Tennessee long distance
Long-distance moving companies in Tennessee
Tennessee state pages point at two different agencies for a company moving household goods inside Tennessee, and BestMovers.info will not pick one for you until a Tennessee page settles it.
Researched and written by Grant Holloway · Reviewed by Amanda Brooks · Last reviewed August 2026
Who regulates moving companies in Tennessee?
Tennessee state pages point at two different agencies for a company moving household goods inside Tennessee, and BestMovers.info will not pick one for you until a Tennessee page settles it.
- The Tennessee Department of Revenue issues Intrastate Authority, which allows a for-hire motor carrier to use Tennessee highways to transport property in intrastate commerce, and requires a cargo insurance certificate on Form H from any carrier hauling household goods. That page describes an authority for for-hire carriers generally, not an authorisation written for movers.
- The rules governing estimates of charges, determination of weights and the handling of claims for loss or damage by household goods movers sit at Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1340-6-1-.29, in the chapter of the Department of Safety, Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, and they address monthly underestimate reports and claim status letters to the Commissioner of Safety, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division. That chapter was originally certified in 1974 and transferred between chapters in 2003, and its stated authority is a Tennessee Code section that has since been renumbered.
Because those Tennessee pages do not agree, this page names no Tennessee regulator and no Tennessee licence. Any move that crosses the Tennessee state line is authorised federally instead: the carrier must hold a USDOT number and interstate household goods operating authority, both checkable in FMCSA SAFER.
https://www.tn.gov/revenue/motor-carrier/intrastate-authority.htmlhttps://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/1340/1340-06/1340-06-01.pdf
Check a carrier in FMCSA SAFERWhat does the federal count say about Tennessee?
Of the 990 household goods registrants filed at a Tennesseeaddress, 454 carry the federal census classification for interstate operations. That is 46% of the state-address total. The other 536 do not carry that classification in this snapshot. Neither group is a list of movers serving every address inTennessee: headquarters location and service area are different facts.
A consumer should use the count as context, not as a shortlist. Ask for the USDOT number of the company that will transport the shipment, match its legal or trade name to the written estimate, and confirm granted household goods authority close to pickup. A broker registration, a state-only filing, or a carrier based inTennessee without interstate classification does not substitute for that check.
How many licensed moving companies are registered in Tennessee?
The FMCSA motor carrier census lists 990 registrants carrying household goods whose physical address is in Tennessee, and 454 of those are classified by FMCSA as interstate operations. That figure counts companies whose federal registration lists a Tennessee address, which is not the same as the number of companies that will serve a move in Tennessee. An interstate move into or out of Tennessee can be performed by a carrier registered in any state.
FMCSA motor carrier census, Company Census FileData as of 2026-08-10
Which record applies to a Tennessee move?
The dividing line is the shipment, not the mover's office. A move that begins and ends inside Tennesseefollows the state authorisation described above. A move from Tennessee to another state follows federal interstate rules. When one company offers both, check both records independently and make sure the name on the estimate matches the entity holding the authority for that trip.