The Worst Moving Company for Every Type of Complaint: FMCSA Data by Category

FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB) is the federal system where consumers file complaints against interstate moving companies. Each complaint is classified into one of 11 categories: Hostage Goods, Estimates/Final Charges, Loss and Damage, Pickup and Delivery, Deceptive Business Practices, Claim Settlement, Shipment Documents, Weighing, Insurance, Operating Authority, and Unauthorized Operations.

These categories are not interchangeable. A company that racks up hostage complaints is running a different operation than one that leads in damage claims. The category breakdown tells you what kind of problem a company creates for its customers.

We queried the complaint records of 26,927 carriers in our database, summing complaints across 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Below are the leaders in each major category.

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 carriers 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.

This is the single largest complaint category in the NCCDB. An Estimates/Final Charges complaint means the final price the customer was charged differed materially from the estimate they were given. This is the defining complaint of the broker-carrier model, where a broker quotes a low price to win the job, then the carrier that actually shows up demands significantly more.

Top 5 by total estimates/final charges complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 200 complaints 2. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 189 complaints 3. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 172 complaints 4. Coastal Moving Services LLC (USDOT 4090919): 167 complaints 5. New Start Relocation (USDOT 3545015): 130 complaints

Amerisafe Vanlines and Safe Ship Moving Services are the two highest-volume complaint generators in the entire NCCDB. Amerisafe leads this category with 200 estimate complaints in under four years. Safe Ship is close behind at 189. These numbers dwarf what even large legitimate van lines accumulate over decades.

Loss and Damage complaints mean the customer's property was broken, scratched, dented, or never delivered at all. This category captures both careless handling and outright theft. While some breakage is expected in any move, the companies at the top of this list are generating damage claims at rates that indicate systemic negligence.

Top 5 by total loss and damage complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 123 complaints 2. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 94 complaints 3. American Van Lines, Inc. (USDOT 614506): 68 complaints 4. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 57 complaints 5. Handle With Care Moving and Transportation LLC (USDOT 3190967): 56 complaints

Safe Ship leads damage complaints with 123, which is remarkable given its relatively short operating history. American Van Lines appears here at number three. This is notable because American Van Lines is a larger, more established carrier. Its presence suggests high volume rather than the kind of intentional misconduct that characterizes the brokers above it.

Pickup and Delivery complaints cover missed pickup windows, late deliveries, items left behind, and failure to deliver at all. In the interstate moving industry, delivery windows of 7 to 21 days are standard. Companies that lead this category are routinely exceeding even those generous timelines.

Top 5 by total pickup and delivery complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. American Van Lines, Inc. (USDOT 614506): 103 complaints 2. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 97 complaints 3. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 96 complaints 4. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 95 complaints 5. Coastal Moving Services LLC (USDOT 4090919): 82 complaints

American Van Lines leads this category with 103 complaints. This is the only major category where a traditional van line, not a broker network, holds the top spot. The top four are separated by just 8 complaints, making this the most competitive category in the NCCDB.

This is FMCSA's catch-all category for outright fraud: false advertising, misrepresentation of services, operating under misleading names, and other conduct the agency classifies as deceptive. A company with a high deceptive practices count is not merely providing poor service. It is, according to the consumers who filed these complaints, lying.

Top 5 by total deceptive business practices complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 174 complaints 2. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 163 complaints 3. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 115 complaints 4. New Start Relocation (USDOT 3545015): 112 complaints 5. Coastal Moving Services LLC (USDOT 4090919): 107 complaints

Safe Ship leads all carriers in deceptive business practices complaints. Combined with its first-place finish in Loss and Damage and second-place finishes in Estimates and Claim Settlement, Safe Ship generates more total complaints across more categories than any other single carrier in the database.

Claim Settlement complaints are filed when a consumer submits a damage or loss claim and the mover either ignores it, lowballs the settlement, or refuses to pay altogether. Federal law requires carriers to acknowledge claims within 30 days and resolve them within 120 days. Companies leading this category are violating those timelines or offering settlements far below documented losses.

Top 5 by total claim settlement complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 107 complaints 2. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 76 complaints 3. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 64 complaints 4. New Start Relocation (USDOT 3545015): 55 complaints 5. Handle With Care Moving and Transportation LLC (USDOT 3190967): 53 complaints

Safe Ship leads by 31 complaints over second-place Amerisafe. When a company leads both Loss and Damage and Claim Settlement, it means they are breaking customers' belongings and then refusing to compensate them. That combination represents a complete failure of the consumer protection framework.

Shipment Documents complaints mean the carrier failed to provide required paperwork: the Bill of Lading, inventory sheets, Order for Service, or weight tickets. Missing documents are not an administrative oversight at this scale. They are a deliberate strategy to prevent consumers from filing successful claims or regulatory complaints.

Top 5 by total shipment document complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 122 complaints 2. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 110 complaints 3. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 80 complaints 4. New Start Relocation (USDOT 3545015): 68 complaints 5. Master Moving Inc (USDOT 3674099): 67 complaints

Safe Ship and Amerisafe lead again. The correlation between high document complaints and high claim settlement complaints is not coincidental. Without a Bill of Lading, a consumer cannot prove what was loaded. Without an inventory sheet, they cannot prove what was damaged. Without weight tickets, they cannot dispute overcharges. Withholding documents protects the carrier from accountability at every subsequent stage.

