Moving Day with Long-Distance Movers: What Movers Won't Move and How Much to Tip Movers

0:00A jewelry armoire goes missing at delivery

What should you expect on moving day with long-distance movers? Start with how one move ended.

In December 2025, a crew was unloading a truck in Port Charlotte, Florida, for a woman who'd moved from New Hampshire. The sheriff's office says one crew member took her jewelry armoire and left in his own car. Deputies found the armoire in a parking lot, empty. She put the missing jewelry at about a hundred thousand dollars. She told a TV station she'd planned to carry it herself. A man was charged with grand theft. A charge is not a conviction.

In the next ten minutes: what the crew does first, how to read the inventory, what movers won't take, how much to tip, and what to check before you sign at delivery.

I'm Daniel, from Majestic Moving Companies. Our team has more than thirty-five years in the moving industry. Let's get into it.

0:48When movers arrive: the first hour

What should you do when the movers arrive? The first hour sets up the whole day.

The crew leader usually starts with a walk through your home. Then the crew protects it. On military moves, the Defense Department requires its movers to cover floors, doorways and tight corners. Ask your own mover for the same.

Your job is to be there. The federal booklet says to be available at pickup and delivery, or appoint someone to act for you. The federal regulator's moving checklist adds: stay until they finish.

Choose that person carefully. In 2021, a federal appeals court ruled on a move from Virginia to the District of Columbia. The owner was away, and a member of her household staff supervised and signed the bills of lading. She later claimed about a third of her goods never arrived. The court held her to what he'd signed, including a nine-month deadline for written claims, and her claim was dismissed as too late.

And if your price depends on weight, federal rules give you the right to observe every weighing. The mover has to tell you where and when.

So be there from the first box to the last, and ask where the scale is.

1:51Inventory codes: what PBO and SC mean

What does P.B.O. mean on a moving inventory? Packed by owner. It's one of the codes a crew writes as it loads.

Each piece gets a numbered sticker and a line on the inventory. The federal booklet says the mover has to list any damage or unusual wear. That's done in shorthand, and the standard form prints the key on every page. S.C. is scratched. C.H. is chipped. G is gouged. Numbers show where: on that form, ten is the top. So G, ten means gouged on top. C.P. means the carrier packed the box. And no code at all means good condition, apart from normal wear.

The booklet says your ability to recover for loss or damage may depend on the notations on this form. An Army claims office warns military families that movers can lessen their losses by overstating damage at pickup.

So read each page before you sign it. The booklet says you have the right to note any disagreement. Don't write over the crew's line. Use the remarks space: disagree with item forty-two, no scratch. Then photograph the piece.

A code you don't challenge is a code you agreed to.

Want real numbers for your move? Get free moving quotes at majesticmovingcompanies.com. The form takes about thirty seconds, and we match you with professional movers who cover your route. Want a gut check first? Our free calculator shows a fair price range. So when a quote comes in way under it, you'll know it's not a deal. It's a warning.

3:15Do movers take beds apart? And TVs off walls?

Do movers take beds apart? Usually, yes. But what a crew takes apart, and what it won't touch, comes down to your contract.

The federal booklet treats unpacking and appliance servicing as accessorial services. You request them, and they go on your estimate.

For a yardstick, look at what the Defense Department requires of the movers it hires for military families. At delivery, the crew has to reassemble any furniture it took apart at pickup, like beds and couches. But movers aren't required to take anything off your walls: TVs, mirrors, curtain rods, pictures. And they aren't required to connect appliances to electric, gas or water.

Your move isn't a military move. So ask your own mover those three things, in writing.

One federal rule covers every interstate move. If the driver reasonably expects a special service is needed to move something safely, the driver has to tell you. Refuse it, and the mover has to refuse the shipment.

So the night before, take down what's on the walls and disconnect the washer. Leave a gas line to the utility or a licensed plumber.

Ask who takes it apart, who puts it back, and what it costs. Ask before, not after.

4:27What movers won't move: propane, paint, bleach

What will movers not move? Start with anything that can burn, leak or explode.

Federal hazardous materials rules cover what a truck carries for hire. Propane is a flammable gas. Gasoline and oil-based paint are flammable liquids. Bleach is a corrosive, and ammunition is an explosive. Nobody may offer or accept them for transport unless they're properly classed, packaged, marked and labeled. So movers generally say no.

And the federal booklet warns: federal law forbids shipping hazardous materials in your household goods boxes without informing your mover. Slip them in, and the mover isn't liable for them, or for the damage they cause. The same goes for perishables.

In December 2025, a rented moving truck exploded in Lewiston, Idaho. The driver was killed. The fire marshal traced it to a leaking five-gallon propane tank, the kind under a barbecue grill.

