12 questions to ask movers before you book

Legitimacy: is this a real moving company?

Three questions establish whether the company on the phone is a regulated business or a person with a truck and a website. Ask them first, since the other nine assume the company passes these.

1. What is your ODOT certificate number?

Oregon regulates intrastate household goods movers through the Oregon Department of Transportation. Certified movers operate under regulated rates and services, and they have a certificate number on file. For a move that crosses state lines, the equivalent question is the company's USDOT number, which you can check yourself in the FMCSA household goods mover search.

The answer you are looking for is the number itself. The person on the phone either knows it or can read it off in a few seconds, and they will not be offended that you asked. Be wary if you get reassurance instead: we have been doing this for years, we are fully legit, nobody has ever asked that. Talk like that cannot be verified anywhere, and the number can, which is the whole reason to ask for it.

2. Who actually shows up, employees or subcontracted crews?

The company you vet on the phone is not always the crew that rings your doorbell. Some companies book jobs and hand them to subcontractors or day labor. That is not automatically bad, but it changes who trained the crew, who supervises them, and who answers for them if something goes wrong.

Companies that staff their own crews will usually just say so, and companies that subcontract should still be able to explain who trains the people they send and who answers for their work. The warning sign is vagueness: talk about the network, or partners, or a blurry line between our guys and a crew we use. If the person quoting the job cannot tell you who will be carrying your dresser, keep that in mind when you compare quotes.

3. What written documents will I receive?

Before an Oregon intrastate move, a certified mover is required to give you the state's General Information Bulletin, a consumer document that explains your rights and how regulated moves work. Beyond that, ask what you will hold in your hands before move day: a written estimate, the paperwork describing your coverage choices, and anything you signed.

You are listening for a list here: which documents, and when each one arrives. Some companies treat paperwork as something that happens on the truck, and that timing works against you, because if the first time you read the terms is off a clipboard at seven in the morning, it is too late to push back on any of them.

Money and scope: how the number is built

The middle of the call is about the estimate, and less about the total itself than about how it is constructed and what makes it move.

4. How is the estimate built, and is it binding or not binding?

Ask what the estimate is based on: an inventory you provided, a walkthrough, a video survey, or a guess from a two minute call. Then ask which kind of estimate it is. FMCSA's consumer guidance for interstate moves distinguishes binding estimates, which set the charge for the listed services, from non-binding estimates, where the final charge follows the actual weight or services. Oregon intrastate moves have their own regulated framework, and the General Information Bulletin covers how estimates work here.

Whatever you hear should name the estimate type and explain what could make the final bill differ from the paper. A single number with no method behind it gives you nothing to hold the company to later, whichever type it claims to be.

5. What specific conditions change the final number?

Asking this early is what prevents the argument on move day. Every honest mover can list the conditions that add time or charges: flights of stairs, a long carry from door to truck, an elevator that has to be shared, a driveway the truck cannot reach, packing that was supposed to be finished and was not. In Portland the list gets local quickly, with things like a West Hills driveway with no turnaround, a downtown building where the elevator reservation ends at noon, or a block where the only legal truck spot is around the corner.

Ask the company to walk through that list for your specific addresses and say which items apply. If the question gets waved off with a promise that it will all work out, push anyway. Maybe it will, but the conditions belong in writing before the crew is standing in your living room.

6. What is included, and what is not?

Two quotes with the same total can describe two very different jobs. Ask specifically about materials such as boxes, tape, wrap, and mattress bags, about travel time or a trip charge, and about disassembly and reassembly of beds and furniture. If you want the crew to pack, ask whether packing service is included or quoted separately, and for which rooms.

The useful answer here is an itemized one. Watch for the pattern where everything is included until you ask about a specific line, at which point that item turns out to be extra. However the call goes, make sure the inclusions end up in the written estimate itself rather than staying verbal.

Protection: what happens if something breaks

Nobody plans to file a claim. Ask these three anyway, because the difference between companies shows up most clearly when something has gone wrong.

