Mover versus broker
If you cannot tell whether the company on the estimate will haul the shipment or only arrange it, you do not yet know who you are moving with.
The distinction
A household-goods motor carrier takes possession of the goods and operates the vehicle. A broker arranges transportation by a motor carrier.
Federal rules for household-goods brokers and carriers differ. The census class definition and docket prefix (MC versus other) are starting points, not a courtroom finding.
Reading the authority record
The federal record answers the question directly. FMCSA’s MOTUS authority history lists each authority a company holds by type — household-goods motor carrier, broker, freight forwarder, and others — with a status and a status-change date. A company can hold more than one. Mover Check shows every active type on the record, collapsed to the latest row per docket and type.
If the only active authority is broker authority, the company is registered to arrange transportation, not to carry your goods under its own authority. If household-goods motor-carrier authority is active, the company may operate the truck — and may still hand your shipment to another carrier, which is why the bill of lading question below still matters.
What to put in writing
Ask: “Will your company operate the truck, or will another USDOT appear on the bill of lading?” Get the operating carrier’s USDOT before pickup.
Federal rules also require a household-goods broker to state in its advertising and on its estimate that it is a broker and does not transport the goods. An estimate that is silent on this is a document defect worth asking about.