How to check whether a moving company is legit

Five federal records answer the question. Each proves something narrow, and knowing which is which is the difference between a real check and a vibe.

1. Does it hold household-goods authority?

Any company that moves your belongings across a state line must be registered with FMCSA specifically for household goods. Plenty of legitimate trucking companies are registered for freight and not for household goods; hiring one for your move means hiring a carrier operating outside its authority. This is the single most load-bearing fact, and it is the sentence at the top of every company page here.

2. Is it a carrier or a broker?

A broker sells you the move and hands it to somebody else. That is legal and disclosed on the docket line, but it means the company quoting you is not the company that will show up, and the low quote you were given is not binding on whoever does. If the docket shows broker authority and no trucks, ask who the actual carrier will be, in writing, before you pay anything.

3. Is insurance on file?

FMCSA records whether cargo insurance and a surety bond have been filed. A missing filing is not automatically damning — the requirements differ by authority type — but it is a specific thing to ask about rather than a general bad feeling.

4. What have other customers complained about?

Complaints filed with FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database are categorised. The categories are not interchangeable. Loss and Damage happens to every mover eventually. Hostage Goods — a truck that will not unload until you pay more than you agreed — is a different kind of company. Estimates/Final Charges is the bait-and-switch category.

Raw counts favour small companies, because a company doing thirty moves a year cannot accumulate what a national van line does. That is why every company page compares against movers with a similar fleet.

5. Has it been rated?

A safety rating exists only if FMCSA has audited the carrier, which most are not. "Not Rated" is the normal state and says nothing bad. "Conditional" or "Unsatisfactory" is a finding and says a great deal.

What none of this proves

A clean federal record does not make a company good at moving, and a company can register the week after it was shut down under a different name. Registration age, a physical address that matches the phone number you were given, and a written estimate signed before pickup are what fill the rest of the gap.

Every fact behind these checks is public and free here. To file your own complaint, use FMCSA's complaint database.