Why these three guides
Interstate moving is one of the few consumer transactions where federal law gives the buyer specific tools to verify the seller before money changes hands — and where most consumers never use them. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires every interstate household-goods mover to register, carry insurance, and publish their operating authority. The lookup tool that surfaces all of that — safer.fmcsa.dot.gov — is free, public, and takes 30 seconds to use.
Most moving scams in 2026 share a similar pattern: a too-low quote over the phone, a small "good faith" deposit, then a revised bill on pickup day with the shipment already loaded. The customer's leverage at that point is near zero, and the carrier knows it. The three guides above are designed to give you that leverage before the truck pulls up, not after.
If you only do three things
- Verify USDOT and MC# on SAFER. Active authority, insurance on file, no recent out-of-service flags. Anyone refusing to share their USDOT is disqualified, full stop.
- Insist on a binding written estimate. Federal regulation (49 CFR 375.401) requires written estimates. Verbal phone quotes have zero legal weight when a dispute arises.
- Get three quotes minimum. One quote is a coin flip. Three quotes reveal the actual market range and disqualify the obvious outliers.