Tick the five things a mover should have given you, then look the number up yourself in FMCSA SAFER. We do not run the search and never say a company is licensed.
You look it upat safer.fmcsa.dot.govInterstate household-goods movers have a USDOT number. Matching the name and address is the check. In-state moves are regulated by your state, not FMCSA.
The short answer
Search the mover’s USDOT number at FMCSA SAFER and confirm the legal name and address match your estimate. A number alone proves nothing. Also make sure you had a survey and a written estimate. No survey plus a large cash deposit is the pattern FMCSA’s Protect Your Move program warns about: stop there.
Five checks, then open SAFER
Tick what you have. We do not look the number up for you. Nothing is emailed.
You look it up at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Ticking a box is not a license check. HyreMover does not rank movers.
A USDOT number is an identifier, not a license
The identifier-not-a-license distinction is the whole point of the page, and almost every article on the subject gets it backwards.
What the number actually is. Whether the operating authority filed behind the number is actually in force is a separate record, and the carrier record reader is the page that reads it.
A USDOT number is the key the federal system files a company under.
It exists so that inspection reports, crash records, insurance filings and operating authority can all be attached to one entity rather than to a trading name that changes every eighteen months.
It answers the question "who is this, in federal records?" It does not answer "are they any good", "are they insured for my sofa", or "will my belongings arrive".
Why that distinction is worth a page. The scam that costs people the most is not a company with no number.
It is a company with a number that belongs to somebody else, or a broker quoting under its own registration while a carrier nobody named does the loading.
Both survive the check most people perform, which is to see a number printed somewhere and stop.
The check that works is a match: the legal name and physical address in the federal record against the legal name and physical address on the estimate you were handed.
Where to look. FMCSA’s own booklet — codified as Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375 — puts it plainly: "You should know if the company you are dealing with is a household goods motor carrier (mover) or household goods broker, and if they are registered with FMCSA. Go to www.protectyourmove.gov for this information."
HyreMover analysis. The reason a number alone reassures people is that it looks like a license from a trade they already know. A plumber’s license number is a credential; someone examined that plumber.
A USDOT number is closer to a company registration number. The examination, in household goods, is the paperwork — and the paperwork is where the federal rules put nearly all of the consumer protection.
What we will never say. HyreMover does not verify movers, does not rank them, publishes no mover profiles, and takes no referral fee. Nothing on this page is a statement that a company is licensed, safe or approved.
The check is yours to run; what we can do is tell you exactly which six documents the law already entitles you to, and what the absence of each one means.
Six documents a mover must give you before the bill of lading
49 CFR 375.213 lists them. The third column is the one to read: every absence tells you something specific, and none of it is good.
Document
What the rule says it must be
What its absence means
A written estimate
A concise, easy-to-read, accurate estimate of your charges.
Without it there is no baseline for the 110 percent ceiling, and nothing to compare a second bid against.
Tariff notice
Notice of the applicable tariff sections and your right of access to them.
The tariff is where accessorial charges are actually defined. A mover unwilling to point at it is quoting from nowhere.
Arbitration summary
A concise, easy-to-read, accurate summary of your arbitration program.
Arbitration is the only cheap forum for a loss-and-damage dispute. Its absence means you would be starting in court.
Complaint-handling summary
A concise, easy-to-read, accurate summary of your customer complaint and inquiry handling procedures.
Must include a telephone number and clarify who pays for the call. Its absence tells you what happens when something goes wrong.
“Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move”
Required by federal law, as a copy or a hyperlink with a signed receipt.
The booklet is codified as Appendix A to Part 375, so it is not marketing — it is the regulation in plain English.
“Ready to Move? — Tips for a Successful Interstate Move”
The second required DOT publication.
Both are required. Receiving neither is the cheapest available signal that this mover does not run a compliant paper process.
Where the mover publishes the documents itself, 49 CFR 375.213 sets a minimum 10-point font and at least 36 square inches, with that sentence on the front cover.
