Which Moving Companies Are Getting Worse? Year-Over-Year Complaint Acceleration

A company with a 2-star Google rating might be stable. It might have had a bad year and recovered. But a company whose complaint count doubles or triples year over year is on a trajectory. It is actively getting worse, taking on more customers than it can serve, cutting more corners, or expanding into markets where it has no operational capacity.

Trunk tracks complaint trajectories using NCCDB (National Consumer Complaint Database) data filed with FMCSA. By comparing complaint counts across 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 (year to date), we can identify companies whose complaint growth is accelerating, not just companies with high complaint totals.

The distinction matters. A company with 50 complaints spread evenly over four years is a known risk. A company that went from 8 complaints to 158 in a single year is an escalating threat.

Howards Vanlines Inc (USDOT 4391903, DBA Howard's Van Line) represents the most extreme complaint acceleration in Trunk's database. This company reported just 8 NCCDB complaints in 2025. In 2026, that number exploded to 158, a nearly 20x increase.

Howards Vanlines operates with a single truck and "Authorized" FMCSA status. One truck generating 158 federal complaints in a partial year is mathematically difficult to explain through legitimate carrier operations. A single truck can complete roughly 2 to 4 long-distance moves per month, or 24 to 48 per year. Generating 158 complaints from that volume would mean virtually every customer filed a federal complaint.

The more likely explanation is that Howards Vanlines is functioning as a broker or dispatching loads to subcontractors while maintaining a single-truck carrier registration. The complaint volume suggests a high-volume booking operation, not a single-truck moving company.

Value Added Moving (USDOT 3488475) has one of the steepest multi-year complaint trajectories in the database. Their NCCDB complaint history: 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, 30 in 2025, 100 in 2026. That is a 33x increase from 2023 to 2026.

This company operates under multiple names. Its FMCSA legal name is Value Added Moving. Its DBA is Moving Storage And Logistics Services, Inc. Research documents compiled by a retired transportation attorney have connected consumer reports where the company name on the estimate, the legal entity on the bill of lading, the name on the Zelle payment request, and the carrier that arrived were all different. In one documented case, the names Value Added Moving, Moving Storage and Logistics, mlv transportation, and Tip Top Moving all appeared in a single transaction.

Value Added Moving is flagged in Trunk's database as part of the FL Broker-Carrier Pipeline fraud network. Their complaint acceleration correlates with expansion of the broker-to-carrier dispatch model that obscures accountability.

LoadRans LLC (USDOT 3729978) shows a sustained complaint acceleration: 7 in 2023, 39 in 2024, 47 in 2025, 73 in 2026. Total: 166 complaints over less than four years, with the 2026 figure representing only a partial year.

LoadRans operates 12 trucks and is part of both the Safe Ship Network and FL Broker-Carrier Pipeline fraud networks identified in Trunk's database. Consumer reports associated with LoadRans frequently describe hostage load scenarios, where belongings are loaded onto a truck and then the company demands a significantly higher payment than the original estimate before delivering.

The complaint trajectory for LoadRans is notable because it is not a spike followed by a decline (which might indicate a temporary operational problem). It is a steady, sustained increase, suggesting a business model that consistently generates consumer harm at a growing scale.

Beyond the individual case studies, Trunk's database reveals a pattern of complaint acceleration across multiple flagged carriers.

Rapid Relocation (USDOT 3570396) went from 3 complaints in 2023 to 40 in 2026, a 13x increase, operating with zero trucks on file. Rapid Relocation is listed as an alternate name for Safe Ship Moving Services.

Virginia Van Lines (USDOT 3815615) went from 1 complaint in 2023 to 21 in 2026, a 21x increase, operating with a single truck.

X Van Lines (USDOT 3391195) went from 10 complaints in 2024 to 34 in 2026, a 3.4x increase in two years, operating with 2 trucks.

American Van Lines Inc. (USDOT 614506) went from 24 complaints in 2023 to 91 in 2026, a 3.8x increase, despite operating 81 trucks.

We-Haul Moving Services LLC (USDOT 3918815) went from 1 complaint in 2023 to 17 in 2026, with a spike to 31 in 2025, operating 3 trucks.

The common pattern: small fleet sizes generating complaint volumes that are physically impossible for legitimate single or double-truck carrier operations.

Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743) sits at the center of many accelerating complaint trajectories. With 51 complaints in 2023, 100 in 2024, 90 in 2025, and 80 in 2026 (321 total), Safe Ship is one of the most complained-about movers in the NCCDB.

Safe Ship operates zero trucks. It is a broker that dispatches moves to carriers including LoadRans, Coastal Moving Services, and others in the network. Its alternate names include Vellar Holdings LLC and Rapid Relocation. When you add the complaints against Safe Ship's dispatched carriers, the total consumer harm from this network is substantially larger than any single entity's count suggests.

Coastal Moving Services LLC (USDOT 4090919), another carrier in the same network, accumulated 55 complaints in 2024, 95 in 2025, and 79 in 2026, also operating with zero trucks on file. The pattern of zero-truck carriers generating dozens of complaints per year points to a systemic dispatch model where accountability is deliberately diffused across multiple entities.

Complaint acceleration is a leading indicator, not a lagging one. A company whose complaints are doubling year over year is not improving. It is scaling a harmful business model.

Before hiring a mover, search their USDOT number on Trunk or on FMCSA's NCCDB portal. Look at the trajectory, not just the total. A company with 5 complaints total but all 5 filed in the last 3 months is more concerning than a company with 20 complaints spread over 5 years.

Watch for fleet size mismatches. If a company reports 1 truck but has 50+ complaints in a year, it is almost certainly brokering loads to other carriers. Ask directly: will your company's truck and your company's crew perform my move, or will it be dispatched to another carrier?

Check for network connections. If a company is associated with known fraud networks, its individual complaint count understates the risk. The carrier that actually shows up at your door may have its own extensive complaint history under a different name and USDOT number.