What makes a move long-distance rather than local?

Crossing a state line, not covering a particular number of miles. A household-goods move between two states falls under FMCSA jurisdiction and requires a carrier with active USDOT and MC authority, priced on weight and distance under federal rules. A move that stays inside one state is governed by that state's law and is usually priced by the hour instead. Carriers and consumers both get this wrong in border counties, where the interstate move can be the shorter of the two.

How is the mileage part of a long-distance quote calculated?

In descending bands rather than at a flat rate: first 100 mi at $4.00/mi, 100–500 mi at $2.60/mi, 500–1,500 mi at $1.60/mi, over 1,500 mi at $1.10/mi for the 2-bedroom reference truck, scaled by home size. Handling — crew and hours at each end — is charged separately and does not change with distance. That structure is why a 2,650-mile move never costs proportionally more than a 285-mile one.

How long will a long-distance delivery take?

Across the 24 corridors tracked here the delivery window runs 2–12 days from the moment the trailer is loaded, 3–7 days on the 1,050-mile median. Carriers quote a window rather than a date because interstate trailers consolidate several households heading the same direction. Ask for the first available delivery date in writing on the bill of lading — that is the date the carrier is contractually bound from.

Public directory · Long distance

Long-Distance & Interstate Moving directory listings

Every long-distance member holds its own active USDOT number and FMCSA interstate operating authority, so the company on your estimate is the company on the truck. Each profile shows the carrier's authority, insurance status, and the corridors it actually runs, and you can verify all of it yourself at FMCSA's SAFER database. Browse the network below, or tell us your route and we'll match you with the one carrier that fits it.

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The network already covers long-distance & interstate moving, members are publishing their profiles category by category. Tell us your route and we'll match you with one licensed carrier today.

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Browse other categories in the full directory, or verify any carrier's authority at FMCSA's SAFER database (safer.fmcsa.dot.gov) before you book.

How long-distance mileage is actually charged

Transport mileage bands from the published rate model behind every corridor page and the quote quiz. Rates are for the 2-bedroom reference truck and are scaled by home size; they step DOWN with distance. Estimates, not quotes.
Mileage band	Rate	What it means
First 100 mi	$4.00/mi	The most expensive miles on any move, long or short
100–500 mi	$2.60/mi	35% cheaper per mile than the band above
500–1,500 mi	$1.60/mi	38% cheaper per mile than the band above
Over 1,500 mi	$1.10/mi	The cheapest mileage you can buy — why coast-to-coast is not proportionally dearer

This is the category the site is built around. 24 state-to-state corridors and 70 metro-pair lanes are tracked here in depth, running from California to Nevada at 285 miles up to California to Florida at 2,650. Delivery windows across that set run 2–12 days once a trailer is loaded, and on the median 1,050-mile corridor a 2-bedroom household lands at $2,800–$5,675 with a 3–7-day window.

The authority question is the one that separates this category from every other on the page. A household-goods move that crosses a state line is federally regulated no matter how short it is, so the carrier must hold active USDOT and MC operating authority from FMCSA and carry the liability and cargo coverage federal law requires. Distance is irrelevant to that test — 1,170 of the 3,144 counties in the United States border another state, and from any one of them a twenty-minute drive can be an interstate move while a cross-town one is not.

Two structural facts follow from the mileage table. First, a quote built on one flat per-mile figure is a quote to question: the model charges $4.00/mi for the first 100 miles and $1.10/mi beyond 1,500, so the per-mile average of a long haul is nothing like its marginal rate. Second, the date moves the number more than the negotiation does — the same model adds 15% in peak season and 8% in the last five days of a month.

Long distance questions

Crossing a state line, not covering a particular number of miles. A household-goods move between two states falls under FMCSA jurisdiction and requires a carrier with active USDOT and MC authority, priced on weight and distance under federal rules. A move that stays inside one state is governed by that state's law and is usually priced by the hour instead. Carriers and consumers both get this wrong in border counties, where the interstate move can be the shorter of the two.
In descending bands rather than at a flat rate: first 100 mi at $4.00/mi, 100–500 mi at $2.60/mi, 500–1,500 mi at $1.60/mi, over 1,500 mi at $1.10/mi for the 2-bedroom reference truck, scaled by home size. Handling — crew and hours at each end — is charged separately and does not change with distance. That structure is why a 2,650-mile move never costs proportionally more than a 285-mile one.
Across the 24 corridors tracked here the delivery window runs 2–12 days from the moment the trailer is loaded, 3–7 days on the 1,050-mile median. Carriers quote a window rather than a date because interstate trailers consolidate several households heading the same direction. Ask for the first available delivery date in writing on the bill of lading — that is the date the carrier is contractually bound from.

Keep reading: Driving distance between states · What a long-distance move costs · How to choose a long-distance mover · Every corridor on the site.