A mover that gives hyperlinks instead of copies must obtain a signed receipt confirming you had internet access, and keep it for one year.
Source: 49 CFR 375.213, read at the Cornell LII mirror of the eCFR on September 5, 2026.
Why the paperwork is a better test than the number
Because it is expensive to fake and cheap to check. Printing a USDOT number on a website costs nothing and can be done with someone else’s number.
Producing a written estimate that states its own type, a tariff notice, an arbitration summary and a complaint-handling summary requires a company that actually runs a compliant back office.
You can ask for all six in a single email and read the answer in a minute.
Because the booklet is the regulation. "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move" is not a brochure a mover wrote.
It is codified verbatim as Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375 — the same document, with the force of the rule behind it.
A mover who has never heard of it has not read the rules it operates under.
Because the arbitration summary is the one nobody asks for. It is also the one that matters when something breaks. All movers are required to participate in an arbitration program.
And for smaller claims the booklet is specific: "If you request arbitration for a claim for $10,000 or less, the mover must agree to arbitration and the arbitrator’s decision is binding on the parties."
A dispute over $10,000 or less has a forum that does not require a lawyer — but only if you know the program exists, which is what the summary is for.
The recommendation. Ask for the six in writing before you discuss price. A company that sends them promptly has already told you more about itself than any review site can. A company that sends a price instead has answered a different question.
Carrier, broker or agent: which did you book?
The company that quotes is often not the company that arrives. That is legal. Not knowing which is which is the problem.
Motor carrier
The company that actually transports the goods — trucks, drivers, operating authority, cargo liability. If your shipment is damaged, the carrier is who you claim against. This is the entity whose USDOT record you most want to match.
Household goods broker
A company that arranges transportation but does not perform it. Brokers are legitimate and are separately registered. 49 CFR 375.409 lets a broker give the estimate under a written agreement with the carrier. The carrier is then bound by the same 110 percent ceiling at delivery on a non-binding estimate.
Agent
A local company operating under a national van line’s authority. The van line is the carrier of record; the agent does the work at one or both ends.
This is a long-established structure, but it means the name on the truck, the name on the estimate and the name in the federal record can all legitimately differ. Ask which is which rather than assuming a mismatch is fraud.
Bill of lading
The contract. Not a receipt, not a formality — the document that sets what was agreed, and the one a dispute will be read against. The estimate becomes an attachment to it where the estimate is binding (49 CFR 375.403(a)(3)).
Tariff
The carrier’s published schedule of rates and charges. Accessorial charges — long carry, shuttle, stair carry, bulky article — are defined there, not invented at the curb. 49 CFR 375.213 gives you a right of access to the relevant sections.
Accessorial service
Anything beyond loading, hauling and unloading. These are where the gap between an estimate and an invoice usually opens, and they are exactly what a physical survey exists to find in advance.
How to run the check, step by step
Ten minutes, in this order. The early steps are the cheap ones.
1
Get the legal name, the address and the USDOT number in writing
Email, not a phone call. You want a document you can put beside the federal record. A company that will not put its own legal name in an email has answered the question already.
2
Search the number, then search the name separately
Open FMCSA SAFER and search the USDOT number. Then search the trading name on its own. Two searches, because a number that resolves to a different company and a name that resolves to two numbers are different problems.
3
Match three fields, not one
Legal name, physical address, and whether the record shows the entity operating as a carrier, a broker, or both. A number that exists is not a match. A number that resolves to a different address in a different state is a stop.
4
Ask which motor carrier will actually haul
If you are dealing with a broker, this is the question. Get the carrier’s name and number and run steps 2 and 3 again on them. Booking through a broker is not a problem; not knowing who is coming is.
5
Insist on the physical survey
49 CFR 375.401(a) requires a physical survey and a written estimate based on it. You can waive the survey only in writing, signed before loading. A phone quote without either is not the process the rule describes.
6
Get the estimate type stated on the face of the document
Binding or non-binding. The rules that follow are different, and the document is required to say which it is. If it does not say, you do not have an estimate under the rule — you have a number.
