Moving Brokerage Services
Moving Brokers are companies that connect the customer with registered moving companies depending on the destination. They certify professional moving companies as their carriers. Companies that provide moving brokerage services are required to register with the same agency that regulates the moving companies - The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. You can check the company before dealing with them by visiting the government website. Enter information about the company you are interested in. If it is a registered moving broker, it will say household goods broker.
Then what is a moving broker?
A moving broker is definitely not a moving company. Brokers do not have the operation departments and logistic capabilities that the movers have. They do not own moving equipment, moving trucks and vans and professional movers. Moving brokers are usually professional sales teams that book your moving job and forward it to an actual moving company for a certain commission. Usually all the communication goes through the moving broker including booking, coordination and even damage and insurance claims.
Sometimes the broker is not able to sell the job (and forward it to an actual moving company) for various reasons – availability, low estimate, resources, etc. In a case that your move is not forwarded to an actual mover, you can get stuck without a moving company on your moving day.
Which is your actual moving company?
Some of the big moving brokers have very high standards of certification for its carriers. Usually the minimum requirements are:
- Companies have to be licensed by the United States Department of Transportation – this is absolutely mandatory since a moving company cannot operate if it is not registered with DOT. Look for US DOT or MC number on their website.
- Companies must be in business for at least 2 years – the moving brokers set such requirements to make sure they have only qualified companies in the team.
- Companies must be members of the BBB – most of the moving brokers require that their carriers are BBB accredited and maintain a good profile with them.
The Major Moving Brokers in the USA
In most cases every major moving broker works with at least 10 moving companies or van lines. After the customer is scheduled the job is assigner to a moving company that handles your move. We have many moving brokers listed in our database. Here you can see some moving reviews on some of the major moving brokers we are aware of:
Usually some of the moving brokers have rather negative reputation online, but keep in mind that they serve a lot of moves per month and the people handling the move are usually third party moving companies. In general the broker companies try to keep up the quality of service by regularly communicating with the individual companies based on customers feedback. Moving Brokers offer budget moves and save time. Alternatively you can try dealing directly with a major van line or a local moving company.
Moving Labor Brokers
There are also moving labor brokers where you can book individual moving laborers or hire moving help. Here are the most popular moving brokers for labor:
Do you know any other moving brokers? Please share them with us in the comments below.
Hi
I have a friend that just started a moving company and he wants to find a broker so that he can bid on loads. How would he go by finding a company.
Thanks in advance
Shari Broadnax