Moving Into or Out of Colorado: FMCSA Rules, Not the PUC Permit
James Brazil lives in Mérida, Mexico. He founded Swift Agent Sites and studied Classics at the University of Mississippi.
Published · Updated
If a household move to or from Colorado crosses a state line, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulates the mover. The Colorado PUC says its permit is for intrastate moves. An HHG number does not replace federal registration on a trip to New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, or Oklahoma.
A short drive from Trinidad into New Mexico is still interstate. FMCSA's consumer line is 1-888-368-7238, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. Check the USDOT number before you treat a Colorado contract as enough for that route.
What valuation and what delivery rule?
49 CFR 375.201 makes the mover liable for replacement value up to the declared value unless you waive full-value protection in writing. FMCSA's consumer pages describe the released-value option as 60 cents per pound per article. A 10-pound item worth $1,000 pays no more than $6 under that option. You sign a specific statement to take it. Articles worth more than $100 per pound have to be disclosed in writing or recovery can be limited. The Colorado PUC contract's "lesser of 60 cents or depreciated value" is the in-state form. Do not assume the two sentences are identical. See the Colorado option.
On a non-binding interstate estimate, if the bill is higher than the estimate, the mover must release the shipment when you pay 110 percent and must defer the balance for at least 30 days. Extra services ordered after the contract, and impracticable-operations charges up to 15 percent of other charges due at delivery, can still be collected then. This 110 percent rule is federal. The PUC consumer page does not state it for a move that stays in Colorado. See the in-state estimate.
Who do you call if the truck stays closed?
If you paid 110 percent of a non-binding interstate estimate, or 100 percent of a binding estimate, and the mover will not deliver, call 1-888-368-7238. If both addresses are in Colorado, call the PUC at 303-894-2070. See that complaint. The HHG permit still matters for the Colorado miles of a company that also does interstate work, but it does not set the federal valuation. See the permit.
An auto policy does not value the shipment. See Colorado's 25/50/15 limits.
What to confirm before a deposit
Email the pickup city and the delivery city to the company and ask for the USDOT number in the reply. Look it up before you pay. Ask whether the estimate is binding or non-binding. On a non-binding interstate estimate, 110 percent is the federal delivery figure if the bill is higher, and the balance waits at least 30 days. That percentage is not the Colorado PUC consumer rule for a move from Denver to Colorado Springs. Keep the two papers separate.
Ask whether you are waiving full-value protection. FMCSA describes 60 cents per pound as the released option and uses a 10-pound, $1,000 item that pays $6 as the example. Disclose items worth more than $100 a pound in writing. The Colorado contract's lesser-of-60-cents-or-depreciated-value line is the in-state form. Read the form that matches the route.
Write the date you read this rule on the paper you are using, whether that paper is a declarations page, a notice, a contract, or a permit. Colorado offices do not share one file. The Division of Insurance, the Division of Property Taxation, the county assessor, and the Public Utilities Commission each keep their own. A number you saw on a neighbor's bill, or on a mover's ad from another state, is not your deadline. If two official pages disagree, the document in your hand and a phone call to the office that issued it settle the question for your account. Keep the postmark, the email header, or the receipt. Those are the dates a later complaint can use. Do not wait for a second notice to start the count that already began when the first one was mailed or delivered.
Before you pay a deposit, save the USDOT lookup and the estimate in the same folder. Mark the estimate binding or non-binding in your own handwriting if the form is unclear, and ask the company to confirm by email. On moving day, tender 110 percent of a non-binding estimate if the bill is higher, get a receipt, and note the time. The balance waits at least 30 days under the federal rule. Do not quote that percentage to a crew whose contract is only a Colorado HHG job from one Front Range city to another.
FAQ
Is Denver to Cheyenne a PUC move? No. Cheyenne is in Wyoming. The move is interstate.
What is the federal released-value example? FMCSA describes 60 cents per pound. Its example is a 10-pound item worth $1,000, which pays no more than $6.
When must an interstate mover unload? On a non-binding estimate, when you pay 110 percent if the bill is higher, with the balance deferred at least 30 days.
Does that 110 percent rule apply in Boulder to Fort Collins? No. Both cities are in Colorado. Use the PUC contract. Do not import the federal percentage.
Who takes the complaint? FMCSA at 1-888-368-7238 for a state-line crossing. The PUC for a move that stays in Colorado.
Next step
Write down both cities. If a line is crossed, look up the USDOT number, decide in writing whether you are waiving full-value protection, and keep the federal booklets with the estimate. Pay 110 percent of a non-binding estimate if that is what delivery requires, and call FMCSA if the goods stay on the truck.
Sources: Colorado PUC: household goods movers, FMCSA: valuation, FMCSA: delivery, 49 CFR 375.201.
General notes for moves in and out of Colorado. Not a quote or a recommendation of any specific company. Confirm details with the mover you hire.
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