7
Ask for the six required documents
Estimate, tariff notice, arbitration summary, complaint-handling summary, and the two DOT publications. Ask in one email. Read what comes back.
8
Decline large up-front cash
Modest card deposits are ordinary. A large cash demand before anything has moved is the pattern the federal consumer program exists to name. Card payment also gives you a dispute route that cash does not.
What if a mover holds your goods for more money?
The rule that answers the hostage-load problem is the single most useful thing on the page. It is a number, and it is 110.
The ceilings are in the regulation. They are not a negotiating position and they are not the mover’s policy.49 CFR 375.403, 375.407, 375.409; Appendix A to Part 375.
The mechanism. The leverage in a household move is not financial, it is temporal. Once your possessions are on a truck you have no alternative supplier, no ability to shop, and a lease that ends on a date.
A demand made at that moment is made to someone with no options. That is why the abusive version of this trade concentrates on the gap between loading and unloading, and why the federal rules concentrate there too.
The ceiling. On a non-binding estimate the mover "under a non-binding estimate, the mover cannot require you to pay more than 110 percent of the non-binding estimate at the time of delivery." The carrier must release the shipment when you tender that amount plus charges for services validly added along the way.
And withholding has a consequence. Withholding a shipment after the shipper has offered proper payment is a failure to transport with reasonable dispatch and exposes the carrier to liability for the delay (49 CFR 375.407(b)).
On a partial delivery the arithmetic is prorated: On a partial delivery the carrier may demand only the prorated share — the percentage of the weight of that portion of the shipment delivered relative to the total weight (49 CFR 375.407(c)).
The charge that hides here. Charges for impracticable operations are capped at 15 percent of all other charges due at delivery; anything above that is billed later (49 CFR 375.407(d)).
This matters because "impracticable operations" is the line long-carry, shuttle and stair charges arrive under.
A shuttle — a smaller vehicle used because the trailer cannot reach the door — is the most common one, and the most commonly discovered at the worst possible moment.
Ask before you book whether a shuttle is likely at either address, and get the answer in the survey.
On a binding estimate the position is stronger still. "If you make only a partial delivery of the shipment, you may not demand upon delivery full payment of the binding estimate."
And once loading has begun the estimate cannot be amended at all — Estimates may be amended only before loading and only by mutual agreement.
49 CFR 375.401(i) prohibits amendment after loading — which is precisely when a shipper is least able to argue.
If it happens anyway. The booklet gives the number: "If your mover refuses to deliver your shipment unless you pay an amount the mover is not entitled to charge, contact FMCSA immediately at (888) 368-7238."
File the complaint as well, at the National Consumer Complaint Database. Pay under protest if you must, in a form that leaves a record, and write on the delivery paperwork that the payment is disputed before you sign anything.
Interstate or intrastate?
Everything above is federal. Roughly four in five people who move stay inside one state, where state rules apply instead.
Crosses a state line (usually federal)
FMCSA registration, the physical survey rule, the two estimate types, the 110 percent ceiling, full-value and released-value protection, the nine-month claim window and the arbitration requirement all apply.
SAFER is the right database, and NCCDB is the right complaint route.
One exception worth knowing. A move that stays inside a defined commercial zone which happens to span a state boundary is "exempt from FMCSA’s commercial jurisdiction and, therefore, the moves are not subject to FMCSA household goods regulations". Crossing a line is the usual trigger, not an absolute one.
Stays inside one state (state rules)
A state agency governs: a public utilities or public service commission, a department of transportation, a consumer-protection office — or, in some states, nothing specific to moving at all.
What that means practically: the 110 percent ceiling may not exist, the survey requirement may not exist, and the arbitration program may not exist. Some states impose stricter rules than the federal ones; others impose none.
HyreMover has not built a fifty-state table of intrastate moving regulation and will not publish one it has not verified. What we can say is which question to ask: name the regulator, then ask that regulator what it requires. That is a five-minute search and it is the only reliable answer.
