The Best Interstate Moving Companies for Your Long-Distance Moves: A Guide

Written By

Machaela Casey

Are you planning to move out and cross state lines to your new home? Are you looking for ways to ensure a smooth long-distance relocation?

If you’re looking for an interstate moving company to help you with short-distance or long-distance moves, you’ve found the right guide. We’ve also included tips and a comprehensive interstate moving checklist to make choosing easier.

It’s essential to choose the right moving company for you. Each one offers different kinds of moving services, from cross-country moves to business relocations, and has its pros and cons.

These pros and cons include cost and pricing, variety of moving services offered, service quality, availability, flexibility, customer reviews, licensing, and insurance.

We’ll give you the best interstate moving companies and share tips on choosing the best one for your needs. We’ll also include tipping etiquette and answers to related questions at the end.

8 Best Interstate Moving Companies (2023)

After careful research and consideration, we’ve found the eight best interstate moving companies you can pick from for your interstate move. Each one has different pros and cons that you should keep in mind.

Nelson Westerberg came out on top of all the moving companies we’ve checked because of their superior full-service packing, loading, and unloading and unique corporate relocation services.

While Nelson Westerberg is the option we recommend for most people looking to move, other companies might be more suited to your needs, especially if you’re looking for more specialized interstate moving services for seniors.

1. Nelson Westerberg

The best overall interstate moving company is Nelson Westerberg. They are a full-service moving company offering competitive costs for interstate moves.

Whether you’re booking a full-service move or specialty services, Nelson Westerberg tailors the interstate moving costs to your specific situation and date you’re booking.

This means you can save money on smaller interstate moves under 5,000 lbs with flexible rates rather than overpaying for a full-service or regular interstate move.

It’s a big moving company that also offers corporate relocation services, long-distance and international moving services. It’s a well-known and respected player in the moving industry.

They have a large fleet of moving trucks that can transport various items, ranging from small moving supplies like boxes of clothes to larger and heavier items like a grand piano.

Nelson Westerberg crews will also do full-service packing, loading, and moving for you. All you need to do is book their packing services when you go with their moving service.

The company also offers storage services if your move gets delayed or canceled halfway for your convenience. They have many storage facilities with nationwide availability.

2. International Van Lines

International Van Lines is another full-service mover that can assist you with packing, loading, unpacking, and setting up your belongings from your old home to your new one.

International Van Lines started as an international moving company that eventually expanded to interstate moving services and local or long-distance moves.

It’s a moving company that offers long-distance moves to and from all 50 states, so compatibility and flexibility in their pick-up and delivery areas isn’t something to be worried about.

Other add-on services are also available, like specialty services, including piano moving services and vehicle shipping. These are things not usually offered by local moving services.

International Van Lines specializes in long-distance moving services that also allow you to save money on your moving cost if it’s considered a small move.

As a professional moving company, International Van Lines has many customer reviews and awards, validating its reputation for high-quality customer service.

3. American Van Lines

Great moving companies like American Van Lines are known for their fast delivery times, upfront online quotes, and highly experienced employees.

An advantage of going with American Van Lines versus other moving companies is that they provide fixed-rate estimates and flat-rate pricing, which is more accurate.

American Van Lines is also great for additional services like transporting fragile items like fine art, antiques, and other high-value possessions. Their crews are well-trained and experienced.

American Van Lines also offers vehicle shipping and interstate moves between state lines. They also focus on offering military personnel moving services.

While American Van Lines are quick interstate movers due to their use of expedited routes between major cities, their prices aren’t on the budget side.

Compared to some full-service moving companies, American Van Lines requires a deposit ranging from 10% to 50% of the total cost, and the rates themselves may be a bit steep.

4. North American Van Lines

North American Van Lines’ specialty is having comprehensive insurance coverage for all your belongings while the interstate movers are bringing them from point A to point B.

This makes North American Van Lines a great option for a moving process that involves valuable or expensive items like vintage furniture.

The variable pricing structure that North American Van Lines offers is also an advantage to people looking for either full-service moves, long-distance moves, or small moves.

They offer different rates depending on any additional services you might require, like appliance installation, debris removal, and packing supplies. It makes fitting it into your budget a lot easier.

