Every mover you call will say the right things. The words are free. What separates companies is how they handle specific questions, because a specific question forces a specific answer, and specific answers can be checked.
This page is a script: twelve questions, asked in the same order of every company you are considering, with notes on what a good answer sounds like. If you want the full hiring sequence around the script, the San Antonio hiring guide covers it. This page is the part you use on the phone.
Write the answers down as you go. The comparison at the end is only as good as your notes.
Direct answer: Before booking a mover, ask twelve questions in four groups. Identity: the registration numbers, whether the company is a carrier or a broker, and the address it operates from. Money: how the estimate is built, what could change the number, the deposit and payment terms, and what counts as an extra. Coverage: which valuation levels are offered, how claims work, and whether the company can provide a certificate of insurance for your building. The plan: who performs the work and what happens if your dates change. A good company answers all twelve without friction. A vague answer, or an irritated one, is a preview of the company you would be hiring.
Short answer: what to ask movers before booking
Ask for the company's TxDMV, USDOT, and MC numbers, whether it is the carrier or a broker, and the address it operates from. Ask how the estimate will be built, what could change the number, what deposit and payment terms apply, and which services are billed as extras. Ask which valuation levels are offered, how claims are handled, and whether the company can provide a certificate of insurance for your building. Finally, ask who performs the work and what happens if your dates change. Put the same twelve questions to every company in the same order, write the answers down, and compare them side by side. Vague answers are answers too.
Questions 1 to 3: who you are hiring
1. What are your TxDMV, USDOT, and MC numbers? A registered Texas mover has a TxDMV number, and a carrier that crosses state lines holds USDOT and MC numbers as well. A good answer is immediate and exact. Check the numbers afterward: the state side is explained on the TxDMV consumer protection pages, and federal numbers can be looked up in the FMCSA company snapshot. A company that stalls here has failed the cheapest test you can run.
2. Are you the carrier that will perform my move, or a broker? A carrier operates its own trucks and crews. A broker sells your move to a carrier you have not met. The federal Protect Your Move guidance explains the distinction because so many complaints trace back to people who thought they had hired one and got the other. A good answer is a plain "we are the carrier" or a plain disclosure that they broker, with the carrier named before you sign anything.
3. What address does your business operate from? A real operation runs from a real address you could drive past. An answer that circles back to a website, or an address that turns out to be a mailbox suite, deserves a follow-up question and probably a shorter call.
Questions 4 to 7: the estimate and the money
4. How will you build my estimate? The good answer involves your inventory: an in-home walkthrough, or photos and video of every room, followed by a written document. An estimate produced from a two-minute phone call is a guess, and guesses get revised after your goods are loaded.
5. What could change the number after the estimate? Honest companies name concrete things: items that were not on the inventory, access nobody mentioned, packing that was supposed to be finished and was not. An answer of "the price never changes, ever" sounds better than it is. You want a company that can describe its own edge cases.
6. What deposit do you require, and how do I pay? You are not negotiating here, just getting the terms stated plainly and in writing. Federal consumer guidance flags demands for large upfront deposits as a recurring pattern in moving fraud, so how a company answers this question carries more weight than the answer itself.
7. Which services are billed as extras? Stairs, long carries between the door and the truck, disassembly and reassembly, and packing materials are the usual candidates. The point of asking is to make the written estimate and the final bill describe the same job.
Questions 8 to 10: coverage and claims
8. Which valuation levels do you offer? Valuation is the coverage framework that decides what a damaged item is worth in a claim, and movers offer more than one level. A good answer explains the options without being asked twice. The guide to moving valuation coverage in Texas explains the framework in plain language, so you can tell a real answer from a recited one.
9. What is your claims process? You want to hear how a claim is filed, that it is handled in writing, and who responds to it. A company that has a process can describe it in two sentences. A company that says "damage never happens" has told you it has no process.
10. Can you provide a certificate of insurance for my building? Many apartment and office buildings require a certificate of insurance from the mover before reserving an elevator or a loading dock. A good answer treats this as routine and asks for the building's requirements. A company that has never heard the term has not done much building work.
Questions 11 and 12: the crew and the plan
11. Who actually performs the work? Ask whether the people who show up are the company's own crew or labor hired for the day, and whether the answer would be the same in your busiest month. Whatever the answer, you want it stated before booking rather than discovered at the door.
12. What happens if my dates change? Closings slip and leases overlap. Ask what rescheduling involves and get the terms in writing. A good answer is specific about the process. Vague reassurance now usually converts into a difficult phone call later.
Put the answers side by side
Twelve questions across three or four companies produces a lot of notes. The comparison only works if you treat it like a worksheet rather than a memory exercise.
- Ask all twelve questions of every company you are seriously considering, in the same order.
- Take dated notes during each call, because two similar conversations blur together within a day.
- Verify every registration number in the public registries the same day you receive it.
- Ask for the estimate, the valuation choice, and any date-change terms in writing.
- Compare the answers question by question rather than company by company, so one strong impression cannot carry a weak answer.
- Rule out any company that met a direct question with a subject change.
- Keep the notes until the move is complete and any claim is settled.
Where Pro Alliance fits
Pro Alliance expects these questions and answers them in writing. Send a room-by-room inventory, both addresses, and your dates through the free estimate form, and ask anything on this list alongside it so the answers arrive with the estimate. What the local service covers is described on the San Antonio local movers page.
Frequently asked questions
Should I ask these questions by phone or by email?
Either works, and a mix works best. Phone answers show you how the company communicates under a direct question. Email answers give you the terms in writing. Asking a few questions by phone and then requesting the important answers in writing gets you both.
What if a company refuses to answer one of them?
A refusal on questions about registration, valuation, or claims is disqualifying, because those answers are matters of public record or legal obligation. A slower answer on something operational, like exact extras, is fine as long as it arrives in writing before you book.
Do I need all twelve for a small move?
The identity questions and the valuation question apply to every move, however small. For a studio going across town you might compress the money questions into one, but the habit of writing answers down is worth keeping even when the job is minor.
Do these questions work for long-distance moves?
Yes, and the identity questions matter more, because interstate moves are where broker arrangements are most common. For a move leaving Texas, put extra weight on the carrier-or-broker question and on checking the federal registration numbers before you sign.
What does a bad answer actually sound like?
It changes the subject. You ask about the claims process and hear about how careful the crew is. You ask for registration numbers and hear about years of experience. The information is not offensive, it is just not the answer, and a company that deflects before booking will deflect after it.
Sources
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