Moving Companies That Lost Their FMCSA License in 2026

Every moving company that operates across state lines must hold active FMCSA authority. FMCSA can revoke that authority for repeated safety violations, failure to maintain insurance, fraud, or noncompliance with federal regulations. Among the 1,420 movers profiled in Trunk's database, one has a confirmed revocation date, and 113 carry non-Active authority statuses without a recorded revocation date.

Handle With Care Moving and Transportation LLC (DOT 3190967, Tucker, Georgia) had its FMCSA authority revoked on March 30, 2026. The company is flagged to avoid in Trunk's database.

At the time of revocation, Handle With Care had accumulated 147 complaints across four years: 33 in 2023, 31 in 2024, 49 in 2025, and 34 in the first quarter of 2026. The 2026 complaint rate, annualized, would have represented a substantial acceleration from prior years.

The March 2026 revocation was not the company's first. FMCSA records show the carrier's authority was revoked in 2021, reinstated, revoked again in 2022, reinstated again, and then revoked a final time on March 30, 2026. Three revocations over five years, with reinstatement following each of the first two, demonstrates the gap between formal enforcement and operational consequences: a carrier can lose and regain federal authority repeatedly before a permanent revocation takes effect.

Handle With Care operated a single box truck. Its documented conduct included price escalations beyond binding estimates, threats to auction household goods, and delivery of items with significant property damage. In one documented 2026 case, a consumer's binding estimate of $4,895 became a delivery-day demand of $5,024, with the carrier threatening to auction belongings after 30 days in storage. The carrier offered $92 in compensation for $38,942 in documented property loss, contingent on the consumer signing a nondisclosure agreement.

Beyond the one confirmed revocation, 113 profiled movers carry authority statuses other than Active without a recorded revocation date in FMCSA's system. The breakdown by status:

Authorized (various capitalizations): 78 movers. This is distinct from Active and may indicate a carrier that has obtained authority but is not currently operating, or whose status reflects a data lag between FMCSA systems.

Not Authorized: 24 movers. This status indicates the carrier does not currently hold valid operating authority for the relevant service type.

Inactive: 3 movers. The carrier has ceased operations or allowed its registration to lapse.

Dissolved: 1 mover. The legal entity has been dissolved at the state level.

Revoked (without date): 1 mover.

Of the non-active carriers, 23 are flagged to avoid in Trunk's database based on complaint patterns, fraud indicators, or documented consumer harm.

The presence of movers with 'Authorized' status distinct from 'Active' reflects a known inconsistency in how FMCSA's database records status transitions. Consumers should verify authority directly through FMCSA's SAFER system rather than relying on any third-party cache of status data, including Trunk's.

A carrier with revoked authority cannot legally transport household goods across state lines. Interstate moving without valid FMCSA authority is a federal violation.

In practice, some carriers continue operating after revocation. They may not inform customers of the change in status, continue accepting bookings, and complete moves while technically operating illegally. A consumer who hires a revoked carrier has no FMCSA-regulated consumer protections: the carrier is not required to follow federal tariff rules, provide binding estimates, or comply with hostage-load prohibitions.

Insurance complicates this further. A carrier's commercial auto and cargo policies are typically tied to its DOT registration. A revoked carrier may have lapsed or voided insurance without the policyholder being notified immediately. A consumer whose goods are damaged or lost during a move by a revoked carrier may find that no insurance covers the loss.

FMCSA publishes authority status in real time at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Checking status immediately before signing a contract, not weeks earlier when you received a quote, is the relevant verification window.

Revocation ends the operating history of one legal entity. It does not prevent the owner from registering a new company and obtaining new FMCSA authority.

The FMCSA registration process requires applicants to disclose relationships with other FMCSA-regulated entities, including common ownership and management. The agency does not systematically verify these disclosures against its own database. An owner whose carrier was revoked can register a new entity, answer 'no' to the disclosure question, and receive new operating authority. The complaint history, enforcement actions, and revocation record of the predecessor company do not transfer to the new DOT number.

This pattern, known as chameleon carrier reincarnation, is documented in FMCSA's own enforcement data. Handle With Care Moving is one example: JCS Moving and Storage, operating with the same employees and the same broker relationships, emerged after one of Handle With Care's prior revocations. The two entities share no DOT number and no visible connection in federal databases.

FMCSA's Motus registration platform, launched in late 2025, adds biometric identity verification for new carrier registrations. This reduces the ability of convicted operators to register under a borrowed identity but does not prevent the same operator from registering under their own name with a new entity.

The SAFE Act, introduced in the Senate in July 2026, proposes automated cross-referencing of new applicants against existing registrants with adverse histories. As of August 2026, it has not passed.

FMCSA's SAFER database (safer.fmcsa.dot.gov) shows current authority status for every registered carrier and broker. Enter the company's DOT number or MC number. The result shows whether authority is Active, and whether the company holds the correct authority type for your move (household goods, property, broker).

For interstate moves, the carrier must hold active household goods authority. A broker must hold active broker authority and must disclose, in writing, the identity of the carrier that will physically transport your goods before the move begins.

Verify status on the day you sign the contract or pay a deposit, not at the time of the initial quote. Authority status can change between quote and move date. A move quoted under active authority can proceed under revoked authority if status changes and you do not recheck.

If FMCSA's database shows the company as anything other than Active, do not proceed until you have a clear explanation. 'We're in the process of renewing' is not a valid status. Active means Active.