Guide · Who you are dealing with
Moving Broker vs. Carrier: Who Are You Actually Hiring?
The company that sells you the move is not always the company that sends the truck.
By James Huh · Founder, The Move Report
You
- Choose the company and pay.
hiresMoving broker
- Arranges the move.
- Does not send the truck.
booksMoving carrier
- Performs the move.
- Sends the truck and crew.
What actually matters
Is the company registered for the role it says it has: carrier, broker, or both?
If it is a broker, which carrier will actually move your things?
Does the estimate match the FMCSA record and the carrier you were told about?
How to tell which one you hired
Find the company in the FMCSA record.
By name, USDOT number or MC number. Use the legal name from the estimate, not the brand.
Read its authority: carrier, broker, or both.
That is the answer. A company can hold both kinds of authority, and marketing phrases like “full-service moving company” settle nothing.
What does the record say?
If the record says carrier
Confirm active household-goods carrier authority.
Interstate movers must be registered with FMCSA.
Compare its legal name and USDOT number with the estimate.
They should match exactly.
If the record says broker
Get the assigned carrier’s legal name and USDOT number.
A broker must give anyone who contacts it the list of carriers it uses, with their numbers.
Verify that carrier the same way, then compare it with the estimate and, later, the bill of lading.
If the bill of lading names a different carrier, resolve it before anything is loaded.
Broker vs. carrier at a glance
Moving broker
Moving carrier
- Main job
- Arranges transportation by an authorized carrier, for a fee
- Transports your shipment
- Sends truck and crew
- No. Must state it will not transport your goods
- Yes
- FMCSA authority
- Household-goods broker
- Household-goods motor carrier
- Whose estimate
- The carrier’s, adopted under a written broker–carrier agreement
- Its own, on its published tariff
- Bill of lading
- Issued by the carrier responsible for the shipment
- Issues it
- I would verify
- Its registration, its carrier list, and the carrier assigned to my move
- Legal name, USDOT number, active authority
Where to look on the website and the estimate
What to spot on the document
Mark 1: [Company legal name] · d/b/a [Brand name] Van Lines
Mark 2: USDOT No. ______ · MC No. ______
Street address, city, state
Mark 3: We are a household goods broker. We will not transport your household goods; we arrange for transportation by an FMCSA-authorized household goods motor carrier, whose charges are determined by its published tariff.
Mark 4: Estimate on behalf of [Carrier legal name] · USDOT No. ______ · based on its published tariff
What each mark tells you
Mark 1: Legal name
Look this up in the FMCSA record, not the brand name above it.
Mark 2: USDOT and MC numbers
A broker must display both prominently. § 371.107(b)
Mark 3: Broker disclosure
This language means the company is telling you it is a household-goods broker. Every broker’s ads and website must carry it. § 371.107(c)
Mark 4: Estimate on behalf of a carrier
Names the carrier the broker says the estimate is for. If no carrier is named, ask which one. § 375.409
If it is a broker, ask in these words
Are you the motor carrier for this shipment, or a household-goods broker?
Which authorized carrier will transport my shipment, and what is its legal name and USDOT number?
Is this estimate on behalf of that carrier? May I see the broker–carrier agreement? It is public information.
Where can I see the list of carriers you use?
What federal rules require of a broker
Each line is a plain-language reading. The exact language is one tap below it.
A broker must state, in its advertisements and on its website, that it is a household-goods broker and will not transport your goods.
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“… your status as a household goods broker and the statement that you will not transport an individual shipper’s household goods …”
(c) You must prominently display in your advertisements and Internet website(s) your status as a household goods broker and the statement that you will not transport an individual shipper’s household goods, but that you will arrange for the transportation of the household goods by an FMCSA-authorized household goods motor carrier, whose charges will be determined by its published tariff.
Paragraphs (a) and (b) require the physical business location and the USDOT and MC numbers to be displayed prominently as well; (e) allows a carrier’s name or logo only where a § 371.115 agreement exists.
49 CFR § 371.107(c)eCFR, current. Addressed to the broker as “you”.
A broker’s estimate must be a named carrier’s estimate, made under a written broker–carrier agreement that you are entitled to see.
