FMCSA Updates Transportation of Household Goods Regulations

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was established in 2000 within the Department of Transportation (DOT).

The Administration’s mission is to ensure safety in motor carrier operations by enforcing safety regulations and targeting high-risk carriers and commercial motor vehicle drivers. 

The FMCSA has recently amended the Transportation of Household Goods regulations in order to include recommendations from the Household Goods Consumer Protection Working Group.

• Physical surveys are now required for all shipments and can be virtual
• New estimates are required in case of changes prior to loading
• Information about consumer protection must be provided sooner
• Order for Service document is not required anymore
• Bill of Lading must include additional info and be provided at least 3 days before loading
• Consumers cannot be required to sign blank documents
• Moving companies must use an invoice to collect charges
• FMCSA’s Ready to Move? pamphlet must be prominently displayed

These regulatory changes will have a positive effect on both the transportation industry and consumers. In reality, the updates are set to streamline the requirements for move-related paperwork (documents), thus improving the overall efficiency during all stages of a household move.

Also, the Administration is making minor changes to the Brokers of Property regulations with the purpose of increasing clarity and consistency. These updates will result in reduced costs for household goods motor carriers and provide clarity for individual shippers.

But more importantly, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s updates to the Consumer Protection regulations will support all joined efforts to fight relocation fraud, which in turn will help consumers to stay safe when using professional moving services.

Here’s what you need to know about the FMCSA’s changes to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations.

Physical surveys are now required for all shipments and can be virtual

The updates to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) include the surveys conducted by professional moving companies with the aim of providing accurate cost estimates to their customers.

An on-site physical survey is when representatives of a moving company visit your home in person and survey the place in order to see up close the number and nature of all the household goods that are to be transported to the destination place. Also, the secondary role of in-home surveys is for the pros to identify any potential dangers and difficulties that can slow down or even halt temporarily their progress on Moving day.

According to the new amendments, physical surveys will now be required for all shipments unless

• they are waived by the shipper of household goods in writing;
• the waiver is signed by the moving company before the household items are loaded onto the vehicle, and
• the waiver is retained as a supplement to the Bill of Lading.

It’s important to know that prior to this amendment, physical surveys were not required for shipments beyond 50 miles from the moving company’s location.

Another important change to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations is that physical surveys can now be both on-site (in-home) and virtual surveys. Virtual surveys are conducted remotely and can be either LIVE or PRE-RECORDED in a suitable video format.

That way, professional moving companies will be able to see up-close and identify clearly all the household items that are to be transported to the new address.

New estimates are required in case of changes prior to loading

Another change to the FMCSA’s Transportation of Household Goods regulations is about estimates received before the shipment is loaded onto the moving vehicle.

According to the new rule, moving companies are required to prepare a new estimate – either a binding one or a non-binding one – when people happen to add additional items to the shipment or they request extra moving services before their items are loaded onto the truck.

Before this update, movers had to prepare revised estimates (not new ones) when their customers added extra items or requested additional services from them.

It’s important to note that an estimate – regardless of whether it’s a binding one or a non-binding one – still cannot be changed or replaced when loading the vehicle has already started. Also, a new Bill of Lading must be issued by the mover when a new estimate is provided.

Information about consumer protection must be provided sooner

In the past, moving companies had to provide the Rights & Responsibilities When You Move booklet to their customers before the latter execute the Order for Service.

Now the new regulations require that movers and household goods brokers provide people with both the FMCSA’s Ready to Move? pamphlet and the Rights & Responsibilities When You Move booklet when they provide a written estimate to shippers of household goods.

Also, now movers are required to provide an accurate estimate of the charges and fees, details about the applicable sections of their tariff, and more information about their arbitration program and their consumer complaint and inquiry process before the execution of the Bill of Lading.

Before, the above information had to be provided before the execution of the Order for Service.

Order for Service document is not required anymore

According to the FMCSA’s update to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations, moving companies can now eliminate the Order for Service document. Instead, the role of the Order for Service document will now be transferred to the Bill of Lading.

Before the amendment, full-service movers were required by law to prepare an Order for Service document for their customers’ shipments. The people who were moving house were entitled to a copy of the Order for Service which was a part of the contract between them and their respective movers.

If a moving company decides to continue to issue an Order for Service, it should conflict with other provisions of the Transportation of Household Goods regulations.

Bill of Lading must include additional info and be provided at least 3 days before loading

The new regulations dictate the Bill of Lading must now include the physical address, telephone number, and DOT number of all moving companies that will take part in transporting the shipment.

Movers are now required to prepare and issue the Bill of Lading at least 3 days before loading the shipment. Moving companies must also sign and date the Bill of Lading at least 3 days before the shipment is set to be loaded.

Additionally, moving companies must give their customers the opportunity to rescind the Bill of Lading without penalty for a 3-day period after the people who are moving have already signed the document.

Before this update, there wasn’t a specific requirement for when a mover must provide, sign, and date the Bill of Lading or Order for Service documents.

It’s important to note that the new regulations do not exempt house moves that have been scheduled less than 3 days in advance from the abovementioned requirements.

Consumers cannot be required to sign blank documents

The new changes to the Consumer Protection regulations are designed to better protect consumers from possible relocation fraud.

According to the new regulations, people who are about to move house can never be required to sign a blank Bill of Lading or any other move-related document.

The only exception to this rule is that consumers may be required to sign an incomplete document before the shipment gets loaded if that said document contains all relevant house moving information except the actual shipment weight in the case of non-binding estimates or any other information that’s required to determine the final costs for services that cannot be determined prior to loading the shipment onto the moving truck.

Moving companies must use an invoice to collect charges

According to the new changes in the Transportation of Household Goods regulations made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the freight bill is now not a required document. Instead, moving companies that are set to collect charges after the shipment is delivered must issue an invoice that contains all the relevant information that is required.

Unless a shipment is being transported on a binding estimate, the invoice must identify each service that’s been performed, the rate or charge per service performed, and the total charges for each service.

FMCSA’s Ready to Move? pamphlet must be prominently displayed

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has adopted the 2013 updates to the Rights & Responsibilities When You Move booklet, meaning that moving companies are allowed to distribute only hard copies or electronic copies of the 2013 version of the booklet. Movers may also provide links to a true and accurate copy of the 2013 version on their websites.

This also means that pre-2013 versions of the Rights & Responsibilities booklet should be disposed of properly, and all Internet or electronic versions or links should be updated as soon as possible.

Additionally, the updates to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations state that all moving companies and household goods brokers that have websites must display a link prominently to the FMCSA’s Ready to Move? pamphlet. The link is required to lead either to the FMCSA website or to a true and accurate copy of the pamphlet on the movers’ or brokers’ websites.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

FMCSA has released a Notice of Enforcement Discretion Determination stating that the agency will not enforce the above-mentioned changes to the Transportation of Household Goods regulations until October 31, 2022.