Wyoming Has No Household-Goods Tariff: The Written Estimate Is the Price
James Brazil lives in Mérida, Mexico. He founded Swift Agent Sites and studied Classics at the University of Mississippi.
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Wyoming does not publish a household-goods rate book. WYDOT requires a Letter of Operating Authority and insurance filings for a for-hire carrier. On a move that stays in the state, the written estimate is the price you compare with the bill.
A Letter of Operating Authority proves the company may haul for hire. It does not freeze the dollars on the invoice.
What should the estimate name?
Write down the legal name that matches the letter of authority, not a nickname from an ad. Ask for the price of the labor, the travel time, stairs, long carries, packing, specialty items such as a piano, and any storage. Ask how the company will be paid, and whether payment is due before the truck unloads. Ask what happens to a lost or damaged item, in dollars or in cents per pound, and get that sentence on the same paper.
If the salesperson will only quote by phone, treat that number as a guess. A later bill that does not match the guess is hard to complain about if you never had a written figure. Keep the text or the email if that is all you were given, and ask for a signed estimate before loading day.
What does the state actually check?
WYDOT Motor Vehicle Services is the authority desk, at 307-777-4850. The department's materials call for insurance filings completed by the insurer, including Form E for liability and Form H for cargo, and they say ordinary ACORD certificates are not a substitute for those filings. Confirm the current amounts with WYDOT. A copy of the letter is supposed to be in the truck. See what operating authority means.
None of those filings is a menu of consumer prices. Two legal movers can charge different amounts for the same Cheyenne apartment. You compare estimates. You do not look up a state rate and demand that number.
What if the bill does not match the ad?
Write the company and keep the answer. If the advertising or the bill does not match what you were told, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit takes a written complaint about deceptive practices. The office represents the state. It does not sue as your private lawyer, and it says it does not take a pure contract dispute. A price that was never real is the kind of file that page describes. The steps are in how to send that complaint.
A truck that crosses a state line leaves this gap. Federal rules require a written estimate and, on a non-binding price, limit what you must pay at delivery to 110 percent. See interstate rules for a Wyoming move. Do not expect WYDOT to apply that federal percentage to a move from Gillette to Rock Springs.
What should I do on moving morning?
Match the name on the truck to the estimate and to the letter of authority. If a different company shows up, stop before anything is loaded. Ask the driver to point to the price and the valuation on the paper you signed. Photograph the letter in the cab if the driver will show it. Note damage on the inventory before you sign the delivery receipt. A blank "received in good condition" line is the sentence a later claim has to overcome.
What belongs in the file you keep?
Save the estimate, the name and phone of the person who wrote it, and the date of the walk-through if there was one. Save the letter of authority number if the company gave it to you. Save texts that change the price. A later complaint is easier when those pages are together than when the only record is a charge on a card.
Ask for an inventory that lists the large items, and note the condition you can see. Wyoming does not give you a state inventory form for household goods. The list you and the driver sign is the one a damage argument will use. If the company refuses any writing at all, hire a different company before the truck is loaded.
FAQ
Can I look up the legal price of a Wyoming move? No statewide household-goods tariff is what WYDOT publishes for consumers. The written estimate is the figure you compare to the bill.
Does a letter of authority set the rate? No. It is permission to operate for hire inside Wyoming, with insurance filings. The dollars are in your estimate.
What if the mover adds stairs that were on the walk-through? If the estimate included them, the add-on should match that paper. If it did not, ask for the change in writing before you pay a new cash amount on the sidewalk.
Who do I call about a bait-and-switch price? Write the mover first. Then use the Attorney General's consumer complaint if the problem is a deceptive practice. Call 307-777-4850 if the question is whether the company holds authority.
Does this apply to a move to Billings? No. Billings is in Montana. That move is interstate, and the federal estimate rules apply.
Next step
Get two written estimates that name the company on the letter of authority, the services, the payment terms, and the valuation. Keep them. If the bill on delivery introduces a charge the estimate never mentioned, do not pay that new line in cash until it is written down and you know which office you will send it to.
Sources: WYDOT: intrastate operating authority, Wyoming Attorney General: consumer complaints.
Before you hire: Check a moving company's federal authority and insurance free, from FMCSA's records.
General notes for moves in and to Wyoming. Not a quote or a recommendation of any specific company. Confirm details with the mover you hire.
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