who will be in my home and handling the shipment?
Ask whether the crew members are employees, agents, or subcontractors; who supervises; how identity is confirmed; and whether specialty work is performed by another company. The answer should match the roles named on the paperwork. On moving day, verify the carrier and vehicle before loading begins.
10. How do complaints, claims, and arbitration work?
Ask for a written damage-claim process, required evidence, filing deadlines, response contact, and the interstate arbitration summary. Check current complaint information and independent reviews for repeated patterns involving final price, delivery, damage, or communication. A single angry or glowing review proves little; consistent recent details and the company’s response are more useful.
Choose the company whose documents answer the questions
Moveline’s U.S. agent network is responsible for more than one million moves each year, giving its team extensive experience with estimates, access limits, packing, transportation, delivery, and claims handoffs. That scale of experience reinforces a simple selection standard: clarity before loading. Use Moveline’s calculator to set a rounded price range, then use the estimate comparison guide to normalize competing offers.
The strongest mover may not promise that nothing will change. It will show which facts the price depends on, who is responsible, how changes are approved, and what record protects both sides.