Another thing that makes North American Van Lines budget-friendly interstate movers is the bottom-line or flat rate pricing that won’t have any hidden fees or additional charges when it’s time to pay up.

North American Van Lines has also been accredited with an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, which is reassuring for people looking to do business with them.

5. Allied Van Lines

Allied Van Lines is your best bet if you’re looking for the best interstate moving company with a personal move coordinator. These coordinators will assist you in every step of the interstate move.

One of the useful additional services Allied Van Lines provides is GPS shipment tracking. GPS shipment tracking lets you see where your belongings are throughout the journey.

Another helpful example of their services is their in-house vehicle shipping, which means it doesn’t run through a third-party company. The GPS shipment tracking also works here.

If you need cleaning services for the home, whether the one you’re moving out of or the one you’re moving into, Allied Van Lines provides third-party ones. This company is a good fit for people who need many options.

On the other hand, Allied Van Lines offers self-service moving for those who want to save money and reduce the cost of an interstate move. A self-service move generally means you’re charged less since you do more.

To go along with offering self-service moving, the company can also sell you packing supplies and provide them to you on the day of moving, making things a lot easier than buying them separately.

6. United Van Lines

Moving companies like United Van Lines may not serve every single state, but they make up for it with benefits like instant quotes, upfront pricing, and comprehensive insurance.

They also offer add-on services such as full-service packing and unpacking, corporate moving services, and even help employees find new jobs when relocating through third-party partnerships.

United Van Lines is also rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, which means you can trust that online reviews are mostly positive. People have had good experiences with their moving services.

United Van Lines can also crate up and transport Fragile and oversized items. However, this moving company doesn’t offer services with a moving container.

No deposits are required to book, and cancellations are simple and straightforward, being free and available as long as no moving services have been provided.

However, all of these benefits come at a cost. The moving cost rates from United Van Lines can be higher than the competition. However, you’re getting what you pay for.

7. Mayflower Transit

Mayflower Transit is one of the older interstate moving companies in the USA, founded in 1927. This comes with the advantage of having a more comprehensive network and a lot of experience in the industry.

Mayflower’s specialty is its interstate moving services and long-distance and international moving services. Their extensive network allows them to reach distant places for a reasonable price.

Because of the nature of long-distance moving, Mayflower understands that customers need lots of extra services. Therefore, they offer storage services, vehicle shipping, and shipment tracking services.

When you do choose to make a long-distance move, they also offer full-service packing and can provide moving boxes and moving supplies that are usually needed.

This full-service moving company allows you to customize your service depending on your needs, which you can also find more information about using the Mayflower Move Portal app.

The app adds another level of convenience when planning your long-distance, interstate move, or international move. You can also see the cost of an interstate move depending on your requirements.

8. Bekins Van Lines

Bekins Van Lines is another of the best interstate moving companies that provide moving managers, agents designated to help you on every step of your interstate move.

You can also get upfront interstate moving costs online as they offer flat rate pricing with options to customize. Book without fear of any hidden fees popping up after the entire service has been completed.

Bekins Van Lines also has a high BBB rating and many good customer reviews on Facebook and other social media websites. Customers seem to love the service they get from the company.

However, it does have a few disadvantages that knock it towards the bottom of our list. They have fewer insurance options, a more restrictive cancellation policy, and don’t offer moving container services.

This is an inherent disadvantage to smaller interstate service movers as they don’t have the same scaling and network. However, the previously mentioned moving managers do help a lot of people.

It makes the company easy to reach, as you’ll have one point person to talk to from the service movers company compared to having to speak to multiple agents when crossing state lines.

Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Moving Company

Before going with what you think the best interstate moving company is from our list, you might want to check out the criteria you should consider.

These will vary from person to person, depending on your priorities. You must understand the costs involved, services offered, reputation with clients, insurance, awards, and availability.

Practical tips for a smooth interstate move should also be freely offered by your chosen company to show they mean business when it comes to helping their customers.

Price and Services Offered

Arguably the most important considerations to make when choosing a reputable moving company for interstate moves are the pricing and the services they offer. They’re not the right option if they don’t have a service at a price that’s within your budget.

You should first develop a list of services you will need when moving. Check the belongings that you plan to bring. Measure the total weight capacity and determine if they require any specialty services (e.g. transporting fragile goods).