Then, the things you shouldn't hand over. The booklet calls an item valued above a hundred dollars per pound an article of extraordinary value: jewelry, silverware, furs. A mover may limit what it pays for those unless you list them on the shipping documents. So cash, jewelry, documents and medicine ride with you.

Ask your mover for its list before you pack the garage.

5:43Plants, patio furniture, alcohol: the paperwork

Can movers move plants? No federal moving rule keeps a houseplant off the truck. Many movers still say no, so ask. The rules that bite are waiting in your new state.

California allows house plants that were grown indoors only, in sterile, packaged potting mix, and free of pests. Its border inspectors may reject and confiscate the rest. It says to list house plants at the top of the inventory, and load them near the van doors. Florida wants a certificate of inspection with plants that arrive in household goods.

Outdoor items have a federal rule. The Agriculture Department says spongy moth is found in twenty states, from Maine to Minnesota and south to North Carolina. Move out of the quarantine area, and you must inspect your outdoor things: grills, patio furniture, bikes, garden tools. You sign a checklist, and the driver gets a copy.

Will movers move alcohol? Federal hazmat rules don't cover wine or spirits in bottles of five liters or less on a truck. Texas and Utah both let a household that's relocating bring its collection. Other states differ, and so do movers.

So make three calls: your mover, your new state's agriculture department, and its alcohol board.

6:54Do movers work in the rain? And if they're late?

Do movers work in the rain? As a rule of thumb, yes. Ask how the crew keeps things dry.

The federal booklet names one excuse for a mover that doesn't perform: force majeure, an event beyond its control. Its example is a major snowstorm.

For heat, our Texas video covers a summer moving day.

If the mover can't make your pickup date, federal rules say it has to notify you as soon as the delay becomes apparent, at its own expense. It also has to give you a new date or window, and a copy of the notice if you ask.

Don't panic. In September 2024, a Philadelphia-area woman's movers didn't show up with the trucks they'd agreed to, she told a CBS station. In a rush, she booked another company. She says it held her family's belongings for more than four months, and threatened to auction them over a storage bill of nearly twenty-eight thousand dollars. The station reported an agreement was eventually reached to release them.

And if the truck can't reach your door, a shuttle truck can cost extra. Our video on mover costs covers it.

A late truck calls for a new date in writing, not a new mover in a hurry.

7:59How much to tip long-distance movers: 2 crews

How much do you tip long-distance movers? Tipping is a custom, not a rule. It isn't on your estimate, and the federal moving rules never mention it. For military moves, Defense Department guidance says meals are never required, and tips are discouraged.

For everyone else, the consumer guides land in the same range. U.S. News calls ten to twenty percent of the move's cost customary. Wirecutter says fifteen to twenty.

On a long-distance move, percentages get big fast. Ten percent of a six-thousand-dollar move is six hundred dollars. NerdWallet says many customers tip a set amount instead: twenty to fifty dollars or more per mover, per day. An etiquette expert quoted by U.S. News says fifty to a hundred.

The crew that loads your truck may not be the crew that delivers it. U.S. News says to tip the first crew when it finishes, and the second when it finishes. Three movers at each end, at fifty dollars each, comes to three hundred dollars.

Wirecutter's advice: cash, handed to each mover. And if the work was careless, U.S. News says a smaller tip, or none, is fair.

Decide the number before moving day, and bring two envelopes.

9:08Delivery day: count first, sign last

What happens if movers lose your stuff, or damage it? It starts with what you do on delivery day.

Expect to pay first. The federal booklet calls it standard procedure to pay the charges due at delivery before the crew unloads. What a mover may collect at that point is in our video on mover costs.

Then take your copy of the inventory to the door. As each piece comes off the truck, check its number off your list. Federal rules say the mover has to give you the chance to verify that the same articles are being delivered, and their condition. It also has to let you note, in writing, anything missing or damaged, and give you a copy of those notes.

So before you sign, write down every missing number and every new scratch, on the mover's copy and on yours. Photograph the damage, too.

A delivery receipt isn't allowed to carry language releasing the mover from liability. If yours does, the booklet says to strike it out before signing.

A note on the inventory protects your record. The claim is a separate step, with a deadline. Our New York to Florida video covers it.

Count first. Sign last.

10:12The short version

So here's the short version. Be there on loading day, or send someone you'd trust to sign. Read the inventory codes before you sign each page. Ask ahead what the crew takes apart, and what it won't carry. Keep cash, jewelry and papers with you. And at delivery, count every number before you sign.

If you want help, go to majesticmovingcompanies.com. Get free quotes from professional movers who cover your route. It takes about thirty seconds, or you can chat with Robert, our moving assistant. And while you're there, there's a lot more to help you plan: guides on moving costs, delivery windows, car shipping and more.

I'm Daniel. Have a smooth moving day.