110 Percent Rule: The law requires that movers must deliver your possessions for a charge that does not exceed the price quoted in a Non-binding Estimate by more than 10 percent.

Additional or Accessorial Services: Services that may be required either because you have requested them or because building regulations require them, and may result in additional charges. They include servicing of appliances, packing, unpacking, and carrying up or down stairs.

Advanced Charges: These charges are for services performed by someone other than the mover, at your request. They are paid by the moving company, and added to the charges on your Bill of Lading.

Agent: A local mover who has been authorized to represent a larger, national moving company

Appliance Dolly: You can use it to load or unload large and heavy appliances and furniture with ease. It is provided by self serve movers.

Appliance Service: This service is performed by a third party, and involves preparing major electrical appliances for transportation. Additional charges have to be paid for this.

Assessed Value Coverage: This is the amount you will have to pay per $1,000 of assessed value to cover your household items to their fully assessed value. If you choose this form of coverage, a cash value will have to be assigned to the things that you will be moving.

Basic Value (Released Value): As per the law, moving companies are required to provide a minimal amount of free coverage for your possessions. Usually it amounts to only 60 cents of per pound of damaged or lost goods. This does not amount to much, and if an expensive item that does not weigh much is damaged or lost in transit, you may get only a fraction of its value.

Bill of Lading: This is the contract between the moving service and the customer, and it also serves as a receipt. Sign it only after you have read and understood it, and keep it safe.

Broker: This is a company that makes arrangements for transportation of goods belonging to someone else, and uses for hire carriers to do the actual transportation. A broker does not actually take possession of the goods, or assume responsibility for them.

Carrier: This is the mover who is transporting your household goods.

Cash on Delivery (COD): This involves making payment at the time of delivery at your new home, or at the warehouse. Besides cash, many companies also accept checks, credit cards or debit cards.

Certified Scale: A scale designed for weighing motor vehicles, which has been certified by an authorized scale inspection and licensing authority.

Cost of Move: An estimate of how much a move will cost based on information provided by a customer to a house moving company.

Depreciated Value Coverage: This is a type of coverage that allows customers to claim the depreciated value of an item that is lost, stolen, or damaged in transit. The depreciated value is less than the replacement value, which is what you would have to spend to replace the item.

Divider Installation: The amount a customer will have to pay to have a divider installed

Divider: If self service movers place commercial goods behind your belongings in a trailer, they install a divider between the two shipments to keep them separate and secure.

Estimate Binding: A binding estimate provided by a mover involves a flat price based on an inventory, and an onsite inspection. The flat price will be applicable regardless of how long the job takes.

Estimate Non-binding: A non-binding estimate provided by a mover is based on the estimated weight of the shipment, and the additional services requested. These estimates are likely to change on the basis of the actual weight of your shipment, the tariff provisions, and the actual services provided. As per the 110 percent rule, the actual charges may be up to 10% more than the estimated charges.

Expedited Service: This is an agreement through which the moving & storage company agrees to deliver the shipment by an agreed date, in exchange for charges that are based on a higher minimum weight.

Flight Charge: This is an additional fee that is to be paid for carrying your possessions up or down one or more flights of steps at the point of origin or the destination. If elevators large enough to carry household goods are available, this extra fee need not be paid.

Force Majeure: This is a clause that protects parties if they are not able to fulfill a contract due to circumstances beyond their control. This applies to events that could not have been avoided by the exercise of due care.

For-hire Carrier: A trucking company that is in the business of transporting goods belonging to others

Freight Forwarder: This is a company that arranges for the transportation of cargo that belongs to others, through For-hire Carriers. A Freight Forwarder actually takes possession of the shipment, and is responsible for it from the point of origin to the destination.

Freight Service: This is a low-cost alternative to a full service move. A freight service mover will collect your possessions from your old home and deliver them to the doorstep of your new home. All your possessions must be packed in moving boxes in advance, and furniture must not be covered with blankets.

Full Service Mover: A full service moving company will collect things from each room of your old home and put them in the rooms of your new home. Individual pieces of furniture are packed in moving blankets to keep them safe during the move. Full service moving companies can also provide complete packing and unpacking services, as well as appliance service for an additional charge.

Full Value Protection (FVP): If you opt for Full Value Protection (FVP), and your possessions are lost, damaged or destroyed in transit, the mover will have to repair, replace with similar items, or settle in cash at the current market replacement value, regardless of the age of the lost or damaged items.

Guaranteed Pick-up and Delivery Service: In this type of service the household moving company guarantees the dates of service, and offers a reimbursement for any delays. Minimum weight requirements are often applicable for this premium service.