For example, suppose you have a lot of antique or high-value items like paintings or sculptures. In that case, you should prioritize looking for a company offering full-service packing that is experienced in handling those kinds of items.

Price is another important consideration because you shouldn’t and don’t have to overspend, detracting from your budget just to get a good quality service and support experience.

The top interstate moving companies usually have many options and add-on services that you can avail of, but do you really need them? Many offer lower prices for things like self-service moving.

However, it’s also worth spending a little more if you want peace of mind for things like vehicle shipping, cleaning services, shipment tracking, and moving supplies delivered to your door.

It’s worth looking at quotes from multiple companies in the moving industry before booking any service. In some situations, self-service moving companies may even charge more depending on location and dates.

Reputation and Customer Reviews

Another important consideration is the reputation of the moving company. The moving industry focuses on service, which most people only complain about if things are consistently bad.

Customer reviews are a great way to determine whether you should do business with certain moving companies. If you see a few bad reviews in a row, do the safe thing and look for another option.

In some cases, moving companies are good at one service but aren’t that good at another. For example, they may have a good track record for full-service packing but not for vehicle shipping.

These reviews from verified customers will also usually tell you how extra nice-to-have features like multiple days of free storage actually are when customers actually avail them.

Sometimes, moving companies offer many extra features to entice customers to do their interstate move with them, but don’t fulfill those extra features when the customer needs them.

In the example of having multiple days of free storage, what if the company employs an unreliable or shady third-party storage company and they lose your belongings? That’s something you want to check for.

Licensing and Insurance

All interstate moving companies must be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the FMCSA. This government body regulates and monitors moving companies.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also allows you to access the registration records of all interstate movers to check if they’re legally registered to operate in specific states.

The regulations in the moving industry are strict because of minimum safety standards and required insurance. In some states, the regulating body also controls the prices of interstate moves.

You’ll want a company that offers good insurance because you’ll need full coverage if anything terrible happens to your belongings when they’re crossing state lines in transit to your destination.

Interstate moves are tricky in the legal sense because you’ll be crossing state lines. You’ll at least want the maximum monetary compensation if anything goes wrong.

Awards and Accreditations

Another indicator that can help you tell whether moving companies is a good collection of awards and accreditations from multiple reviewers and websites.

Companies that consistently receive good service awards mean that you’re more likely to have a good experience. The awards and accreditations give customers peace of mind.

This is even more important if you’re considering services that require more experience, like vehicle shipping or interstate moves with full-service packing.

Availability and Flexibility

The availability and flexibility of full-service movers is another vital consideration to make when choosing a company to do business with for interstate moves.

If the company is always fully booked and doesn’t have any moving truck free to assist you, try looking elsewhere. Even if that company accepts your booking, they might not provide the best service.

You’ll also want full-service movers that can service your area – both origin and destination. What use is a reputable full-service mover if they can’t even reach you?

Companies with moving managers or dedicated agents that help you with the entire moving service from start to finish are ideal if you’re looking for flexibility.

They can usually help you resolve any issues you may come up against during the move or can make adjustments based on your needs and contexts.

Companies that offer both temporary and permanent storage also gain flexibility points because if your moving date suddenly shifts or moving supplies run low, you can always move it to another date.

Tips for Choosing the Cheapest Days to Hire a Moving Company

After you’ve settled on a couple of full-service interstate movers, you’ll want to minimize cost and maximize the value for money by choosing the cheapest days to hire them.

Interstate moving costs can already cost a small fortune, especially if you have many high-value items and are moving quite far. Here are steps you should take to reduce that cost as much as possible.

Off-Season

Getting moving services during the off-season is one of the best ways to save money. When there are fewer customers to serve, many companies will lower their prices to attract more potential movers.

The busiest season for moving companies making an interstate move is usually during the summer months. Booking service will usually be cheaper during the spring, fall, or winter.

This may not only be a cheaper option, but it might also be quicker. The low number of cars and few customers means that the company has more resources to help you and isn’t spread too thin.

Weekdays

Since most people work during the weekdays, they like to schedule their moves during the weekends. The high demand for moves during the weekend also means the prices jack up.

Booking moves during the weekends are popular because people don’t have to go to work and have a day or two to get things sorted out when they get settled into their new home. They’re ready to roll before the next work week starts.

