Licenses, credentials and how to check them

Our registration numbers

You will find both of these in the footer of every page on this site, on our paperwork and on the trucks.

• NYSDOT #42381, our New York State registration.
• USDOT #4161235, our federal registration.
• Business address: our yard is in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, serving Suffolk and Nassau Counties.
• Phone (631) 256-4498 and email hello@wearemoovers.com, which are the same details we answer on seven days a week.

What a NYSDOT number is

The New York State Department of Transportation regulates household goods carriers operating within New York State. A mover carrying your belongings from one New York address to another needs to be registered with the state, and that registration is what a NYSDOT number identifies.

For a move from, say, one Suffolk town to another, or from Nassau into Suffolk, this is the registration that applies. A company that cannot give you a NYSDOT number for an in-state household move is a company to ask more questions of.

What a USDOT number is

A USDOT number is issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and identifies a carrier operating in interstate commerce. It is the number that follows a company through federal safety records, inspections and complaint history.

If your move crosses a state line, federal rules apply to it. Those rules also require an interstate household goods mover to give you certain consumer information before the move, including the federal booklet on your rights and responsibilities when you move. Ask for it, and read it.

Checking a mover yourself, in about five minutes

None of this requires a phone call to anybody, and it is worth doing before you hand a deposit to any company, including this one.

• Ask for the numbers in writing before you book. A registered mover will give them without hesitating.
• Look up the USDOT number in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's public company lookup. It returns the carrier's legal and trading name, address, fleet size and safety record, so you can confirm the number belongs to the company you are actually talking to.
• Check the NYSDOT registration through the New York State Department of Transportation for anything moving within the state.
• Match the name. A number that comes back under a different company name than the one quoting you is the single biggest red flag in this industry.
• Ask for a certificate of insurance and read who the insured party is. The name on the certificate should match the name on your estimate.
• Ask whether the crew on your job is employed by the company quoting you or subcontracted, and get the answer before you book.
• Get the estimate in writing with an address, a phone number and the registration numbers printed on it. A quote with no company details on it is not a quote.

Certificates of insurance, and why buildings ask

A certificate of insurance, usually shortened to COI, is a one-page document from an insurer confirming that a company carries specific coverage, at specific limits, for a specific period. Managed buildings, co-ops and commercial landlords commonly require one before they will let a mover in the door, and they often want to be named on it as the certificate holder.

Buildings vary in what they demand, down to exact limit amounts and exact wording of the entity name. The way this goes wrong is always the same: the request arrives the day before the move and the wording is not what the building wanted.

Send us the building's requirements as soon as you book, with the exact certificate holder name and address they specified. Confirm how much lead time the office needs to issue a COI and how a customer should send the building's requirements in.

Valuation is not the same thing as insurance

This is the distinction that surprises people most, and it is worth understanding before anything is loaded. A mover's liability for your goods is set by the level of valuation you select on the paperwork. That is not an insurance policy; it is the limit of what the carrier is responsible for.

On interstate moves, federal rules define a basic level of carrier liability calculated by weight, which is included at no extra charge, alongside a fuller level of protection that costs more and covers considerably more. The two are very different in practice, and the difference shows up on the one day you need it.

Your own homeowners or renters policy may or may not cover belongings in transit. Read it, or ask your insurer directly, rather than assuming either way.

Confirm which valuation levels Moovers offers on local and long-distance moves, what each costs, and where the customer selects one.