Documents Your Interstate Mover Must Give You (2022)

A lot of older moving guides — and even some still online today — tell you an interstate mover must hand you “five documents.” That count is out of date. A 2022 FMCSA rule changed it, and the difference matters, because knowing what paperwork you are actually owed is one of the few concrete checks you have on a mover. This page covers the current requirements. It is general information, not legal advice; if a paperwork problem has turned into a real dispute, consider talking to a licensed attorney in your state.

What the 2022 rule changed

The rule is titled Implementation of Household Goods Working Group Recommendations, published at 87 Fed. Reg. 24431 on April 26, 2022, and effective June 27, 2022.^[1] It was meant to streamline moving paperwork and improve consumer protection. The three changes most worth knowing as a consumer:

1. The order for service is gone. Its required information now lives in the bill of lading, so that document does double duty.
2. Both consumer booklets must come with your estimate (more on this below).
3. You now have a 3-day right to rescind the bill of lading without penalty (covered at the end).

The two booklets you must receive at the estimate

At the time of the written estimate, an interstate mover must give you both of these FMCSA publications:

• “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move” — the main consumer booklet, which the 2022 rule revised and condensed. Its text is published as an appendix to the federal regulations.
• “Ready to Move? — Tips for a Successful Interstate Move” — a shorter pamphlet of practical guidance.

A mover can satisfy this by giving you a copy or by providing a hyperlink to the documents on the FMCSA website.^[1]

The bill of lading: your receipt and your contract

The bill of lading is the central document of your move — it is both the receipt for your shipment and the contract of carriage. Because the 2022 rule folded the order for service into it, the bill of lading now carries a long list of required elements. The regulations specify 17 required items that must appear on it.^[2]

Reproducing all 17 here would not help you much. The consumer-relevant ones to look for are:

• The mover’s legal or trade name and physical address, as registered with FMCSA, and its USDOT number.
• The names, addresses, phone numbers, and USDOT numbers of every carrier that will participate in your move (useful when a broker is involved and a different company actually shows up).
• Your own name, address, and phone number(s).
• The form of payment the mover will honor at delivery — get this in advance, because “cash or postal money order only” at the door is a classic pressure tactic. The full set of federal protections these documents secure is summarized in your rights when you move.
• The agreed pickup and delivery dates or the agreed period for each.
• A clear statement of the charges, tied back to your estimate.

If the company that arrives is not listed anywhere on your bill of lading, that is worth understanding before you let anything onto the truck — see brokers vs. carriers. A line-by-line reading of the document itself — all 17 required items, the signing rules, and the no-blank-documents rule — is in the bill of lading, explained.

The new 3-day right to rescind

One of the more consumer-friendly additions in the 2022 rule: you now have a 3-day window, after you sign the bill of lading, to cancel without any penalty — provided the mover has not defaulted on its obligations.^[1] This gives you a short, defined period to reconsider after committing on paper. It is not a tool you can use after your goods are already in transit and held, but it is a real protection earlier in the process.

Before you sign anything, it is also worth confirming the federal rules even apply to your move (the Coverage Checker sorts interstate from intrastate), and running through the red flags.

Last reviewed: June 10, 2026