Guide

Red flags in a moving quote

Last updated 2026-08-06

The guides on this site describe how interstate moving fraud works in general. This page does something narrower: it takes the estimate actually sitting in front of you and checks it, item by item, against those same patterns — the ones federal rules and FMCSA's own consumer campaign already name.

It is a checklist, not a verdict. Every factor it raises is listed with the reason it matters and a link to the guide that explains it in full. There is no score, because a single number would hide exactly the detail that makes any of this useful. Underneath it you can paste the estimate itself to pull out the company’s USDOT number, which is what turns “this quote looks off” into something checkable against the federal record.

What each check means

The same eight checks, written out. Each one names the answer that raises it, what it means, and where the full explanation lives. Nothing here is our own invention — every item traces to a federal requirement or to a pattern moving-scams and protect-your-move already document.

1. How was the price worked out?

   Raised when the answer is: Over the phone or from a web form, without seeing your things

   The price was set without anyone seeing what you own

   For interstate moves the estimate is supposed to be based on a physical or virtual survey of your goods. A figure produced from a phone call alone has nothing underneath it, which is exactly what makes it cheap to quote and easy to revise upward later.

   How the low estimate works →

2. Were you told whether the estimate is binding or non-binding?

   Raised when the answer is: No, or only verbally

   You were not told in writing whether the estimate is binding or non-binding

   The two give you different protections, and the 110% rule — the mover must release your shipment on payment of no more than 110% of a non-binding estimate — only attaches to one of them. A verbal assurance that a price is locked in does not survive a document saying otherwise.

   Binding, non-binding and the 110% rule →

3. How much deposit is being asked for, as a share of the total?

   Raised when the answer is: Roughly half, or most of it

   The deposit is roughly half the total or more Hard to undo

   Interstate movers commonly ask for no deposit at all, or a modest one. A large payment before anything is loaded is the point at which you stop being able to walk away, which is why it is the step worth slowing down on.

   Why the large deposit matters →

4. How was the deposit asked to be paid?

   Raised when the answer is: Cash, wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo, cryptocurrency or gift card

   The deposit was requested by a method you cannot reverse Hard to undo

   Wire transfers, cash, and payment apps such as Zelle or Venmo settle immediately and carry no chargeback right. A credit card payment can be disputed; these cannot. A company that will only take the irreversible ones has chosen that.

   Payment methods and reversal →

5. Did they give you a USDOT number, and does the name on it match?

   Raised when the answer is: Yes, but the name on it is a different company

   The name on the quote is not the name that will be on the truck

   Often this simply means you are talking to a broker, which is legal and separately regulated. But a broker arranges the move and does not perform it, and its quote does not bind the carrier who arrives. Ask which USDOT number will be on the truck, then check that carrier.

   Knowing who is actually moving you →

   Raised when the answer is: No USDOT number was given

   No USDOT number was given Hard to undo

   Every interstate mover is required to have one and to display it. Without the number there is no federal record to check — it is the identifier that ties a quote to a file you can actually read.

   What a USDOT number is and how to find one →

6. Did they mention or send FMCSA’s “Your Rights and Responsibilities” booklet?

   Raised when the answer is: No, it has never come up

   The “Your Rights and Responsibilities” booklet was never mentioned

   Interstate movers are required to provide FMCSA’s consumer booklet, and in practice a link or a PDF satisfies it. A company that has not mentioned it has skipped the first thing the rules ask of it.

   What the booklet covers →

7. Will the bill of lading and inventory be filled in completely before loading?

   Raised when the answer is: No — some fields will be filled in later, or left blank for now

   Paperwork will be completed after loading, or has fields left blank Hard to undo

   The bill of lading is simultaneously the contract and the receipt, and whatever is written on it when a dispute starts is what governs. Blank space is space somebody else fills in later.

   The bill of lading is your contract →

8. Is there a business address and a named person you deal with?

   Raised when the answer is: No — only a toll-free number or a call center

   No business address or named contact — only a call center number

   A registered interstate carrier has an address on file with FMCSA. If the company will not give you one, that does not stop you finding it: look the USDOT number up and read the address off the federal record instead.

   The five-minute federal-record check →

“Hard to undo” marks the four you cannot walk back afterwards — money that cannot be recalled, paperwork already signed, or belongings already on a truck. They are worth settling first for that reason alone, not because any of them is proof of anything.

Two quotes, side by side

Both of the estimates below are invented composites, written for this page. Neither describes a real company, and no company is named anywhere on this site in connection with fraud. They are here because the contrast between them is more legible than either one alone.

What Example B matched, and why

• No survey. An interstate estimate is meant to rest on a physical or virtual survey. Skipping it is what makes the low number possible. The shape of the low estimate.
• “Guaranteed” verbally, silent on paper. Binding and non-binding carry different protections, and only the written document governs a dispute. Binding, non-binding and the 110% rule.
• A 56% deposit, by an irreversible method. Two separate factors, and both are hard to undo: the size removes the option of walking away, and Zelle removes the chargeback that would otherwise get it back.
• No USDOT number. Without it there is no federal record to read. Where the number appears and why it matters.
• Blank bill of lading. Whatever is written on it when the argument starts is what governs, and it was signed empty.

Example A matched nothing on the list. That is worth reading precisely: it means the quote is documented the way the rules expect. It says nothing about whether the company behind it holds active authority, carries the required insurance, or has an out-of-service order on file — which is a separate check, against a separate source. Run it here.

How this actually happens

The shape is consistent: a quote well under the others, produced without anyone seeing what you own; your belongings loaded; then the price rising — often several times over — with everything you own serving as the collateral. The deposit and the blank paperwork are what make the second half possible, which is why they sit where they do on the checklist above. The full breakdown, stage by stage.

If this has already moved past the quote stage and a mover is refusing to release your things until you pay more than you owe, that is not a billing dispute — it has a federal complaint channel and a hotline, and there is an order worth doing things in. Start there, not here.

What to settle before you sign

Scoped to the quote-and-negotiation stage specifically — this is the part that happens before any money moves, and all of it is reasonable to ask for.

• The USDOT number that will be on the truck, in writing. If a broker arranged the move, this is the carrier's number, not theirs.
• Which kind of estimate this is, stated on the document rather than on a call — and if non-binding, that the 110% rule was explained.
• The deposit terms: how much, when it is charged, what happens to it on cancellation, and payment by a method you can reverse.
• A complete bill of lading and inventory before loading, with your copy in hand. Not after, and not with fields left open.
• The rights booklet, which they are required to give you anyway. What it covers.

Checking the quote is half of it — the other half is confirming the company is legally allowed to be doing this at all: the five-minute check.

Questions people ask about moving quotes

Short answers. The rights guide and scams guide carry the long ones.