What is the bill of lading on an interstate move?

It is the transportation contract. It records the parties, the shipment, and the payment terms. Read it before loading and keep a copy with you.

Is mover valuation the same thing as moving insurance?

No. Valuation is the carrier's level of responsibility under the contract. Ordinary liability is full value protection unless you waive it in writing. A separate policy, if you buy one, is a different document.

How should I document damage at delivery?

Write visible exceptions on the delivery papers, photograph the item and the packing, and then file the carrier's written claim. The note on the receipt is not, standing alone, the claim.

FMCSA Interstate Moving Rights: Documents, Valuation, and Claims (2026)

Before booking: estimate and the two federal publications

For an interstate household-goods move, ask for a written estimate based on a real look at the shipment. With that estimate, the mover must give you the FMCSA booklet Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move, as a copy or as a link you acknowledge, and the separate Ready to Move tips, again as a copy or a link. 49 CFR 375.213. The tips brochure is not the booklet.

Keep the estimate you accepted and any revision. If the scope changes, ask for an updated writing. A phone promise is not the revision.

Before loading: order, contract, and inventory

The order for service records the arrangements. The bill of lading is the contract and should identify the parties, the shipment, and the payment terms. Read it before loading and keep your copy outside the shipment.

Match legal names and numbers to the record you saved.
Check that the pickup and delivery windows match what you expected.
Review the item inventory and the condition notes before you sign.
Refuse a blank or unfinished form.

Start with a documented route

See a modeled range, then request written quotes only if you choose. Tie every estimate to the same inventory.

Estimate My Move

No email required to see your route's cost range
Verify every provider's USDOT number before hiring
Your estimate is yours to keep either way

Prefer to talk it through? Call (561) 220-0117, free, no obligation.

Choose valuation with the shipment in front of you

49 CFR 375.201 makes replacement value, up to the declared value, the ordinary liability. Released-rate liability applies only when you waive full value protection in writing. The lower-priced waiver can leave a heavy, costly item with very little recovery. It is not the automatic coverage.

Ask how pairs, electronics, boxes you packed, and high-value articles are treated. Keep proof of condition for anything hard to replace. This choice is carrier liability under the contract, not a homeowners policy.

At delivery: make the record while the facts are visible

Reconcile the inventory as items arrive. Note missing or visibly damaged pieces on the delivery documents, photograph them, and keep packing that shows the damage.

Follow the carrier's written claim instructions and the deadline printed on the bill of lading. A notation on the receipt, standing alone, does not file the claim under 49 CFR 370.3. An enforcement complaint to FMCSA does not settle that claim either.

Sources checked

Last reviewed October 13, 2026. Planning field notes, not legal advice.

Questions from the route

Frequently asked questions

It is the transportation contract. It records the parties, the shipment, and the payment terms. Read it before loading and keep a copy with you.

Start with a documented route

See a modeled range, then request written quotes only if you choose. Tie every estimate to the same inventory.

Estimate My Move

Or call Call (561) 220-0117, no email required to see your number.