ACS 1-year estimates: 8.9 percent of people moved to a different residence within the same state in 2024, down from 9.1 percent in 2023; 2.1 percent moved to a different state, down from 2.3 percent.
Retrieved via Census Bureau ACS migration/geographic mobility guidance, September 5, 2026. HyreMover analysis: roughly four in five people who move stay inside one state, which means most moves are governed by state rules rather than by the federal rules that dominate every article written about moving.
That mismatch is the single biggest reason people arrive at a local move expecting protections that do not apply to it.
What a clean record looks like, and a bad one
Not a scoring system. These are the specific things that separate a company running a compliant process from one that is improvising.
The legal name in the federal record matches the legal name on the estimate
Trading names may differ from legal names legitimately. What should not differ is the entity: same legal name, same physical address, and a plausible explanation for any trading name in use.
They tell you, unprompted, whether they are the carrier or a broker
And if a broker, they name the carrier before you sign rather than after. This one sentence resolves most of the confusion in the trade.
A survey was performed, in person or by video, of the whole property
Including the loft, the garage, the shed and the garden. The survey is where accessorial charges are discovered in advance instead of at the curb.
The estimate states its own type on its face
The word "binding" or "non-binding" appears. If the document avoids the word, ask the question directly and get the answer in writing.
Access is described in the document, not assumed
Stairs, lift, distance from the parking position to the door, permit requirements, whether a trailer can physically reach the address at both ends. Every one of these becomes a charge if it appears on the day.
They explain valuation as liability, not as insurance
Because that is what it is. A company that calls released value "insurance" is either careless with words or hoping you will not read the number.
A very low quote given without a survey
The low number is not the product. The low number buys the booking; the revision arrives after loading, when you cannot decline it. This is why the survey requirement exists.
A large cash deposit demanded before anything moves
Combined with no survey, this is the pattern the federal consumer program was created to name. Card payment leaves a dispute route; cash does not.
Pressure to sign today, or a price that expires this evening
There is no operational reason a moving estimate must be accepted within hours. Urgency is being manufactured to prevent exactly the ten-minute check this page describes.
A blank or partly blank bill of lading presented for signature
This is the contract. Signing it blank means agreeing to terms written later by the other party. Never do it, however late it is and however tired everyone is.
Where do you file a moving complaint?
Sending it to the wrong body wastes the only leverage you have left. The route depends on what happened and whose rules applied.
Situation
Where it goes
What it can and cannot achieve
Interstate move, loss or damage to goods
A written claim to the mover first, within nine months of delivery
The carrier has 30 days to acknowledge and 120 days to give a disposition. This is the route that produces money; a regulator complaint does not settle your claim.
Interstate move, mover refuses to unload without extra payment
FMCSA, immediately, on (888) 368-7238
This is the emergency line the booklet gives. It is about intervention while the goods are still on the truck, not about compensation afterwards.
Builds the record regulators act on, and is searchable by other consumers. It does not adjudicate your individual dispute.
Interstate move, claim denied or stalled
The mover’s arbitration program
Required of all movers. For claims of $10,000 or less the mover must agree and the decision binds both sides.
Move inside one state
The state regulator — utilities commission, transport department, or consumer protection
The federal routes above do not apply. Identify the regulator first; the answer varies more between states than most people expect.
A move inside a cross-border commercial zone
Likely the state, not FMCSA
The move may be "exempt from FMCSA’s commercial jurisdiction and, therefore, the moves are not subject to FMCSA household goods regulations". Ask which applies before you assume the federal rules protect you.
Sources: Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375 and 49 CFR 370.9, read at the Cornell LII mirror of the eCFR on September 5, 2026. fmcsa.dot.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval on September 5, 2026.
The quotations on this page come from Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375, the codified text of the FMCSA booklet, read at Cornell LII.
You can watch the weighing and ask for a free reweigh
Two rights almost nobody uses, on a long-distance move priced by weight.
