10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Mover (And What the Answers Should Be)

Most consumers hire movers the way they order from a menu: they look at the price, maybe skim a few reviews, and make a choice. Then, on moving day, they find out who they actually hired.

Trunk has profiled 1,420 moving companies. Nearly half, 47%, are flagged to avoid. The questions below are designed to surface the information that distinguishes the good half from the bad half, before anyone shows up at your door.

Why it matters: Trunk's database includes 102 companies operating as brokers, meaning they own no trucks and employ no movers. Of those 102 brokers, 85 (83%) are flagged to avoid. Brokers take your deposit, dispatch a carrier you never chose, and are not party to the bill of lading. When something goes wrong, each party points at the other.

What a good answer sounds like: "Yes, we own our fleet. Our trucks are USDOT-registered under our authority." They can tell you the number of trucks they operate.

What a red flag sounds like: "We work with a network of trusted partners." "We coordinate with professional moving teams in your area." "We handle the logistics and our carriers handle the physical move." These are descriptions of a broker, not a carrier. Ask again, directly: "Will YOUR trucks and YOUR employees be moving my belongings?"

Why it matters: Every interstate mover is required by law to have an active USDOT number issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A company that cannot produce its USDOT number is not licensed to move your belongings across state lines. Full stop.

Once you have the number, verify it yourself at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Confirm the authority is active, the entity type matches what the company told you (carrier vs broker), and the physical address matches where you think you are doing business.

What a good answer sounds like: The mover provides the number immediately, unprompted, and it is printed on their estimate and letterhead. Verification takes 30 seconds and confirms everything they told you.

What a red flag sounds like: Hesitation. "I'll have to look that up." "We operate under our parent company's number." "We're local-only so we don't need one." (False: local movers doing business across state lines do need one, and many intrastate movers are required to register as well.)

Why it matters: Non-binding estimates are legal but invite abuse. A company can quote $1,200, show up with a crew, load your belongings, and deliver an invoice for $1,800. Under the 110% rule (49 CFR 375.601), they can charge up to 110% of the non-binding estimate at delivery, with the overage due within 30 days. But some companies use non-binding estimates specifically to lowball during the sales process and collect more at delivery.

A binding estimate, after an actual survey of your inventory, eliminates this risk. The price on the estimate is the price you pay.

What a good answer sounds like: "Yes. We will do a virtual or in-home survey, and we will provide a written binding estimate within 24 hours. That is the number you will pay."

What a red flag sounds like: Refusal to do a survey. "We can estimate based on the number of rooms." "Our price is non-binding but we never go over." Any version of "we'll finalize the price when we see everything on moving day" should end the conversation.

Why it matters: Among movers with 10 or more years in operation, Trunk's data shows an 18% flag rate. Among companies under 2 years old, the flag rate is 40%, more than double the rate for established companies, and more than twice as high as for movers with 3 to 9 years of operation (16%). The moving industry has low startup costs and minimal barriers to entry. A company can obtain FMCSA authority in weeks and begin operating before it has any track record.

Longevity is not a guarantee of quality, but it is a meaningful filter. A company that has been operating for 12 years and maintains its authority has navigated real competitive pressure and real regulatory scrutiny over time.

What a good answer sounds like: A specific year of founding, a history of operations in the area, and ideally references that predate the last 12 months.

What a red flag sounds like: Vague answers. "We've been around for a while." A company name that appears new but claims years of experience under a previous name. Check FMCSA's record of when the company's authority was granted. That date does not lie.

Why it matters: Credit card payment is the most important consumer protection available in a moving transaction. It gives you the right to dispute a charge if the mover does not perform as agreed, inflates the price, or damages your belongings without resolution. Zelle, Venmo, wire transfers, and cash provide none of these protections. You cannot dispute a Zelle payment. You cannot charge back a wire transfer.

Among the fraudulent operators Trunk has tracked, cash or app-only payment demands are nearly universal. The requirement exists precisely because these companies want to prevent disputes.

What a good answer sounds like: "Yes, we accept all major credit cards. We require a deposit of [10-25%] by card and the balance is due at delivery, also by card."

What a red flag sounds like: "We only accept cash or Zelle." "There is a surcharge for credit cards over 5%." "Our payment processor is down, so we need a wire transfer for the deposit." Walk away.

Why it matters: Double brokering occurs when a broker dispatches a carrier, and that carrier further subcontracts the delivery leg to a third company. The consumer booked with company A, company B picks up the shipment, and company C delivers it. No one has seen the full chain. No one is accountable for the full chain.