High Value Article: They are classified as items included in a shipment that are valued at more than $100 per pound. High value items need to be disclosed to the mover to ensure that they are adequately protected.

Household Goods Motor Carrier: A motor carrier that is in the business of transporting household goods

Household Goods: When this term is used in connection with moving, it means the personal belongings or property that is used, or meant to be used in a home. Transportation charges for moving household goods must be paid by an Individual Shipper, or by another individual on the behalf of the shipper.

Impracticable Operations: Operating conditions may make it impossible for carriers to pick up the shipment or to deliver it. Smaller equipment and more labor may be required to complete pick up or delivery in difficult conditions, even if the customer did not order it.

Individual Shipper: This is an individual who is the consignor, or consignee of a shipment of household goods, and is identified as such in the Bill of Lading. The Individual Shipper is the person who owns the goods being transported and pays the transportation charges.

Interstate Move: A move across state borders, regardless of the distance traveled. A move that begins and ends in the same state, but involves moving the shipment through another state or place outside the United States is also classified as an Interstate Move.

Intrastate Move: A move within one state that does not cross any state border

Inventory: This is a detailed list of the customer’s household goods, which includes the description, and condition of each item.

License: The law requires home movers to obtain licenses to transport household goods within states, or across state borders. Customers can use the license numbers to identify the movers, and to view their operating authority and insurance coverage. Additional license information based on the type of moves carried out by the household movers may be required by different states.

Linehaul Charges: This is a basic billing method for long distance moving companies, in which charges are calculated based on the mileage and weight of the shipment. This calculation does not include any Additional Charges.

Loading Ramp: This is a ramp that is provided by Self Service Moving Companies to help you to load your possessions on to a trailer.

Local Moving: This is a move involving household goods in the same state. Moves of this type are usually based on hourly rates, and are regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) or some other regulatory body of the state.

Long Carry: An additional charge that must be paid if items need to be carried for an excessive distance to the truck on which they are to be loaded

Motor Carrier: This is a company that provides transportation services by truck. The two types of Motor Carriers are For-hire, and Private Carriers.

Moving Company: A company that is in the business of moving household goods

Order for Service: A document that authorizes a moving service to transport the Household Goods of an Individual Shipper

Order Number or Bill of Lading: The number that is used to identify your shipment and to track it

Packing Service: Full Service Movers can pack your possessions before the move, and unpack them after the move.

Peak Season Rates: House movers charge a premium during certain periods of the year. These rates are usually charged in the summer months.

Pickup and Delivery Charge: An additional charge that is paid for transporting your possessions between the Storage in Transit warehouse and your home

Private Carrier: This is a company that transports its own cargo by truck. It is usually part of a business that manufactures, uses, sells and / or buys the cargo that is being transported.

Reasonable Dispatch: This involves the transportation of your possessions on the dates or in the period that has been agreed upon by you and the mover, as shown on the Bill of Lading / Order for Service.

Released Value (See Basic Value)

Self Service Mover: Movers who provide this service will drop one or more crates or a trailer at your home, in which you can pack your things. The mover will collect the shipment in a few days, and deliver it to your new home, where you can unpack.

Shuttle Service: This involves using a smaller vehicle to transport goods to or from a location that is not accessible by a big truck.

Stair Carry Charge: An extra charge paid for carrying goods up or down flights of stairs.

Storage in Transit (SIT): This refers to temporary warehousing of your possessions before they are transported to your new home. This may be necessary if your home is not ready for occupation, or if you cannot accept delivery on the agreed date or within the agreed on period. In these circumstances, you will have to pay for any additional Storage in Transit, as well as Warehouse Charges, and Final Delivery Charges.

Tariff: It is to be issued by motor carriers, and it must include an accurate description of the services provided to the public, specific applicable rates, and terms and conditions. It must enable customers to determine the exact rates and service terms applicable to their shipments.

Valuation: This is coverage of household goods while they are in the possession of the mover, and it based on the tariff. It can be claimed only if you can prove that the damage was caused by negligence on the part of the mover. Valuation does not cover Acts of God like storms and earthquakes, rioting civil commotion or strikes. Valuation is not insurance, and claims are settled by the mover who caused the damage or loss. The value of your possessions for this purpose may be assessed on the basis of Basic Value, Assessed Value of Replacement Value.

Warehouse Handling: This is an additional charge that is paid to the mover for placing and removing the goods within the warehouse. It is applicable every time Storage in Transit service is provided.

Your Rights and Responsibilities When you Move: A document prepared by the Federal Highway Authority (FHA) to educate customers about their rights and responsibilities as shippers of household goods.