Estimates & Quotes

Binding and non-binding estimates, what a real survey covers, telling a broker from the carrier, and when a deposit is a red flag.

Estimates & Quotes September 22, 2026 Moving Company Deposit: What's Normal, What's a Red Flag Federal moving rules never use the word deposit for carriers. What they do say about brokers, payment method and the 3-day window decides if you get it back. 15 min read
Estimates & Quotes September 19, 2026 In-Home Moving Estimate: What the Survey Must Cover Since June 2022 a mover has to survey your goods on any interstate move, and a video walkthrough counts. What the rule makes that survey settle before load day. 15 min read
Estimates & Quotes August 23, 2026 Moving Broker vs Carrier: Two Rulebooks, One Call The company that quotes you may never touch your furniture. Brokers answer to 49 CFR Part 371, carriers to Part 375, and the split decides who owes you what. 12 min read
Estimates & Quotes August 18, 2026 Binding vs Non-Binding Estimate: Delivery Day Math Federal moving rules recognise two estimate types, not three. What each one lets a mover collect before the crew unloads, and where 110 percent stops helping. 13 min read

About this section

The signature that cost the most sat on a line marked 60 cents per pound, initialled without being read, and its meaning only arrived with a dresser in three pieces. On a different move the delivery-day figure came to nearly double the estimate. Six long-haul moves in, Nora Ellingson now reads 49 CFR 375 and the FMCSA consumer booklet against her own paperwork before anything is loaded. Nothing here is professional advice: no licence to move, broker, advise or adjust; no jobs booked; no referral fee from any carrier. What the site does is print the section number beside the rule so you can hold it against your own estimate.

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