Nine months to file, 30 days to acknowledge, 120 days to a disposition. The nine months runs from delivery, not from when you noticed.Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375; 49 CFR 370.9.
You may watch. "You have the right, and your mover must inform you of your right, to observe all weighing of your shipment." The mover is required to tell you this; in practice, few shippers are told in a way they register, and fewer still attend.
And you may demand a reweigh, free. "If your shipment is weighed at origin and you believe that the weight may not be accurate, you have the right to request that the shipment be reweighed before it is unloaded. The mover is not permitted to charge you for the reweighing."
Note the timing: before it is unloaded. Once the goods are in the house the opportunity has gone, which is why this right is worth knowing in advance rather than looking up afterwards.
Volume quoted, weight charged. Where a mover quotes by volume and charges by weight, 49 CFR 375.401(e) requires the conversion to be explained in writing and requires disclosure that the final charge depends on actual weight, subject to the 110 percent rule.
If someone quotes you cubic feet and invoices you hundredweight, the conversion factor is a term of the deal and you are entitled to see it.
The inventory is the evidence. "Your mover must prepare an inventory of your shipment. This is usually done at the time the mover loads your shipment. The mover is required to list any damage or unusual wear to any items."
And at the other end: "At the time your shipment is delivered, it is your responsibility to check the items delivered against the items listed on your inventory. If new damage is discovered, make a record of it on the inventory form."
The inventory is the document a damage claim is decided on. Exceptions noted at origin ("scratched", "marred", "soiled") are the mover’s defense; new damage you fail to note at destination is the gap in yours.
HyreMover recommendation. Photograph the inventory sheets at both ends before you sign them, and photograph the condition of anything valuable before it is wrapped. It costs five minutes and it is the difference between a claim that is a document exercise and a claim that is your word against theirs.
Check the valuation line while you are at it
Not part of the lookup, but it is decided on the same document and it is where the real financial exposure sits.
Full value protection
The booklet: the mover must repair the article, replace it with one of like kind and quality, or pay you what either costs.
It costs money and may carry a deductible. Under Appendix A it is the default unless you waive it in writing, so check what you signed.
Released value — 60 cents per pound
"Under this option, the mover assumes liability for no more than 60 cents per pound, per article." It is offered at no additional charge, which is exactly why it gets selected without a decision being made.
The unit is the article, not the shipment. A 35 lb television and a 35 lb box of books are settled the same way under released value, which is why the released rate is punishing on dense electronics and close to irrelevant on a mattress.
Neither of them is insurance
Neither option is insurance. Both are the carrier’s own liability under its tariff. Insurance is a separate product sold by an insurer, and a mover that calls valuation "insurance" is describing its own liability limit in someone else’s vocabulary.
If you want insurance, that is a separate purchase from an insurer, and your existing homeowner or renter policy may already cover goods in transit. Read it before you buy anything at the curb.
The arithmetic that makes it real
Under released value, a 40 lb television settles at $24.00 regardless of what it cost. A 200 lb sofa settles at $120.00. HyreMover calculation from the 0.60 per-pound rate in Appendix A to Part 375 — the weights are illustrative.
Run that sum on the three most valuable things you own before you tick a box. It takes a minute and it is the most consequential minute in the whole process.
What this tool cannot do
Real blind spots, not a disclaimer.
It does not query SAFER. Nothing on this page contacts any federal system. The five ticks count what you told us you have; they are a completeness count, not a verification. You run the lookup.
It cannot tell you a company is good. A company can hold a valid registration, produce every required document, pass every check on this page, and still break your furniture. The paperwork test screens out the companies that were never going to do this properly. It does not predict competence.
It cannot read your state’s rules. We have not built a fifty-state intrastate table and will not publish one we have not verified state by state. On an in-state move, the honest answer is that you must identify your own regulator.
It cannot see insurance adequacy. Operating authority requires filings; whether a specific carrier’s cargo liability is sufficient for your specific shipment is a separate question, and one the valuation election is the real answer to.
