Movers & Moving Companies

A moving company, removalist, or van line is a company that helps people and businesses relocate their goods from one place to another. Typically they use moving vans, but for international moves or where storage is required, they may use special containerised vans or shipping containers.

National companies are typically organized with local branches or affiliated agents. That affiliation may be in the form of a franchise, wherein the local agent is a franchise of a national company, or a cooperative, wherein the local agent owns a share of the national company. There are also many small independent moving companies who operate within any given local area. In the United States all legitimate moving companies must be licensed with the Federal Highway Administration and/or their State Commerce Commission.

Embedded within the moving industry are the services of truck/trailer/moving equipment rental companies and companies selling moving supplies for people who want to pack and move themselves. Then they use a professional mover to load a moving van, drive it to the new residence and then unload it there. Rental companies usually offer some training information for DIY movers who will be using their rental trucks, trailers or equipment to relocate themselves.

Some people obtain packing supplies with which to pack their household goods themselves in order to keep their moving costs down. These folks are called PBOs (packed by owner) by their movers. Because they are not trained to properly pack their things, damages are more prevalent with their shipments and invariably they become disputable after the move. This is a major problem within the industry.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 40 million people have moved annually over the last decade.