This is not illegal in all forms, but it is a known pattern in freight fraud and household goods fraud. Trunk's investigation into complaint patterns shows double-brokered moves generate some of the most extreme consumer harm: belongings held longer than expected, price demands at delivery, and carriers who cannot be located.

What a good answer sounds like: "Yes. The crew that picks up your belongings will deliver them. We do not subcontract or broker jobs." For long-distance moves, confirm: "Will you use your own drivers from pickup to delivery, or will the load transfer at a terminal?"

What a red flag sounds like: Vague answers about "our network." Inability to confirm who will perform the delivery leg. Any version of "we coordinate the logistics and our partners handle the actual move."

Why it matters: The FMCSA tracks safety violations for every registered carrier. The out-of-service rate measures the percentage of inspections that result in the vehicle or driver being placed out of service due to safety violations. A high out-of-service rate means the company's trucks or drivers are routinely failing safety checks.

This matters for two reasons. First, a company with poorly maintained trucks is a company with poor operational standards generally. Second, a truck placed out of service mid-move is a truck that is not delivering your belongings on schedule.

The national average out-of-service rate for vehicles is approximately 20%. For drivers, it is approximately 5%. A carrier significantly above these averages is operating below industry safety standards.

What a good answer sounds like: The mover knows what the out-of-service rate is, can give you a number, and it is at or below national averages. Even better: they volunteer that they conduct regular maintenance and DOT inspections.

What a red flag sounds like: They do not know what an out-of-service rate is. They become defensive. You can verify their safety record yourself at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov using their USDOT number.

Why it matters: References are useful only when they are recent and verifiable. A company can cherry-pick references from its best moves two years ago while accumulating complaints in the current period. Trunk's database tracks NCCDB complaints by filing period. Some companies that appear reputable by their aggregate review score have a recent spike in complaints that reviews from satisfied customers earlier in the company's history obscure.

Recent references, meaning customers who moved in the last 30 to 60 days, give you a picture of the company's current operational state, not its historical best.

What a good answer sounds like: The mover can provide two or three customer names and phone numbers from the past 30 days without hesitation. Ideally, references are from moves of similar size and distance to yours.

What a red flag sounds like: "Our reviews are all on Google." References from a year or more ago. Reluctance or delay in providing contact information. Any response that substitutes aggregate review scores for actual human references.

Why it matters: A mover that handles claims well knows the process and explains it confidently. A mover that handles claims badly either does not know the process or does not expect to follow it. The answer to this question tells you which kind of mover you are dealing with.

Under federal law, every interstate carrier must maintain a formal claims process. The consumer has nine months to file a written claim. The mover has 30 days to acknowledge it and 120 days to resolve it (49 CFR 370.9). Coverage depends on whether the consumer selected Released Value Protection (the free default at $0.60 per pound per article) or Full Value Protection.

What a good answer sounds like: The mover explains both coverage options, tells you which applies to your move, describes the claims process including timeline, and offers to email you the claims procedure before you sign. They can name the claims department contact.

What a red flag sounds like: "That never happens with us." Vague assurances with no specifics. "We'll work it out if something breaks." A company that cannot explain its own claims process is a company that does not expect to honor claims.

Why it matters: Every licensed interstate carrier is required by federal regulation to maintain a tariff: a published schedule of rates, rules, and charges that governs its services (49 CFR 375.213). The tariff is the legal document underlying your move. It defines how charges are calculated, what accessorials cost, and what the mover's obligations are. Consumers are entitled to see it before they sign.

In practice, almost no consumer ever asks for it. Companies that operate with hidden or informal pricing sometimes produce tariffs that bear no resemblance to the quote they provided. Asking for the tariff is a low-cost test of whether the company operates transparently.

What a good answer sounds like: "Yes, I can send you our tariff. Our rates are published at [link or document]." The tariff is consistent with the written estimate they provided.

What a red flag sounds like: "We don't have one of those." "That's an internal document." "I don't know what that is." A licensed interstate carrier that cannot produce its tariff is either not properly licensed or is deliberately obscuring how it prices its services. Either way, that is a company you do not want handling your move.

Asking all ten of these questions takes about fifteen minutes. It will tell you more about the company you are considering than any combination of Google stars, Yelp reviews, or sales pitches. The companies that cannot answer them clearly are telling you something important.