Order for Service for Household Goods Form

An Order for Service is one of the required documents that an interstate moving company must provide to their customer.  The Law Office of David Piotrowski can create an Order for Service form template for moving companies.

Before an interstate moving company receives a shipment of household goods, the company must prepare an Order for Service.  The Order for Service must contain the following 15 items:

(1) The moving company name and address and the FMCSA U.S. DOT number assigned to the mover who is responsible for performing the service.

(2) The individual shipper’s name, address, and, if available, telephone number(s).

(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the delivering mover’s office or agent located at or nearest to the destination of the shipment.

(4) A telephone number where the individual shipper/consignee may contact the moving company or its designated agent.

(5) One of the following three entries must be on the order for service:
(i) The agreed pickup date and agreed delivery date of the move.
(ii) The agreed period(s) of the entire move.
(iii) If the moving company is transporting the shipment on a guaranteed service basis, the guaranteed dates or periods for pickup, transportation, and delivery. The moving company must enter any penalty or per diem requirements upon the agreement under this item.

(6) The names and addresses of any other motor carriers, when known, who will participate in interline transportation of the shipment.

(7) The form of payment the mover and its agents will honor at delivery. The payment information must be the same that was entered on the estimate.

(8) The terms and conditions for payment of the total charges, including notice of any minimum charges.

(9) The maximum amount the moving company will demand at the time of delivery to obtain possession of the shipment, when the shipment is transported on a collect-on-delivery basis.

(10) A statement of the declared value of the shipment, which is the maximum amount of the moving company’s liability to the individual shipper under the Full Value Protection for the replacement value of any household goods that are lost, damaged, destroyed, or otherwise not delivered to the final destination. If the individual shipper waives, in writing, the Full Value Protection liability, the mover must include a copy of the waiver; the Surface Transportation Board’s required released rates valuation statement; and the charges, if any, for optional valuation coverage (other than Full Value Protection). The released rates may be increased annually by the motor carrier based on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Cost of Living Adjustment.
[Note: Under new rules effective May 15, 2012, the valuation statement no longer needs to  appear on the Order for Service.]

(11) A complete description of any special or accessorial services ordered and minimum weight or volume charges applicable to the shipment, subject to the following two conditions:
(i) If the mover provides service for individual shippers on rates based upon the transportation of a minimum weight or volume, the moving company must indicate on the order for service the minimum weight- or volume-based rates, and the minimum charges applicable to the shipment.
(ii) If the moving company does not indicate the minimum rates and charges, the tariff must provide that the moving company will compute the final charges relating to such a shipment based upon the actual weight or volume of the shipment.

(12) Any identification or registration number that is assigned to the shipment.

(13) For non-binding estimates, the mover’s reasonably accurate estimate of the amount of the charges, the method of payment of total charges, and the maximum amount (no more than 110 percent of the non-binding estimate) that will be demanded at the time of delivery to relinquish possession of the shipment.

(14) For binding estimates, the amount of charges the moving company will demand based upon the binding estimate and the terms of payment under this estimate.

(15) Whether the individual shipper requests notification of the charges before delivery. The individual shipper must provide the mover with the fax number(s) or address(es) where the moving company will transmit the notifications by fax transmission; e-mail; overnight courier; or certified mail, return receipt requested.

The moving company, its agent, or its driver must inform the individual shipper if it is reasonably expected that a special or accessorial service is necessary to safely transport a shipment. The moving company must refuse to accept the shipment when it reasonably expect a special or accessorial service is necessary to safely transport a shipment and the individual shipper refuses to purchase the special or accessorial service. The mover must make a written note if the shipper refuses any special or accessorial services that it reasonably expect to be necessary.

The moving company and the individual shipper must sign the order for service. The moving company must provide a dated copy of the order for service to the individual shipper at the time it is signed.

The mover may provide the individual shipper with blank or incomplete estimates, orders for service, bills of lading, or any other blank or incomplete documents pertaining to the move.  In addition, the mover may require the individual shipper to sign an incomplete document at origin provided it contains all relevant shipping information except the actual shipment weight and any other information necessary to determine the final charges for all services performed.

The moving company must provide the individual shipper the opportunity to rescind the order for service without any penalty for a three-day period after the shipper signs the order for service, if the shipper scheduled the shipment to be loaded more than three days after signing the order.

Before loading the shipment, and upon mutual agreement of both the moving company and the individual shipper, the mover may amend an order for service.

The moving company must retain a copy of the order for service for each move performed for at least one year from the date the order for service was made keep it as an attachment to be made an integral part of the bill of lading contract.

For additional information, please visit the Law Office of David Piotrowski.