A moving company actually moves your goods. A broker is a middleman that finds a carrier for you.

A moving company is usually a full-service company. They handle the move from pick-up location to delivery location. They own the trucks; store the shipment in their warehouse, and the employees work directly for them.

Brokers do not actually move shipments, they broker it out. They can serve the purpose of price shopping for you and can have access to discounts that you don't have (because they book lots of moves). Most brokers have bulletin boards where all the jobs are posted and sold to moving companies at a cheaper rate. The consumer risk is that you do not get to choose or check out the company that is handling your shipment.  Because of this, brokers have a bad reputation.

The moving industry can be a bit shady in general and there are both brokers and carriers that are bad apples. The important thing is to research all the companies you are considering thoroughly to make sure that you don't pick one of the bad apples.

Here are some helpful tips:

• Get full company name and any DBA names (doing business as)
• Company address
• Phone numbers (local and toll-free)
• DOT & MC license numbers and local Business License number
• Company web site address
• Email addresses
• Get the estimate/quote in writing?
• Do not pay up front for a price guarantee. Most reputable companies will only collect a small deposit until the day of the move.
• Shop around. Make sure to get several estimates usually 3 or 4 is enough).
• Be honest. Moving companies are allowed to charge more than the estimated price if the consumer was not honest about what actually needed to be moved. By law they are not required to itemize the extra expense or weigh the additional items.
• Contact the United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) and give the DOT number of each moving company. Ask ... how many consumer complaints & how many federal violations each company has on them  so you can make an educated decision when picking a moving company for you.