Complaint Acceleration Update: Q3 2026

This update tracks year-over-year changes in FMCSA NCCDB complaint counts for moving companies. The complaint acceleration rate measures the percentage change in complaints from one year to the next. Companies are classified as accelerating (complaint rate increasing), decelerating (complaint rate decreasing), or stable (less than 10% change).

2026 data covers January through September. For trend comparison, the partial-year total is annualized (multiplied by 12/9) and compared against full-year totals for 2024 and 2025. This annualization may overstate or understate the final 2026 number depending on seasonal patterns in the fourth quarter.

Ten companies show sustained complaint acceleration through Q3 2026. These are not companies with a single bad quarter. They are companies where the complaint trajectory has been upward for two or more consecutive years.

Howards Moving tops the list with the steepest acceleration in the dataset: from zero complaints in 2024 to 158 through September 2026. This trajectory suggests a company that either scaled operations rapidly without quality controls or shifted to a business model that generates consumer harm.

Menards Moving continues its upward trajectory at 156 partial-year complaints, on pace to exceed 200 for full-year 2026. Goodview Moving, American Van Lines, and LoadRans Transport round out the top five accelerators.

Not all trends are negative. Several companies that appeared on previous complaint acceleration lists show declining complaint counts in 2026.

Safe Ship Moving Services, the most-complained-about broker in the dataset, has seen its complaint rate decline from 361 in 2024 to 267 in 2025 to 95 through September 2026. The annualized 2026 pace is approximately 127, a significant decline. Whether this reflects improved practices, reduced advertising, lower move volume, or consumers shifting to other brokers is unclear.

Coastal Moving Group has also decelerated, dropping from 78 complaints in 2025 to 58 through September 2026. The annualized pace suggests a modest year-over-year decline.

Several companies that did not appear in previous complaint tracking have emerged with rapid complaint growth. These are companies that either began operations recently or scaled up from low volumes.

The new-entrant pattern typically follows a recognizable sequence: a company registers with FMCSA, begins advertising heavily, generates leads, and complaint counts spike within 12 to 18 months. The gap between initial marketing push and complaint peak reflects the lag between booking a move and filing a federal complaint about it.

Companies in this category are marked as 'New entrant' in the direction column of the table below.

Complaint acceleration is one of the strongest predictive signals available to consumers. A company with an accelerating complaint trajectory is more likely to generate problems in the future than one with a stable or declining trend.

Before booking, look up the company's NCCDB complaint history. Compare the most recent year to the prior year. If complaints are increasing, consider that a warning signal regardless of the company's Google rating, BBB score, or website presentation.