Weekdays are a lot cheaper because not many people are booking and more of their staff are available. There’s a higher chance a moving truck or moving container is near you and free to pick up your belongings.

Specifically, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days to book services because they’re far from the weekends and won’t have a lot of people booking at the same time as you.

Middle of the Month

Most people who hire an interstate moving company’s services are usually doing so at the end of the month. This increases the costs because more people are booking, leading to fewer services available.

People typically book interstate moves at the end of the month because that’s usually when monthly leases or rent contracts expire. People like to leave things up to the last minute.

Therefore, if you want to avoid extra costs and have more availability of services, try booking during the middle of the month. The 10th to the 20th of the month is usually a good range of dates.

Plan in Advance

Planning your move in advance allows you to check different moving dates and get quotes for each one. It allows you to choose when you’d like to move ahead of time.

Aside from the obvious benefit of not being stressful for you, planning an interstate move in advance can also be cheaper depending on how companies value advanced bookings.

Some companies have early bird rates and promos that allow you to book a moving service ahead of time. The promos can also include free add-ons like vehicle shipping or provided moving supplies.

Remember that the farther your things have to travel, the longer your lead time should be when booking. Moving intra and interstate means having different lead times for booking.

Compare Multiple Quotes

The final piece of advice that can help you lower the cost of an interstate move is to compare quotes from different companies. Some will have discounts on specific dates, while others won’t.

Some companies also charge more than others for additional services or specialty services like vehicle shipping, shipment tracking, moving supplies, or full-service packing and loading.

Your location, time, and date all matter and can change how much the quote will be. Each moving company has a different rate per region, depending on availability.

While it may be tempting to prioritize only saving money when comparing different quotes, you should also consider the value for money. If one quote includes more useful add-ons than the other, go for that one.

When comparing different quotes, also make sure to look at the fine print and method of giving a quote. Some quotes can change during the service, while others stay the same or can even get cheaper.

Tipping Etiquette for Interstate Moves

If you’ve thought of booking a long-distance move, availing of full-service packing and loading, or using a vehicle shipping service, you’ve probably asked yourself if you should tip moving employees like you tip most service staff.

There are appropriate times and places where tipping is encouraged for movers and alternative methods of tipping that might work better.

When to Tip Movers

Like most other services, you should tip movers after the service is completed. This lets you observe how the moving services were done and determine how much you’d like to tip.

On the other hand, alternative methods of tipping, like buying your movers’ lunch, obviously need to be done during the appropriate time. For example, buying your movers lunch should be done during their lunch break.

You should also give the tip to the movers per person instead of giving it as a lump sum to the foreman/driver. This lets them know you value each person’s efforts and ensure they are distributed evenly.

How Much to Tip Movers

Unfortunately, the similarities between most other service tipping and moving service tipping end here. Unlike restaurant tipping, it’s usually not determined as a percentage of the total cost.

This is because the total cost’s most significant variable is the distance between your origin home and destination home. Instead, it would be best to base your tip on whether it was a half-day or full-day move.

For example, if your movers spent 4 hours (half-day move) packing and loading your stuff, tip them $10 per person. If they spent 8 hours (full-day move), then tip $20 per person.

If the movers go overtime and spend 12 hours moving your stuff out of your house and into their trucks, $40 per person is a more reasonable tip. That’s a long time spent doing back-breaking work.

Of course, the other obvious variable is the service quality. If the movers have done an excellent job and went above and beyond, then an equally appropriate tip is due.

Different Ways to Tip Movers

Besides tipping with cash, there are alternative ways to tip movers that can be more appropriate depending on the situation. A popular alternative method for tipping is with food.

If you decide to buy lunch for the crew, you should first ask them about their meal preferences or restrictions. They might have had pizza as a tip for multiple jobs in a row.

If you decide to give them drinks, make sure not to give them anything alcoholic, like beer. Many companies have strict rules against drinking on the job.

Frequently Asked Questions

You might have some related questions after learning more about the best interstate moving companies and how to choose the best ones. We’ve answered the most commonly asked ones.

How Far in Advance Should I Book an Interstate Moving Company?

The best time to book an interstate moving company is two months in advance or more. Any later than this, and companies might be fully booked during the days you need them

If you’re planning to do your interstate moving during the summer or peak months, then you should do it as soon as possible. Those months are usually booked pretty quickly due to high demand.

