How to Choose a Long-Distance Moving Company

Why this page is not a ranking

We move households for a living, so a list of "the seven best long-distance movers" written by us would be worth exactly nothing to you. Any mover ranking other movers is telling you about their marketing, not about the companies.

What is genuinely useful is the method. Federal registration is public and checkable in about two minutes, complaint records are public, and the difference between a real carrier and a broker reselling your job is visible before you pay anything.

That is what this page gives you: how to verify a long-distance mover, what to ask, and what the warning signs are. Apply it to us as readily as to anyone else.

Step one: check the registration

Any company moving household goods across state lines must be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and have a USDOT number.

• Ask for the company’s USDOT number and MC number. A company that hesitates has told you something.
• Look it up in the FMCSA’s search for a registered mover tool.
• Check the registration is active and authorized for household goods, not only for freight.
• Check the complaint history shown against the company.
• Confirm the operating name matches the name on the estimate. Multiple trading names over a short period is a pattern worth asking about.

The FMCSA’s Protect Your Move site exists precisely because moving fraud is common enough to need a federal campaign.

Step two: carrier or broker?

This single question explains most bad moving experiences.

A carrier owns the trucks and employs or contracts the crew. A broker sells you a move and then sells the job on to whichever carrier takes it, often at short notice. Brokers are legal and must be registered, but you are buying from a company that will never see your furniture.

Ask directly: are you the carrier that will perform this move, or are you brokering it? Then ask who will actually load the truck, and whether they are employees or subcontractors. A straight answer to both is a good sign regardless of which answer it is.

California Movers USA is a carrier and uses in-house employees rather than subcontracted labor, which is why the same team that wraps your furniture is the team accountable for it.

Step three: understand the estimate

There are three kinds, and mixing them up is where people lose money.

• Non-binding estimate. A guess. The final price is based on actual weight or hours and can be higher.
• Binding estimate. A fixed price for the listed scope. It changes only if you add or change something.
• Binding not-to-exceed. You pay the lower of the estimate or the actual cost.

The FMCSA explains how a binding estimate works and what it must contain. Get the type in writing, on the document, before you pay a deposit.

Also insist on a real inventory. A price given over the phone in four minutes, with no video walkthrough and no inventory, is not an estimate — it is a number designed to win the booking and be revised later.

Step four: valuation, not "insurance"

On an interstate move the carrier must offer you two levels of liability, and they are not insurance.

• Released Value Protection — included at no charge, limited to 60 cents per pound per article. A 30-pound television is covered for $18.
• Full Value Protection — for a charge, the mover may repair, replace, or settle in cash under the applicable terms.

Both are set out in the FMCSA liability and valuation guidance. Ask which one is written into your paperwork, whether there is a deductible, and how items of extraordinary value are declared. Our full explainer is at moving insurance and valuation.

The warning signs

Any one of these is a reason to slow down. Two together is a reason to walk away.

• A large deposit demanded up front, or payment in cash or by wire only.
• No written estimate, or an estimate that does not list an inventory.
• No in-person or video survey for a full household.
• A price far below every other quote. The gap reappears later as a revised weight.
• No USDOT number, or one that does not check out.
• A generic name — "moving company", "national van lines" — with no verifiable address.
• The bill of lading presented only on move day, with pressure to sign.
• Refusal to give the delivery window in writing.
• An answering service rather than the company when you call back.

The worst outcome — a truck holding your belongings hostage against a re-quoted price — is a known enough fraud that the FMCSA publishes guidance on it.

What to ask every company

• What is your USDOT and MC number?
• Are you the carrier, or are you brokering this move?
• Are the movers employees or subcontractors?
• Is this estimate binding, non-binding, or not-to-exceed?
• What exactly is included — packing, materials, disassembly, stairs, long carries, shuttle?
• What would count as a change of scope, and how is it approved?
• What is the delivery window, in writing?
• Which valuation option is in the documents, and what does the alternative cost?
• What deposit is required, when, and how is it paid?
• Who is my point of contact, and who runs the crew on the day?

Ask the same ten questions of three companies and the differences between them stop being about price.

Reading reviews properly

Volume matters less than pattern. Look for reviews that describe the specific things that go wrong on long-distance moves: delivery timing, damage claims, and price changes between the estimate and the invoice.

Read the negative reviews first, and read the company’s replies. How a mover handles a claim tells you more than how they handle a compliment. Check dates, too — a company can change substantially in two years.

Cross-check the complaint record on the FMCSA site against what you read on review platforms. If those two disagree, believe the federal record.

How we do it

Since the point of this page is to be checkable, here is how our own move works against the same criteria.

• We are a carrier, not a broker, and the crews are in-house employees who are background-checked and trained.
• Scope is confirmed by video walkthrough or onsite inspection before a written estimate.
• Long-distance moves are normally quoted as a flat rate against a confirmed inventory; the price changes only if you request or approve a change of scope, and that is documented.
• The standard full-service scope lists the crew, truck, blankets and furniture protection, mattress protection, protection for TVs, mirrors, artwork and electronics, floor and doorway protection, disassembly and reassembly, loading, transport, unloading, and placement — plus three reusable wardrobe boxes with no return requirement.
• Every move has a sales specialist, a dispatcher, and a lead foreman with defined responsibilities.
• A booking deposit reserves the move and is stated in the booking documents. Eligible customers can divide an approved amount into four payments through the installment service; the provider determines eligibility and the amount after registration, generally $600 to $4,000.

See long-distance moving, state-to-state moving, pricing, and payment options.

Questions people ask

How do I check if a moving company is legitimate?

Look up its USDOT number in the FMCSA registered mover search. Confirm the registration is active, authorized for household goods, and matches the name on your estimate.

What is the difference between a carrier and a broker?

A carrier performs the move with its own trucks and crew. A broker sells the job to another company. Both must be registered; only one will be there on the day.

Should I pay a deposit?

A booking deposit is normal and reserves the date. A large up-front payment, or a demand for cash or wire transfer, is not.

Why are quotes so different?

Usually because they are not quoting the same thing. Compare the inventory, the estimate type, the included services, and the valuation option — not the headline number.

What is 60 cents per pound?

Released Value Protection, the free default liability level on interstate moves. It is per pound, not per value, so it rarely covers electronics or anything light and expensive.

When should I book a long-distance move?

Six to eight weeks ahead where possible, and earlier for a summer date. Peak season books out.

Reviewed September 2026. Federal requirements change — verify current rules with the FMCSA.

Tell us what you are moving and we will come back with a starting quote you can compare against anyone else’s.