Which Moving Companies Have the Most Hostage Load Complaints? FMCSA Data.
Hostage loads are when movers load your belongings and refuse to deliver until you pay more than agreed. These companies have the most federal hostage complaints.
A hostage goods complaint means the mover loaded the customer's belongings onto a truck and then refused to deliver them until the customer paid more than the agreed price. This is the most predatory category in the NCCDB. It is functionally extortion, and FMCSA has called it that in enforcement actions.
Top 5 by total hostage goods complaints (2023 to 2026):
1. Handle With Care Moving and Transportation LLC (USDOT 3190967): 66 complaints 2. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 55 complaints 3. Howards Vanlines Inc (USDOT 4391903): 52 complaints 4. Loadrans LLC (USDOT 3729978): 47 complaints 5. Moving Systems (USDOT 4340834): 46 complaints
Handle With Care leads all moving companies in hostage complaints by a wide margin. Notably, the companies at the top of this list are not the same ones leading most other categories. Handle With Care, Howards Vanlines, Loadrans, and Moving Systems appear here but not at the top of the estimate fraud or deceptive practices lists. This suggests a specific business model: quote low, load the truck, then demand more money when the customer has no leverage.
What This Category Means
Estimates/Final Charges: You were quoted one price and charged a different, higher price. The most common complaint category overall.
Why This Matters
Every company on this list is still operating. FMCSA has closed zero broker enforcement cases since September 2024. The complaint data is public. The companies are still advertising. The system that collects these complaints does not act on them.
Check your mover on Trunk before you book. If a company leads a federal complaint category, that is not a coincidence. It is a business model.
Companies Mentioned
Sources: FMCSA NCCDB complaint data (2023-2026). Trunk mover database.