Frequently asked questions

No. The federal consumer protection rules for interstate moving are 49 CFR Part 375, and the regulation states that a carrier is subject to it only when transporting household goods for individual shippers in interstate commerce. A business relocating an office is not an individual shipper and office equipment is not household goods, so the Rights and Responsibilities booklet, the household goods survey requirement and the related estimate rules do not apply to your move.

49 CFR Part 375, section 375.101, read 2026-07-29.

Registration. Any company operating commercial vehicles hauling cargo in interstate commerce must hold a USDOT number and be registered with FMCSA, and that registration is publicly searchable. The database shows registration status, headquarters location and contact details, the type of moving business, complaint history and safety information.

FMCSA, Search for a Registered Mover.

A mover owns trucks, employs moving staff, assumes full responsibility for transporting your goods, and estimates from its own tariff. A broker owns no trucks, is not authorised to transport goods, acts as a middleman, and must base its estimates on the tariff of the mover it hires. Both must be registered with FMCSA, and the database records which one a given company is. On a commercial move the distinction determines whose insurance responds when equipment is damaged.

FMCSA, Movers vs. Brokers.

Published operator ranges put a small office under 1,500 square feet at $1,500 to $5,000, a medium office up to 5,000 square feet at $5,000 to $15,000, and larger or multi-floor facilities at $15,000 to $100,000 or more. Crew labor is quoted at $50 to $125 per hour per worker. Treat these as orders of magnitude: the publisher states they are general ranges and recommends holding a contingency of 5 to 15 percent.

Move Solutions, which states its figures are general ranges and that actual costs vary significantly.

Largely because nothing requires a physical survey before a commercial quote. The in-person survey rule belongs to the household goods regulations, which do not apply here, so a quote can legitimately be produced from a floor plan and a phone call. If you want comparable numbers, insist on a site walk before price is fixed and give every bidder the same inventory and the same access constraints.

49 CFR Part 375, section 375.101, read 2026-07-29.

Only if your contract says so. Default carrier liability is normally calculated on weight rather than value, which is far below the replacement cost of servers, lab instruments or machine tools. Because the household goods valuation rules do not apply to a business move, the liability limit, the declared value and any remedy for business interruption are contract terms you have to negotiate rather than entitlements you already hold.

49 CFR Part 375, section 375.101, read 2026-07-29.

Check the service contract before you check the mover. Many analytical and medical instruments carry contracts that are voided if anyone other than an authorised engineer decommissions and recommissions them. Where that applies, the manufacturer's engineer handles the instrument and the mover handles transport, and the requalification required after transport should be agreed in writing before the move rather than discovered afterwards.

How drives are sanitised or destroyed, what evidence you receive for each device, who holds custody between your rack and the point of destruction, and what happens to any equipment resold rather than destroyed. A serial-numbered certificate per device is the standard worth asking for. The obligation to account for data on retired equipment does not transfer with the hardware.

Yes. Requesting quotes is free and there is no obligation. Your details are only used to connect you with a relocation contractor serving your area.