CarrierScrub

Mover check

Check a moving company before you pay a deposit.

Every company that moves household goods or ships cars between states has a USDOT number. Enter it to see what FMCSA actually licenses the company for: a mover, a broker that hires one, or neither. You also see whether that license is active and insured, and anything on its federal record that should stop you.

What are you moving?

Free, no account. Movers must print their USDOT number in every ad and on their website; brokers must print theirs too. A company that won’t give you one is your answer.

Checking several movers at once?

For relocation teams, real estate agents and moving marketplaces. Upload a CSV, Excel or PDF of USDOT or MC numbers. You see what is in the file and the first three results free, then check the whole list on a free account.

  1. Upload
  2. Free preview
  3. Run the full list

Step 1 of 3: drop your list here.

Drop a CSV, Excel or PDF file here
or click to choose one · up to 1,000 rows · we find the USDOT or MC column

What the check tells you

01

What the company is
An interstate mover, a moving broker that hires one, or a freight company that isn’t licensed for household goods at all. It comes straight from the authority types FMCSA has on file, in FMCSA’s own words.

02

Whether the license is live
Active or not, suspension notices, federal out-of-service orders, and the liability and cargo insurance FMCSA requires a mover to keep on file. Cargo insurance is what pays if your belongings are lost or damaged.

03

Records worth a second look
A phone number shared with companies FMCSA has revoked, a registration made days after another company was shut down, mail FMCSA sent that came back undeliverable. These are facts with dates, never accusations.

Mover or broker?

A mover owns or runs the trucks and is responsible for your goods. A moving broker sells you the move and hands it to a mover. Brokers are legal, and many moves are booked through one. But the company that shows up is the one that matters.

If the check says Moving broker, ask for the mover’s name and USDOT number before you pay anything, and check that company here too. A broker has to tell you it is a broker.

Moving within one state?

FMCSA licenses moves that cross a state line. A company that only moves within one state is licensed by that state, where it is licensed at all, and may show no active federal authority here. Check your state’s moving or public utilities commission for in-state movers.

Shipping a car? Choose “A car, on its own” above. A car shipped by itself needs a carrier licensed for property, not a household goods mover.

Warning signs the record won’t show

FMCSA and the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General list the same patterns in moving fraud:

  • An estimate by phone or online, with no look at your belongings
  • A large deposit up front, or cash and wire transfers only
  • No USDOT number on the website, and a phone answered “movers” rather than a company name
  • No copy of FMCSA’s Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move booklet, which interstate movers must give you
  • A rental truck on moving day instead of the company’s own

What about complaints?

FMCSA keeps a public complaint database you can search by USDOT number. A complaint is one customer’s account, and FMCSA does not verify it, so a busy mover with a few is not a reason to rule one out.

Look for a pattern instead, most of all goods held until the customer pays more than the estimate.

Think we have read a record wrong?

Email support@carrierscrub.com with the USDOT number and what you expected to see. We will check it against FMCSA’s record and tell you what it says. CarrierScrub is not affiliated with FMCSA, and a check is not legal advice.