It cannot help after the fact as much as before. Almost every protection described here is exercised before loading or at delivery. The nine-month claim window is the main exception.
If you are reading this with a truck already loaded, go straight to the 110 percent ceiling and the emergency number — those are the two levers that still work.
And it holds no data about movers. HyreMover publishes no mover profiles, no ratings and no rankings, and receives no fee from any moving company. That is why this page can end by telling you to walk away, which a page funded by referrals cannot.
Numbers worth knowing
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember these.
110%the most a carrier may demand at delivery on a non-binding estimate49 CFR 375.407(a)
100%the ceiling on a binding estimate — the estimate itself49 CFR 375.403
60¢per pound per article, if you accept released valueAppendix A to 49 CFR Part 375
9 monthsto file a written loss-and-damage claim, from deliveryAppendix A to 49 CFR Part 375
15%cap on impracticable-operations charges due at delivery49 CFR 375.407(d)
30 daysfor the mover to acknowledge your claimAppendix A to 49 CFR Part 375
120 daysfor the mover to pay, decline or make a written offer49 CFR 370.9
$10,000or less: the mover must agree to arbitration if you askAppendix A to 49 CFR Part 375
How this calculator works
The engine counts how many of five packet items you ticked (USDOT number, legal name, survey, written estimate, no large cash deposit). It does not query SAFER. It does not assign a pass/fail grade.
count = how many of {dot, name, survey, est, deposit} are 1
next = look the USDOT number up in FMCSA SAFER and match
name and address. No survey + large cash deposit
is the Protect Your Move pattern.
never = ticking "has a DOT number" is not a license check
we performed. Intrastate is your state, not FMCSA.
Open https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/ in another tab. Search the number. If the legal name or address does not match the estimate, stop. If they have no number for an interstate household-goods job, stop.
This page will not say "this company is licensed," "this company is safe," or "Hyre verified this mover." A directory listing proves nothing. The homepage framework already says so.
What each input means
Inputs on this tool, in the order they appear on the form.
Input
What it is actually asking
USDOT number in hand
They printed it on the estimate or the website. You will type it into SAFER. A number you have not looked up is still just a number.
Legal name
The name you will match to the SAFER snapshot, not a trade name on a van door that belongs to someone else.
Survey
In-home or video of the whole property. 49 CFR 375.401 requires a physical survey for interstate household goods unless you waive it in writing. A phone guess is the other half of the fraud pattern.
Written estimate
Dated, signed, inventory and access described, type stated: binding, non-binding, or binding not-to-exceed. Verbal "around X" is not this tick.
No large cash deposit
Modest card deposits happen. Large up-front cash is the Protect Your Move red flag. Tick yes only if that demand is absent.
Worked examples
Including one where the naive answer misleads, which is the example most calculators leave out.
Five ticks, then you still open SAFER
Every item is yes: they gave a USDOT number, you have the legal name, a video survey was done, the estimate is written as binding not-to-exceed, no large cash demand.
Count: 5 of 5 items present. Next is still: look the number up and match name and address. Completeness is not a license. If SAFER shows a different company, the packet was theatre.
A number, no survey, large cash asked
dot = yes, name = yes, survey = no, est = no, deposit = no (because a large cash deposit was demanded, so the "no large deposit" tick stays off). Count: 2 of 5.
The next sentence on every result names the pattern: a quote without a survey, plus a large cash deposit, is Protect Your Move. Do not pay. Do not give a lock-out date. Look the number up anyway; complain at NCCDB if they persist.
The one where "they have a DOT number" misleads
The van door has a USDOT number. The website uses a different name. There is no survey. The naive answer is they are licensed, I checked.
This tool’s never-line is the point: ticking has-a-number is not a license check we performed, and we will not say the company is licensed. Match the snapshot to the estimate.
If you cannot, you do not have a carrier you can name, which is how belongings end up on somebody else’s truck.