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“… exclusively on behalf of the authorized household goods motor carrier … based on the … published tariff …” and “… public information … produce it for review upon reasonable request …”
§ 375.409(a) … household goods brokers may provide estimates to individual shippers provided there is a written agreement between the broker and you, the motor carrier, adopting the broker’s estimate as your own estimate. If you, the motor carrier, make such an agreement with a household goods broker, you must ensure compliance with all requirements of this part pertaining to estimates, including the requirement that you must relinquish possession of the shipment if the shipper pays you no more than 110 percent of a non-binding estimate at the time of delivery.
§ 371.115(a) … Your written agreement with the motor carrier(s) must include the following items: … (2) The authorized motor carrier’s name as shown on its FMCSA registration, its physical address, and its U.S. DOT registration number and MC license number; (3) A concise, easy to understand statement that your written estimate to the individual shipper: (i) Will be exclusively on behalf of the authorized household goods motor carrier; (ii) Will be based on the authorized household goods motor carrier’s published tariff; and (iii) Will serve as the authorized household goods motor carrier’s estimate for purposes of complying with the requirements of part 375 of this chapter …
§ 371.115(b) The signed written agreement required by this section is public information and you must produce it for review upon reasonable request by a member of the public.
§ 371.113 adds that a broker’s estimate must be in writing, based on the carrier’s published tariff, and rest on a physical survey by the carrier unless you waive the survey in writing. § 375.409 § 371.113 What else an interstate estimate must contain: What Should Be Included in an Interstate Moving Estimate?.
49 CFR § 375.409 · § 371.115eCFR, current. § 375.409(a) is addressed to the carrier; § 371.115 to the broker.
Anyone who contacts a broker must be given its list of carriers, with USDOT and MC numbers, and a statement that it is not a motor carrier.
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“… a list of all authorized household goods motor carriers you use, including their U.S. DOT registration number(s) and MC license numbers …”
(a) You must provide to each potential individual shipper who contacts you a list of all authorized household goods motor carriers you use, including their U.S. DOT registration number(s) and MC license numbers.
(b) You must provide to each potential individual shipper who contacts you a statement indicating that you are not a motor carrier authorized by the Federal Government to transport the individual shipper’s household goods, and you are only arranging for an authorized household goods motor carrier to perform the transportation services and, if applicable, additional services.
49 CFR § 371.109eCFR, current.
A broker must provide the federal consumer-protection booklets, by website link or as copies when it gives you an estimate.
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“… Federal consumer protection information by one of the following three methods …”
(a) You must provide potential individual shippers with Federal consumer protection information by one of the following three methods: (1) Provide a hyperlink on your Internet website to the FMCSA website containing the information in FMCSA’s publications “Ready to Move?—Tips for a Successful Interstate Move” and “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move.” (2) Distribute to each shipper and potential shipper at the time you provide an estimate, copies of FMCSA’s publications “Ready to Move?—Tips for a Successful Interstate Move” and “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move.” (3) Distribute to each shipper and potential shipper at the time you provide an estimate, copies of “Ready to Move?—Tips for a Successful Interstate Move” and “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move” as modified and produced by the authorized, lawful motor carrier to which you intend to provide the shipment under your written agreement required by § 371.115.
This list is why reviews would not be my first check. A review says how a company behaved for someone else; these say what it owes you, in writing, now. A broker that will not produce its carrier list or its agreement has answered a question you had not finished asking.
49 CFR § 371.111eCFR, current. Also listed in FMCSA’s Movers vs. Brokers guidance.
Primary sources used in this guide · 9
FMCSA’s Movers vs. Brokers guidance, and 49 CFR part 371 (household-goods brokers) and § 375.409, read on eCFR.
Show all 9 sourcesHide the source list
FMCSA
Movers vs. Brokers49 CFR § 371.2
Definitions: broker49 CFR § 371.107
What a broker must display in advertisements and on its website49 CFR § 371.109
Informing shippers which motor carriers a broker uses49 CFR § 371.111
Federal consumer protection information49 CFR § 371.113
Broker written estimates49 CFR § 371.115
Broker–carrier agreements before providing estimates49 CFR § 375.409
May household goods brokers provide estimates?FMCSA
Tips for a Successful Move
The Move Report is independent and is not affiliated with FMCSA or the U.S. Department of Transportation. This guide is informational and is not legal advice.
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