Weighing complaints involve disputes over shipment weight, which directly determines the price on weight-based moves. This includes failure to provide weight tickets, refusal to allow reweighing, and suspected scale manipulation.

Top 5 by total weighing complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Amerisafe Vanlines (USDOT 3341650): 60 complaints 2. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 54 complaints 3. Colonial Van Lines Inc. (USDOT 1434373): 42 complaints 4. Coastal Moving Services LLC (USDOT 4090919): 41 complaints 5. American Van Lines, Inc. (USDOT 614506): 40 complaints

Amerisafe leads weighing complaints. Colonial Van Lines, which does not appear in the top five of any other category, ranks third here. This is a category where established van lines appear alongside brokers, suggesting that weight disputes are an industry-wide problem rather than one confined to the broker model.

Operating Authority complaints allege that a company is operating without proper FMCSA registration, using revoked authority, or operating under someone else's authority. This category is a marker for the most dangerous operators in the industry.

Top 5 by total operating authority complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Menards Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 4072455): 25 complaints 2. Blue Diamond Movers Inc (USDOT 3828829): 21 complaints 3. Loadrans LLC (USDOT 3729978): 19 complaints 4. North American Moving Experts LLC (USDOT 3929365): 16 complaints 5. Handle With Care Moving and Transportation LLC (USDOT 3190967): 15 complaints

Menards leads this category. Blue Diamond Movers and North American Moving Experts appear here but not in other top-five lists, suggesting these carriers may be operating at the margins of legality. Loadrans and Handle With Care also appear in the hostage goods top five, a combination that signals high-risk operators.

Insurance complaints relate to carriers misrepresenting their insurance coverage, failing to offer required valuation options, or operating without adequate cargo insurance.

Top 5 by total insurance complaints (2023 to 2026):

1. Safe Ship Moving Services (USDOT 3475743): 9 complaints 2. North American Moving Experts LLC (USDOT 3929365): 8 complaints 3. Starline Vanlines (USDOT 3831389): 7 complaints 4. United America Interstate Group (USDOT 4013125): 7 complaints 5. All Coast Moving Group LLC (USDOT 3369008): 7 complaints

Insurance complaints are low-volume across the entire database. The numbers here are small enough that these rankings could shift with just a few additional filings. That said, Safe Ship's appearance at the top of yet another category reinforces its position as the most complained-about carrier across every dimension.

Hostage Goods: The mover loaded your things and will not give them back until you pay more than agreed. This is the closest thing to a crime in the NCCDB.

Estimates/Final Charges: You were quoted one price and charged a different, higher price. The most common complaint category overall.

Loss and Damage: Your belongings arrived broken, scratched, or did not arrive at all.

Pickup and Delivery: The mover was late picking up, late delivering, or never showed.

Deceptive Business Practices: The company lied about who it is, what it does, or what you would get.

Claim Settlement: You filed a claim for damaged or lost items and the mover ignored it, denied it, or offered far less than the loss.

Shipment Documents: The mover did not give you the legally required paperwork (Bill of Lading, inventory, weight tickets).

Weighing: The mover did not provide weight tickets, refused a reweigh, or the weight seemed fraudulently inflated.

Operating Authority: The company is operating without proper federal licensing or registration.

Insurance: The mover misrepresented its insurance coverage or failed to offer required valuation options.

Unauthorized Operations: The company is performing services it is not authorized to perform. This category had zero complaints for any carrier in our dataset.

The complaint categories are not just labels. They reveal how different companies extract money from consumers.

Safe Ship Moving Services and Amerisafe Vanlines dominate the high-volume categories: estimates, deceptive practices, shipment documents, claim settlement. Their complaint profiles are consistent with the broker-carrier model, where a sales team quotes aggressively low prices, a subcontracted carrier shows up and demands more, and the back office stonewalls claims. These are assembly-line operations optimized for throughput.

Handle With Care Moving and Transportation and Howards Vanlines show a different pattern. They lead in hostage goods but rank lower in estimate complaints. This suggests they may not be inflating prices at the quoting stage. Instead, they load the truck and create leverage after the fact. The hostage model requires physical possession of the goods, which means these are carriers, not brokers.

Menards Moving and Storage is the only company that appears in the top five of nearly every category. It ranks first in operating authority complaints, second in hostage goods, and third in estimates, deceptive practices, claim settlement, and shipment documents. This breadth suggests a company generating complaints across every phase of the moving process.

American Van Lines, a traditional van line with decades of operating history, leads only one category: pickup and delivery. Its complaint profile looks different from the brokers. Fewer deceptive practice complaints, fewer document complaints, but high damage and delivery complaints. This is a volume carrier with service quality issues, not a fraud operation.

The data makes one thing clear: the complaint category tells you what kind of company you are dealing with. A company that leads in hostage goods is a different threat than one that leads in estimate fraud. Consumers checking FMCSA records should look not just at total complaint counts but at which categories those complaints fall into.