The name on the truck is often not the company on the license. Across all 19,524 licensed interstate household goods movers, 4,636 — 23.7% — operate under a trading name different from their registered legal entity. Perfectly legal, rarely explained, and it decides whose name goes on your claim if something breaks.
A "DBA" (doing business as) name is ordinary commerce — a franchise brand, a friendlier trading name. The problem is one-directional: consumers research the brand, but liability follows the legal entity. Reviews, complaints and safety records can be split across two names, and the entity that signs your bill of lading is the one that matters in a dispute.
Every carrier listing on this site shows both names wherever they differ, plus the USDOT number that ties them together. Before you book anyone: ask for the USDOT number, look it up, and check that the name on your paperwork matches the entity holding the authority.
Method: LEGAL_NAME vs DBA_NAME fields, FMCSA Company Census File, active interstate for-hire HHG carriers with 1+ power unit, n=19,524. Names compared case-insensitively; blank DBAs treated as matching. Retrieved 14 August 2026.