Finding Trustworthy Reputable Moving Companies

1. How Far Away is Your New Home?
2. Research, Research, Research
3. Don't Be Afraid to Ask Any Questions
4. Reputable Long Distance Moving Companies
5. How to Determine if a Moving Company is Reputable
6. A Moving Tariff
7. 3 & 6 Year Badges
8. How Does Price Factor into a Reputable Mover?
9. What Happens When You Have a Problem with a Reliable Moving Company?
10. Is It Customary to Tip Movers?
11. Conclusion

1. How Far Away is Your New Home?

How far away is your new home? Across the country? Across the border? Across an ocean? Your choice of moving company, as well as the type of transportation, will be affected by how far away from your current location you’re moving. If you’re moving internationally, say, from the United States to Germany, then there’s likely going to be a plane or a cargo ship involved in your move. Especially if you’re bringing all your furniture and household items. So when you’re looking, make sure you’re aware of the steps that will be involved in getting your belongings from Point A to Point B safely.

2. Research, Research, Research

Once you’ve found a few companies you’re interested in checking out further, research deeper. Take special care to find out about their reputation as well as getting long distance moving company quotes and other details. This is where the Moving Authority moving company reviews section of our site can be extremely useful. Moving Authority will also be of huge help to you particularly in finding a great mover. It’s a great resource to use when you’re checking to see what a company you’re thinking about hiring is all about.

3. Don't Be Afraid to Ask Any Questions

Ask a lot of questions! Moving Authority makes it easy to see if a company is reputable by showing you everything you need to know on their profile page. This includes things such as their address, DOT number, MC number and their website so that you can visit them on the web.

Let Moving Authority help you gather the information together, in one place, under one roof and see which company best fits your budget, schedule, and needs.




When you’ve settled on a company you’d like to hire, let Moving Authority help get you all the information you need. Call up the company, set the schedule, get a binding moving quote. This is the price estimate you got, in that you and the company are both legally agreeing on what you’ll pay for their services (moving tariff).

As long as you do your homework and follow these steps finding a great company that tailors to your specific type of move will be easy. You should have no problem finding a reputable long distance moving company that you can trust to do the job right come moving day.

4. Reputable Long Distance Moving Companies

When you and your items are traveling a long distance it is important to find a company that you can rely on. This company will be driving a truck with all your possessions across the country. This is where trust and good business practices are the most important thing you need to look for like if the moving companies are licensed long distance moving companies.

5. How to Determine if a Moving Company is Reliable

First of all, if you found yourself already reading this then it means you have come to the right place. Moving Authority only lists reputable moving companies on our site. But what makes them reputable? They have a United States Department of Transportation number (USDOT for short). This is a unique number for each business that they are given when they register with the department. If a company does not have one of these numbers it means they are not a legally licensed long distance moving companies. We also have a great resource that will help you make decisions and that is the best long distance moving companies reviews.

6. A Moving Tariff

The company has a Tariff that you are presented with that is easy to understand and ironclad. A tariff is basically a menu with the pricing of all the services the company provides. A reputable company will make sure you have all this information. If a company tries to start your move without you having this document, they may be attempting to change their pricing. This is after they have all YOUR things on their truck, at which point you are rather at their mercy.

7. 3 & 6 Year Badges

They have been around a minimum of 3 years. Now, this does not mean to discredit any honest moving companies that have just started their business. However, there are many companies that pop up overnight during the moving season (May-Aug) only to flee at the end of the season to avoid any angry customers or bad reviews. These companies then appear the next year under a different company name only to do it all over again. On Moving Authority we have 3 and 6-year badges that we place on their review pages to let customers know that they have stood the test of time. Which is always a good thing and something we're looking for in the moving industry.

8. How Does Price Factor into a Reputable Mover

It is important to get a fair price when you are looking to move. Companies try to price themselves, but most reputable companies should not vary huge amounts on price. Be wary of cheapest long distance moving companies. If a company is asking half of what the average seems to be you should be asking yourself why these are the cheapest long distance moving companies. This generally means they are not a company operating legally. The likelihood that they will end up charging or rather be ransoming back your items to them, in the end, is very high. With local moves a company charges by the hour, while with your long distance move they charge by the mileage and the weight of the items you are moving. Take a minute and think again (even if you are on a budget) before using the cheapest long distance moving companies.

9. What Happens When You Have a Problem With a Reliable Moving Company?

Good question. The answer is Arbitration. Wait, what is an arbitration program? All moving companies are legally required to have an arbitration program set in place and have it renewed every year. They also must give their customers a pamphlet about this before the move starts so that their clients know their rights.


What is Arbitration: It is a way to settle an argument between two parties. In this case, it would be between the customer and the moving company. An arbitrator is a neutral third party that will settle a dispute outside of the court system (small claims court)define arbitration mediation. Your first step would be to file a claim with the company. If this claim can not be settled then the Arbitration process can begin.


A good moving company can still fall into problems over the years, it's not that a company will ever be perfect rather it is more important that follow the proper channels when they do have customer issues. Having an arbitration program in place protects both parties if issues do arise.

10. Is It Customary to Tip Movers?

Like with all services, tipping is left up to your discretion. If you feel the movers did great work tipping is always welcomed. Remember that the movers are doing a physically demanding job day in and day out. If you do choose to tip, having cash handy is the way to go. Tipping each mover individually is also the best way to ensure the tips are divided evenly amongst the staff. Whether you're tipping long distance movers or tipping your local movers, tipping professional movers can be confusing to divvy up. If you cannot financially afford to tip them at least write the long distance moving companies' reviews so that other customers will use their services in the future. This is a good exchange if you find that after your move cash is tight.

11. Conclusion

Now that we have hit some focal points, hopefully, you feel that you have all the tools that you need to make an informed decision about your move, whether it is reliable long distance residential moving companies or residential moving companies. The more confident you are about how to spot rogue movers and how to identify good and upstanding moving companies the better you will feel. Making informed decisions and using our list moving companies on Moving Authority will take some of the stress out of your move, making it much easier to choose the best long distance moving company so you can focus on your new home and life. And you can enjoy unpacking all your things that you had moved from point a to point b arriving intact!