Best Full-Service Moving Companies

Key takeaways:

• The best moving companies we found are Atlas Van Lines, United Van Lines, Mayflower, North American Van Lines and Allied Van Lines.

• Don’t rely on websites that claim to tell you how much your move is going to cost. None of the companies we reviewed provide binding, reliable quotes online without seeing your stuff and your home first. 

• Legit interstate moving companies — or movers that transport items over state lines — have a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) registration number, among other things.

We looked for the best full-service moving companies based on 13 factors, including whether they offer reliable quotes online, have consumer-friendly payment policies, provide predictable deliveries and have low complaint rates. Atlas Van Lines scored the highest in these categories, making it our top pick.

Some common themes:

• Most of the companies we reviewed offer additional services such as packing, unpacking, car shipping, storage or junk removal.

• Most don’t require an upfront deposit. 

• All the companies take credit cards, but some charge a fee to do so. 

• None provide reliable quotes without first seeing the customer’s belongings and assessing the difficulty of the move.

Our analysis focused on the largest full-service moving companies by market share and number of monthly Google searches (as a proxy for interest). Several smaller moving companies also offer great service but weren’t included in these results.

Atlas was the highest-rated mover in the group. It charges zero upfront deposits and no fee to pay with a credit card (though you’ll get a 1% discount if you pay via e-check). Customers can track deliveries and contact customer service through multiple channels.

Of movers we surveyed, Atlas had one of the lowest rates of Better Business Bureau and U.S. Department of Transportation complaints when adjusted by fleet size. The company offers virtual walkthroughs for compiling quotes, and its online move portal lets you see where your stuff is, get copies of moving documents, get notifications and make payments.

United is owned by UniGroup, which also owns Mayflower. It’s a solid full-service contender that, like our top pick Atlas, delivered the goods on many of our evaluation hurdles.

People with narrow moving windows may find it problematic that it only provides day-certain delivery through its Snapmoves Priority service, which is only available for small moves and comes with an extra fee. (A small move, as United defines it, includes moving from an apartment with three bedrooms or fewer, a one-bedroom house or a dorm room.) Also, the company had slightly more customer complaints than Atlas when adjusted for fleet size.

Mayflower is owned by UniGroup, which also owns United Van Lines. Accordingly, it’s not surprising that the company’s offerings are very similar to United, though Mayflower had a noticeably higher rate of Better Business Bureau complaints. Like United, Mayflower does virtual walkthroughs, which can make getting a quote more convenient.

Allied is a full-service mover, meaning that it will also pack and unpack your stuff, ship your car, store stuff and haul away empty boxes (for an extra fee) if you want. The company is owned by Sirva, which also owns North American Van Lines.

We like that the company doesn’t require a deposit before moving, but we don’t like that it charges a fee to pay with a credit card. It also doesn’t offer day-certain delivery unless you have a small shipment that qualifies for its Allied Express product. Its customer satisfaction scores are average compared to the other providers we reviewed.

North American is owned by Sirva, which also owns Allied. Accordingly, it’s not surprising that the company has offerings very similar to Allied and scored the same in most of the ratings categories. The company didn’t respond to our questions about whether it charges customers a fee to pay with a credit card (its sister company Allied does), which lowered its score.

Bekins

Bekins is a well-known full-service moving company that does virtual walkthroughs for moving estimates and offers specialty moving services for seniors who are downsizing or moving to retirement communities. It offers day-certain delivery for a fee and doesn’t charge a fee for paying with a credit card, but the company doesn’t offer a way to track the location of trucks in real time, which can make some customers a little tense. It also doesn’t do international moves (its parent company, Wheaton, has another subsidiary that does).

Two Men and a Truck

Two Men and a Truck is owned by Servicemaster, which also owns Merry Maids and several other brands. This company is a franchise, which means the Two Men and a Truck in one town might have slightly different policies than the Two Men and a Truck in another town when it comes to delivery schedules, binding quotes, the fee to take credit cards or other matters.

This is one of the few companies we reviewed that requires an upfront deposit (often $50 to $100 for local moves; deposits for long-distance moves are typically a percentage of the total cost, according to the company). Also, the company offers debris removal services and storage but doesn’t ship cars, do international moves or provide a way to track the whereabouts of your truck in real-time online. It also doesn’t offer day-certain delivery services, though the company did tell us its customer service representatives will “do their best.” Despite all these limitations, Two Men and a Truck has the best combined customer satisfaction score of the group.

College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving

Like Two Men and a Truck, College Hunks is a franchise, which means its locations are run by independent franchisees who pay for the right to operate under the College Hunks name. Accordingly, the College Hunks in your town might have different policies than the College Hunks in another town. For example, the company told us that customers “more often than not” will have to put down a deposit, and when we asked whether customers have to pay a fee to use a credit card, the company told us that rates and costs vary among franchise partners.

College Hunks also doesn’t ship cars, do international moves or help with storage, and its customer satisfaction scores were worse than most other movers we reviewed.

American Van Lines

Compared to the other moving companies we’ve reviewed, we don’t recommend American Van Lines. The company ranks near the bottom on our scoring system, largely due to its payment options, relatively limited service offerings and customer service. American Van Lines loads, transports and unloads for interstate and cross-country moves in all 50 states. However, it only offers local moving services in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Safeway Moving Systems

Safeway Moving Systems is middle of the road compared to other companies we reviewed. Although the company is a full-service mover that can also handle international moves, you may be able to get better service elsewhere. We don’t like some of Safeway Moving Systems’ payment policies. First, the company requires a 20% to 30% deposit, which is unusual compared to other competitors we reviewed. Second, the company charges a fee (2% to 3%) to pay with a credit card. Also, Safeway Moving Systems scored low in the customer ratings portion of our rubric.

What moving services are available?

Many moving companies do more than load and unload trucks. Most (for an extra fee) will wrap and pack your stuff, unpack it all when it gets to where it’s going and then haul away the empty boxes and packaging. Some moving companies we reviewed can also ship your car to your new place. You can have most movers take some or all of your things to a storage unit, which can be helpful if, for example, you’re staying somewhere temporarily while you house hunt.

Bekins, Two Men and a Truck, and College Hunks don't do international moves.

Tracking your stuff

Often, movers give an estimated delivery window that can span several days, particularly with long-distance moves. This may work for some, but if your stuff has to be somewhere by a certain day or else, hearing “we’ll do our best” doesn't cut it. This is why some movers offer day-certain delivery, which guarantees that your stuff will show up on a specific day.

If you want to know exactly where your truckload is, some companies let customers track their shipments in real-time, usually through the company’s app. This is a good tool because it can give you an early indication of whether your things are going to show up on time, which can prepare you to deal with any fallout from a delay. North American did not respond to our request for information about truck tracking.

How much does a move cost?

Don’t rely on websites that claim to tell you how much your move is going to cost. None of the companies we reviewed provide binding, reliable quotes online. The reason is that weight, object size, fragility, distance and the layout of your house are big factors (and not the only factors) in moving costs.

Typically, to get a real quote, consumers provide some basic information about their moves online and then talk to a representative who schedules an in-person or virtual walkthrough of the home to see what you’ve got and how hard it will be to get out.

How do I know if a moving company is legit?

Legitimate moving companies are registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), which is part of the Department of Transportation and regulates household movers. States also regulate household movers. You can see if a mover is registered with the FMCSA by searching its database.

Look for these red flags:

Methodology