The Complaint Acceleration Index: Which Moving Companies Are Getting Worse Fastest

A company with 50 complaints over five years is different from a company with 50 complaints in five months. The total number matters. The rate of acceleration matters more.

Trunk's Complaint Acceleration Index tracks the companies whose NCCDB complaint trajectories are steepening. These are the companies getting worse, not better. Updated quarterly.

1. Howards Vanlines Inc (DOT 4391903, Garfield NJ) 166 complaints. Registered September 2025. One truck. Rate: ~20.75 complaints per month. Acceleration: From zero to the highest per-truck complaint rate in the FMCSA database in 8 months. No company in Trunk's database has accumulated complaints this fast relative to its fleet size.

2. Menards Moving and Storage (DOT 4072455, Greenacres FL) 290 complaints total. 156 in the first half of 2026 alone. Rate: ~26 complaints per month in 2026 (up from ~11 per month in 2025). Acceleration: Complaint rate more than doubled year-over-year. The steepest absolute acceleration of any company Trunk tracks.

3. Mayzlin Relocation (DOT 3182355, Charlotte NC) 81 complaints total. 35 through mid-August 2026. Rate: 2026 pace is 283% of 2024 rate (23 complaints in all of 2024). Acceleration: Hostage load complaints trending sharply: 1 (2023), 4 (2024), 5 (2025), 8 (partial 2026).

4. Safe Ship Moving Services (DOT 3475743, Boca Raton FL) 404 complaints total. The highest absolute count in the database. Rate: Steady at ~15-20 per month over the past two years. Acceleration: Flat. Safe Ship's complaint rate has plateaued, possibly because the company has removed its Google profile and appears to be winding down operations.

The Complaint Acceleration Index measures three things:

Monthly complaint rate: Total NCCDB complaints divided by months of operation.

Year-over-year rate change: Is the monthly rate increasing, decreasing, or flat compared to the prior period?

Per-truck normalization: A company with 100 complaints and 50 trucks is different from a company with 100 complaints and 1 truck. Per-truck complaint rate reveals operational quality independent of company size.

The index does not measure total complaint count (which favors older, larger companies) or complaint resolution (which FMCSA does not track publicly). It measures trajectory: is this company generating complaints faster or slower than before?

Companies with accelerating complaints are not improving. They are scaling a broken model. More advertising generates more bookings, which generates more complaints, which triggers no enforcement because FMCSA has closed zero broker enforcement cases since September 2024.

The companies at the top of this index are the ones most likely to generate consumer harm in the coming months. A consumer hiring Menards today faces a company whose complaint rate has more than doubled in one year. A consumer hiring Howards today faces a company averaging over 20 complaints per month from a single registered truck.

The index also reveals when companies are declining. Safe Ship's flat trajectory, combined with its digital erasure (Google profile removed, Yelp altered), suggests a company in transition rather than growth. When a company's complaint rate drops while its advertising spend drops, it may mean the operation is moving to a different entity.

JCS Moving and Storage (DOT 4526003, Villa Rica GA): Registered April 2026 as a reincarnation of Handle With Care Moving. Too new for meaningful acceleration data, but the operator's history (three prior revocations under Handle With Care) predicts the trajectory.

Global Trans Van Lines (DOT 4485687): Chameleon of Midland Van Lines per industry source. Under DOT task force investigation. Complaint data emerging.

BLVD Moving and Storage (DOT 2892909, Chatsworth CA): 33 trucks, 57 complaints. Currently a moderate-complaint carrier. If Safe Ship's operation migrates to BLVD, the complaint trajectory will change sharply. Trunk is monitoring.

This index will be updated quarterly. The next update is scheduled for November 2026.