7. What coverage options exist, and can I get them in writing?

Moving coverage is not one thing. FMCSA's consumer materials describe the general distinction between released value protection, a minimal weight based level, and full value protection, which costs more and covers more. Ask what options the company offers for your move, what each one covers, and what it excludes, such as boxes you packed yourself.

Any company can answer yes when you ask whether it is insured, and that single word tells you almost nothing about what happens to your specific broken item. What you actually need is the options and their terms on paper before you book.

8. How are claims handled, and in what timeframe?

Ask how you report damage, who reviews it, and how long the process takes. There are real answers to these questions at any company that has been operating for a while, because claims happen to everyone eventually.

You are hoping to hear a process: document the damage, submit it here, expect a response within a stated window. Some companies insist instead that nothing ever breaks, which is hard to believe from anyone who has carried furniture through a narrow stairwell. A company that claims a spotless record forever is either new or not being straight with you.

9. How do you protect floors, rails, and doorways?

The stuff in the truck is only half the job. The house itself, both houses, can take damage during a move: hardwood floors, stair rails, door frames, freshly painted corners. Ask what the crew brings and uses as standard practice. Floor runners, door jamb protection, rail padding, and furniture blankets on the pieces, not just in the truck.

Listen for named materials and for when they go down. A promise that the crew is careful is not the same thing, since you have no way to check carefulness in advance, while runners and padding either come off the truck in front of you or they do not.

Logistics: how move day actually runs

The last three questions are about execution. They matter more in Portland than people expect, because access here is rarely simple at both ends of a move.

10. How do you handle parking, permits, and building reservations in Portland?

Somebody has to figure out where the truck stands. Downtown and in the close-in neighborhoods, that can mean a reserved curb space through the city's permit process, and in managed buildings it means an elevator reservation with a hard start and end time. Ask who is responsible for each piece: the company, you, or the building. The worst answer is three parties each assuming someone else handled it.

Movers who handle these situations regularly tend to ask you access questions before you can ask yours, because the answers change the plan. If your move touches metered streets or a permit zone, read the Portland moving truck parking permit guide before the call so you know what the process involves and can pin down who is doing it.

11. What happens if the date or the weather changes?

Closings slip. Landlords change turnover dates. And this is Portland, so at some point it will rain on a move. Ask what the rescheduling policy is, how much notice is required, and what the crew does differently in weather. A January move here should involve rain wrap on upholstered pieces and mattresses as standard practice.

The answer should cover both halves, meaning the paperwork side of a date change and the practical side of a wet one. Be skeptical of any company that treats the question as unlikely, given how often both come up here.

12. Who is my point of contact on move day?

When the truck is late, or the elevator is locked, or the buyer's agent is standing in the driveway, who do you call? Ask whether there is a crew lead on site with the authority to make decisions, and whether the office is reachable during the move.

Ideally you get a name and a number, or at least a clear division of roles, with the crew lead running the day and the office backing them up. If everything routes through the same general line you called for the quote, you may spend part of move day on hold while a problem waits.

How to use the answers

Ask every company on your shortlist the same twelve questions and keep the answers side by side, because most of the value comes from the comparison. One company's vague answer looks normal in isolation and looks like a warning next to a competitor's specific one.

Pay attention to which questions a company avoids, because none of these are hard. A certificate number, the conditions that change the price, and who shows up on the day are all things an established mover can answer during a sales call. A company that struggles with them while it is trying to win your business will not get more forthcoming after you have paid a deposit.

Put everything in one folder: the written estimates, the coverage terms, the General Information Bulletin, your inventory list, and the access photos from both addresses. Before you make the calls, have this ready:

• Both addresses, including unit numbers and cross streets.
• The target date and any dates that absolutely do not work.
• A room by room inventory, even a rough one.
• Stairs and elevator details at each end.
• The parking situation at both addresses, with photos.
• A list of large or unusual items and anything fragile you care about.
• Time constraints such as building move hours or an elevator window.

With that in hand, every answer you collect is about your actual move, and the quotes become comparable. It also gets much easier to see which companies engaged with the details and which ones barely looked at them.