Posted: 5/07/09 at 4:53pm | IP Logged

Thanks for your question. It's really quite simple: when a move takes place within a state (New York State to New York State for example) the "little name" mover operates as itself and moves your shipment under the operating authority granted to the "little name" mover by the local governing state authority (the NYS Department of Transportation in the case of New York State). These state-to-state moves are called "intrastate" moves. However, when your move across state lines the move is generally performed under the operating authority of the "big name" (the national van line brand name) which is granted authority by the Federal Department of Transportation. I say "generally" because many smaller moving companies are not affiliated with a big national "van line" brand name and these small companies often operate under there own Federal Department of Transportation authority for moves that cross state lines (which are called "interstate" moves).

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the quality of services between different agents of the same van line brand name can vary greatly. Most van line agents are independently owned and operated. The American consumer tends to view the van line national brands as they would McDonalds, and certainly the quality control exercised by an organization such as McDonalds is extraordinary. But that's not always the case with national van lines where (sometimes) the quality differential between ABC Movers and XYZ Movers (both agents for BigGreatVanLines, Inc.) can be dramatic. While all of the national brands attempt to address quality control with various "Quality Programs," the nature of the agent/van line agency agreement...and the nature of the relocation industry...sometimes allows for significant differences between agents from the same van line. As a result, a customer who had a great experience with BigGreatVanLines, Inc. some years ago...but who had a bad experience with BigGreatVanLines, Inc. some years later...will ask "what happened to BigGreatVanLines, Inc.!!!?" Well...nothing happened...it's just that the customer chose a good BigGreatVanLines agent 10 years ago and a not so good BigGreatVanLines agent for the latter move. What's a consumer to do? That's simple: do research on the quality of the individual van lines agent...not just the big national brand. Which leads us to the conclusion that a moving job is not a hamburger.

Thanks for your good question!