Your moving experience may depend largely on whether your are moving to another state or within State. Just because you select a national moving company does not mean that you don't have to worry.

Interstate and Local Moves Interstate moves involve moving your goods from one state to another such as from Atlanta, GA to Seattle Washington. If that is what you are doing then you'll have the option of hiring an interstate mover. If you are moving from Columbia, MD to Baltimore, than you'll be able to hire a local moving company.

The first thing to remember is that the federal government regulates moving companies that are involved in interstate moves. Local movers are totally unregulated and local governments can do very little to help you if things go wrong.

If you’ll be involved in a long distance interstate move and hire a registered mover, your guardian is the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The folks at the FHWA regulate interstate moves and interstate movers have got to play by the rules if they want to stay in business. Make sure that you look over the Ready to Move? Brochure [PDF]. This 7-page brochure is somewhat relevant for local moves, so make sure you download it.

Your interstate mover is required by law to provide you with a 72-page document entitled Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move [PDF]. This is essentially the bible of interstate moves and the last word. In our articles, we're essentially summarizing and highlighting matters.

Moving is big business and unfortunately you must be on the look out for moving fraud and people who will rip you off. Trust your senses and talk to friends and colleagues at work to get their referrals and recommendations. Also contact local governments to see if they have any complaints on file.

Is an Interstate Move similar to a Local Move? Interstate moves like Allied Van lines are much more complex than local moves. They can handle overseas moves as well. However, if you get a large interstate moving company to do your move, you might be surprised to learn how similar it can be to a local move. Why? Because the large interstate movers may rely on local or regional movers and in some cases they also do local movers under their national banners.

The large interstate movers have tried to create a system where other small, medium, and large sized companies that own trucks can carry your goods under the large interstate banner. The idea here is to pick your goods up, deliver them and find someone else’s goods for the truck on the return trip. This makes even more sense if such a system can bring together the help for packing, loading, and other services like storage.

So just because you sign up with an large interstate mover doesn’t mean that your local guy won’t be in the picture. The reverse is also possible.

For example, suppose you are moving a relatively short distance from Washington DC to Charleston, South Carolina and you want nationally known “Long Haul Interstate Van Line” to do the job. You know its going to cost more, but you figure the peace of mind is worth the extra money. However, the local moving company in Washington DC that works with Long Haul may bid on your move and actually do it under contract with Long Haul Interstate. This makes sense for the industry, but not necessarily for us.

If you’re doing a local move, you’ll be contracting with a single company for the entire move. There are no rules here so you have to be careful and choose wisely. Irrespective of whom does the job, remember that the money you pay for your move will be divided among a lot of different parties who perform the work.