How we choose movers
What the position, the check mark, Pro and Top mean in a list, how a business gets onto a list, who we leave out and the registers where you can check us.
Updated
MoverSlate lists moving companies in the 50 largest cities in the United States. At the time of writing that is 434 lists and 2,215 businesses, from local crews that charge by the hour to long-distance carriers and piano specialists. This page explains what you are looking at on each list, how a business gets onto one, who we leave out and where you can check us.
What you are looking at in a list
- The position
- The order in a list is editorial. A paid Pro page does not move a business up, and the only place money can buy is the Top slot described below.
- The check mark
- A blue tick sits beside the name when the owner has been verified as running the business. It says who is behind the page, and says nothing about how good the service is.
- Pro
- A fuller page for the business: its own description, photos, contact details and services. A Pro business keeps the position it already earned.
- Top
- A spot among the first three of a list, always marked as Top. Only a business that is already in the list can hold one.
- The lists
- Moving companies, with narrower pages for moving and storage, apartment moves, small moves, packing services and senior moves. Then long-distance movers, piano movers, and commercial and office movers.
- The date
- Each guide page carries the day we last checked it. We change that day only after we have read the sources again.
How a business gets in, and where it lands
We read what each business offers and sort it by the job. A crew that moves a one-bedroom flat for a few hundred dollars is a different thing from a van line that crosses the country, and a piano mover is neither. A business sits in the list for the work it is actually known for.
We look for a reputation that anyone can check in public and that holds up over time, not a handful of glowing lines.
The company's own website and channels show what it offers, how it presents its services and whether the name and address match the paperwork it would show you.
Listing is free, and a business does not have to ask for it. Paying never gets a business in and never lifts it. Pro and Top are open only to businesses that earned a place first.
Who we leave out of a list
Moving is the sector where the most customers get burned, and a lot of that comes from companies that are not what they look like.
- Brokers and lead-sale websites. A site that takes your details and sells them on, or books a move it will not carry out itself, is not a mover. If a broker turns up in a search for movers, the federal booklet says it must be registered too, and the company that arrives must be the one in your paperwork.
- Truck rental. You drive and load yourself, which is a different service from a crew.
- Storage only. A warehouse with no moving crew belongs to another kind of list.
- Junk haulers, car transporters and box shops. They carry things, but not a household.
Where to check us
We do not ask you to trust a list without looking at the registers. Each guide on the site sends you to an official source, and each figure on it says where it was read and when.
| Source | What it settles | Where we use it |
|---|---|---|
| FMCSA Licensing and Insurance search | Whether a carrier is registered for interstate moves, by USDOT or MC number | Is this mover legal? |
| 49 CFR Part 375, and its customer booklet | Estimates, the 110 percent rule, valuation and claims on state-line moves | When a move goes wrong |
| 49 U.S. Code 13901 | The registration a motor carrier needs before it moves goods for pay | Is this mover legal? |
| State agencies | Licenses for moves inside one state, listed state by state with the permit and a lookup where one exists | The table in Is this mover legal? |
| The price pages of the companies themselves | What a crew by the hour and a whole move cost, with each figure read again on the company page | What movers charge |
If you spot a mistake
If a business has closed, changed its name, lost a license or does not do what its listing says, tell us through the address on our contact page and name the page. We check the claim against the registers above and the company's own site, then correct the page or leave it as it is and say why. A business owner can ask for a listing to be reviewed in the same way, and the answer does not depend on whether it has a paid plan.