cal trans numbers

[damfino]

I am moving from LA to Boston at the end of July (careful to avoid the Democratic Convention), and have gotten three quotes. None of the places seem to have DOT#s but rather Cal PUC T numbers. So I'm having a hard time looking up their info on SafeSys.org.

Here's what I've got. I live in a 1 BR.

Andy's Transfer & Storage (North American), appx. 3700 lbs, "guaranteed not to exceed $3200"
CAL P.U.C. T-120525

Beverly Hills Transfer & Storage (Allied) appx. 3800 lbs
"guaranteed not to exceed $3600"
CAL T-179059

Phil's Transfer & Storage (Atlas)
Came in for an estimate on Friday, promised to call early next week with numbers. They don't do "not to exceed"
CAL-T66-242

any insight on how to proceed from here would be most helpful. This site is great. Thanks for all your hard work.

[IMP]

If they are going to take your stuff across a state line - they MUST have an ICC/DOT or MC/MX number. As they are all agents for van lines - my guess is that the agent has their own CAL # in order to operate within the state of CA but will use the van lines' numbers for interstate moving - so if you were to enter that information in safersys you'd get van line information anyway.

Did you get references/recommendations to these three companies?

Did any/all of them provide you with "Your Rights & Responsibilities" when they did the survey? If so - how many pages were included in the booklet? It was recently updated and this will tell you if the agency has the most current version.

If you are able - visit each of the facilities. If you go early in the morning you may be able to see drivers and crews and get an impression of them. Do they look like the kind of people you would trust with your belongings? Is the facility, trucks and warehouse somewhere you would be comfortable with your belongings being held - even for a short period of time?

As weight and pricing is pretty close - which one do you have the best "gut feel" for?

Not sure if this helps or not - if you have more specific questions feel free to post them or PM me.

[damfino]

thanks for your help. Andy's was recommended to me, and i used them for a local move here in LA. Phil's was also recommended by a friend who had moved from LA to Las Vegas. Bev Hills did have an MC#, and everything seemed to check out with Allied (their affiliate). Andy's (north American) gave me a little moving kit which did have my rights & responsibilities booklet. Theirs was the only one who did. I tried plugging in the CA# and turned up nothing on the safersys website. There is nothing in the Yellow Pages or their printed information which has a US DoT#.

[damfino]

i forgot to add the rights & responsibilities booklet has 25 pages, and i noticed on the back a note that says rev. 6/00. and ALSO their dot/mc#! the sneaks. everything seems to check out with them too.

[Diane]

Damfino,

The only comment I can add is that the moving professionals on this website always recommend that people get a Binding Not to Exceed/Guaranteed Not to Exceed estimate, so if Phil's Transfer won't give you one, I would rule it out on that basis. Of the other two companies, I personally would choose the one that you yourself used and liked, which is Andy's Transfer. Somewhere I read--but can't find the reference now--that the people who run Andy's are very active in the community (helping out at charity events and so on).

I agree with what IMP said about visiting the facilities (to buy boxes or whatever) if you have time, and I also agree that the local agents are using the van lines' authority (license numbers) when they do interstate moves. Looking up the van lines' numbers on www.safersys.org isn't going to give you much useful information because the info is going to refer to the overall van line. Very occasionally, an individual agent will have separate MC/DOT numbers that can be looked up.

[scammed]

Kind of disappointing that only one out of the three gave you a copy of the R&R booklet, and that one was not the current version. Revisions to the booklet were something that the AMSA was fighting tooth and nail, and was very high on the list of topics they were addressing on the newsletter, so it was very high profile. And yet, they haven't managed after a month to even provide you with the OLD copy (which by law they are required to give you.) Even if they don't have copies of the revised booklet, seems like they'd give you the old one and explain the changes to it currently in effect.

[MusicMom]

You can read/download the current, correct version here, and maybe give a copy to the movers, too.