Your household goods carrier, Columbine Moving & Storage or any legitimate mover or broker, will provide you with “Your Rights & Responsibilities When You Move” booklet at the time of your in home interstate move estimate. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has designed this booklet to help consumers (shippers) understand their rights and responsibilities. It is important that you understand the terms and conditions of the Bill of Lading or moving contract and other terms that you may encounter in the moving business and this booklet will answer your questions.
A legitimate mover or broker will be registered with the FMCSA, which legitimizes them in the moving and transporting of your household goods. When the salesman comes to your home to do an estimate, he is required to provide you with the following information:
- A written estimate
- “Ready to Move” brochure
- Information about the mover’s arbitration program
- Written notice about access to the mover’s tariff
- The process for handling claims
- The “Your Rights & Responsibilities When You Move” booklet
Your responsibilities as the customer is to
- Read all moving documents
- Be available at the time of pickup and delivery of your shipment. If you aren’t able to be there, arrange to have a representative take your place.
- Notifiy your mover immediately if there is a change such as you find you are shipping additional items. The mover or broker needs to make sure there is enough room on the truck to accommodate additional items. Other changes that need to be addressed immediately are if you find you need to change the loading and delivery dates or you find out that the house is not ready at delivery. If this occurs, storage in transit needs to be arranged.
- If a claim does occurs, it should be filed promptly.
The “Your Rights & Responsibilities When You Move” booklet will describe in detail what is a binding estimate opposed to a non-binding estimate. It will go over the mover’s liability describing full replacement value protection opposed to waiving of full replacement protection and releasing your shipment at 60 cents per article. It describes how to file a claim if this occurs. The Booklet will go over all moving documents that you will encounter such as:
- Order for Service
- Inventory
- Bill of Lading
- Freight Bill
- Weight Tickets
DO NOT SIGN BLANK OR INCOMPLETE MOVING DOCUMENTS.
The final pages of the Booklet will go over collection of charges, pickup & delivery, storage in transit, and the resolving of disputes with your mover.
See the Rights and Responsibility Booklet, right here, online.
To protect yourself and become knowledgeable about your move, read the “Your Rights and Responsibilities When you Move” booklet.