The moving industry in the United States was deregulated with the Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. This act allowed interstate movers to issue binding or fixed estimates for the first time. Doing so opened the door to hundreds of new moving companies to enter the industry. This led to an increase in competition and soon movers were no longer competing on services but on price.
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- The moving industry in the United States was deregulated with the Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. This act allowed interstate movers to issue binding or fixed estimates for the first time. Doing so opened the door to hundreds of new moving companies to enter the industry. This led to an increase in competition and soon movers were no longer competing on services but on price. As competition drove prices lower and decreased what were already slim profit margins, "rogue" movers began hijacking personal property as part of a new scam. There are many versions to the moving scam but the basic scam takes place as follows. A prospective client contacts a moving company and requests a cost estimate. In today's market this often happens online via moving directories or brokers, or phone calls. These moving brokers are salesmen prone to quoting sometimes low, but usually reasonable prices with no room for the movers to provide a quality service. Once the rogue "moving company" has secured a move by providing a non-binding or binding estimate, they arrive to pack and deliver the goods. Often the scam movers use deceptive pricing or weight measurements including prices based on the gross weight of the moving vehicle. After packing and loading, the client is informed that their goods went over the expected weight estimate and the additional weight will be charged at a substantially higher rate (often double the original price per pound). Rogue movers will not inform a client of these discrepancies until the client's goods have been weighed at a certifiable scale, far from the client's original pickup location. The new price may be four or five times higher than the original estimate. The scam movers know that most people will be forced to pay these exorbitant rates based on their need for the personal effects. Other things to watch out for on the estimates are: Non-reusable packing materials: Some scam movers will have this on their estimate and will result in hundreds of dollars for packing tape used to seal boxes and wrap furniture with. Estimates not based on an in home visit should be discarded or highly suspect. (FMCSA) Never pay a deposit up front. Most reputable movers will only require payment upon delivery. Never sign blank documents. Never agree to a different price after the first item has been loaded on the truck. (FMCSA) Make sure the truck has the moving companies name and DOT number on it. Not a rental truck. The interstate moving industry in America is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Only a small staff (fewer than 20 people) is available to patrol hundreds of moving companies, making enforcement difficult. Before moving, always check with the DOT/FMCSA to verify that your mover is licensed and insured. When using a broker as most internet moving websites are, make sure that the mover itself is licensed and insured. They could broker out your load to an unlicensed carrier. This information is made available on their website. A moving resource provided by the FMCSA, called 'Your Rights And Responsibilities When You Move' is made available to citizens free of charge via request and goes into great depth of the topic and moving in general.
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- The moving industry in the United States was deregulated with the Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. This act allowed interstate movers to issue binding or fixed estimates for the first time. Doing so opened the door to hundreds of new moving companies to enter the industry. This led to an increase in competition and soon movers were no longer competing on services but on price.
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