What changes the result
Each tick only changes the count headline. The next paragraph is always the same, on purpose: look it up, match name and address, watch the no-survey-plus-cash pattern. A perfect count with a mismatched SAFER record is still a stop. A low count with a matched record still needs a survey and a written estimate.
Deposit is scored as the good packet item (no large cash demand). If they demanded large cash, leave it at No. Do not tick yes to make the count prettier.
Local considerations
SAFER is federal. It is the right database when the shipment crosses a state line. Intrastate authority is a state license, a state tariff filing, or in some states almost nothing. Search the state. We will not invent a 50-state licensing table we have not built.
Complaints: interstate household goods to nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. In-state to the state. A clean NCCDB search is not a recommendation.
When not to use this
Do not use this as proof a company is licensed, insured, or "Hyre verified." Do not send the count to a lender or a landlord as due diligence. Do not skip SAFER because five boxes are ticked.
Do not treat a USDOT number on a broker’s site as the carrier who will arrive. Ask which motor carrier will haul, and look that number up too.
Do not use this for junk-removal outfits, dumpster companies, or freight that is not household goods. Different rules.
HyreMover does not rank movers and does not move household goods.
Look up its USDOT number in FMCSA SAFER and confirm the name and address match your estimate. Insist on an in-home or video survey, get the estimate type in writing, and refuse large cash deposits. These are the steps of FMCSA’s Protect Your Move program.
Where do I look up a USDOT number?
At safer.fmcsa.dot.gov, FMCSA’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records system. Search by USDOT number or company name. You are checking identity: that the number belongs to the company on your estimate.
Does a USDOT number mean they are licensed?
No. It means a number exists in the federal system. You still need to match the name and address, check for household-goods operating authority, and review the rest of the paperwork. Ticking a box here is not a check we performed.
What if they will not give a USDOT number?
Stop, if the move is interstate: FMCSA registration is the baseline. For an in-state move, ask what your state requires instead. A company that wants only cash and a date, with no number and no survey, fits the pattern Protect Your Move warns about.
What is the Protect Your Move pattern?
A quote with no survey, a large deposit up front, then a demand for more money before your goods are unloaded. Checking the number, insisting on a survey and refusing large cash deposits removes most of that risk. Report it at the National Consumer Complaint Database.
Do I still check SAFER for a local move?
It can help, but it is not the state license. In-state moves are regulated by the state. Check with your state transportation department or public utilities commission. A USDOT number, if the mover has one, is still worth matching.
Carrier or broker?
A carrier runs the trucks and does the move. A broker sells the move and hires a carrier. Both can be legitimate and both must be registered for interstate moves. Know which you booked, because the company on the estimate may not be the one that arrives.
What should match besides the number?
The legal company name and physical address. A number that belongs to someone else is the warning sign. Also check whether the record lists a broker, a carrier or both. Then still get the survey and the written estimate.
Where do I file a complaint?
For interstate moves, the National Consumer Complaint Database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. For in-state moves, your state regulator. FMCSA’s Protect Your Move page links to both.
Does HyreMover verify movers?
No. We publish no mover profiles or ratings. This tool checks the completeness of your paperwork, plus a lookup you run yourself. HyreMover does not rank movers and does not move household goods.
Sources and methodology
Figures dated August 26, 2026. Last reviewed .
SAFER company snapshot (FMCSA, retrieved 2026-08-26. The lookup. Search USDOT number or name. Matching name and address is the check. Not a HyreMover verification.)
Protect Your Move (FMCSA, retrieved 2026-08-26. Consumer program: registered-mover database, booklet, scam pattern (no survey + large cash deposit).)
49 CFR Part 375 (eCFR / FMCSA, retrieved 2026-08-26. Physical survey (375.401), written estimate, inventory. A number in SAFER does not replace these.)
Moving scams and consumer protection (Federal Trade Commission, retrieved 2026-08-26. General consumer-protection context. FMCSA remains the household-goods specialist.)