The rule of thumb when conducting the moving process is: the farther your things will travel, the further back you should start researching and getting quotes.

This is why in-city moves usually only need a week or two lead times, while long-distance, cross-country, and interstate moves require much longer lead times to be sure you can get a booking.

You should book as soon as possible, too, if you’re planning to add a lot of additional services to your move because these services require additional resources to accommodate.

How do I know if a moving company is reputable?

The first thing you should look for in a moving company is their accreditation with the FMCSA. You can check online to see if they can legally operate within your state of origin and destination.

A company is also considered reputable if many customer reviews are consistently saying that they’ve received good service. There shouldn’t be multiple instances of bad reviews for reputable companies.

For example, a company with good customer reviews is International Van Lines. This is because the company offers a lot of customization and add-ons to its services.

If a company has a lot of services that have been in operation for a while, like International Van Lines, and are consistently getting good reviews, then it’s a safe bet.

Companies are also safer to go with if they’ve been around for a long time, meaning they have a lot of experience dealing with customer needs. It shows that their offered services work for people.

Are There Any Additional Fees I Should Be Aware Of?

Before booking any moving services, check the websites and ask for quotes. Each company usually has a different way of calculating the total cost of moving your belongings across states.

Additional fees are usually charged because of unexpected expenses like extra pickup or delivery stops, fuel and travel fees, delayed delivery fees, and additional insurance.

The safest bet is to go with companies advertising flat-rate pricing with no hidden fees. This will reassure you that the price they quote will be the same as the price you pay at the end.

There are different types of estimates that companies will give you: non-binding, binding, and binding-not-to-exceed estimates. Non-binding isn’t ideal because it only gives an estimate of the costs and could incur additional costs later on.

A binding estimate gives a fixed cost no matter what happens, which is a lot safer. However, if your moving load is underweight or the actual costs are lower than expected, you’ll still have to pay full price.

The best estimate you can get is the binding-not-to-exceed estimate, which means you won’t be charged for exceeding the original quote but can also pay less if the actual weight is lower than quoted.

Should I Purchase Moving Insurance?

While all interstate moving services have basic insurance, you can usually purchase additional insurance for your move. This is usually recommended for people moving more high-value items.

For example, suppose you’re moving expensive or vintage items like a large piano, vintage furniture, or family heirlooms. In that case, you’ll want to get insurance to make sure you’re compensated if any accidents happen.

Moving companies usually offer two types of protection: Full Value Protection and Released Value Protection. The former is more comprehensive but usually more expensive.

Full value protection means that any damaged, stolen, or lost item must be replaced or reimbursed by the mover. Released value protection will only give back the assigned price per pound as monetary compensation.

An even more comprehensive insurance plan is usually offered by third-party insurance companies, which you should go for if you plan to move many high-value items.

What Is the Best Way to Pack My Belongings for a Long-Distance Move?

Besides making an interstate moving checklist, here are ways to pack your belongings properly. First, stock up on a lot of packing supplies. This will ensure you don’t have a lot of interruptions during packing.

If possible, you should disassemble or break down larger items into smaller ones to reduce the chance of them breaking during transit. Examples of this include bed frames and bookshelves. inventory

Don’t rush packing and just cram everything into each box without organization. Try to spread the heavy items between different boxes and fill each box correctly to avoid damage to your belongings.

You should also consider wrapping your items in bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or towels. This will reduce scratching and the effect of bumps on the road that your belongings will experience.

Pack your things inside plastic boxes/tubs that are durable. They can take a lot more damage than cardboard boxes before collapsing and are just as easily stacked for transportation.

Finally, try to make things snug within each box because you’ll want to avoid the contents of each box hitting each other and damaging each other. Pack the items tightly so that they don’t move around.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve outlined the top interstate moving companies, given you tips on how to choose one based on your needs, and other tips you should know when deciding to book moving services.

When picking a company to hire, make sure to pick one that prices services fairly, meets your needs with the services they provide, has a good reputation, and is flexible to your requests.

Getting insurance when moving more valuable items is also a good idea, which can save you a lot of trouble if accidents happen along the way. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Start booking services with interstate movers ASAP, especially if you want to get the best prices with all the services you need available to you.