Moving industry know-how
Binding, non-binding and not-to-exceed estimates
What each kind of moving estimate promises the customer, the 110% rule at delivery, and how to set each one up in MoveBoard.
- 2 min read
- Checked against MoveBoard
- For owners & admins, sales
On an interstate household-goods move, the mover must give a written estimate before the move, and say whether it is binding or non-binding (49 CFR 375.401). The kind changes what the customer can be charged.
Binding
A binding estimate is a fixed price for the goods and services listed (49 CFR 375.403). At delivery the customer pays that amount — no more, no less — even if the shipment weighs more than estimated.
The price can change only when:
- the customer adds goods or services after signing — the mover writes a new estimate or a change order before loading, or
- the mover meets impracticable operations at delivery (a site the truck can't reach, for example), which can add charges up to a limit (15% of all other charges).
Non-binding
A non-binding estimate is a reasonably accurate guess (49 CFR 375.405). The final price comes from the actual weight on certified scales and the mover's tariff — it can be higher or lower than the estimate.
The 110% rule: at delivery, the customer never has to pay more than 110% of the non-binding estimate to receive their goods. Anything above that is billed afterwards, and the customer has at least 30 days to pay it (49 CFR 375.407, 375.805).
Example: non-binding estimate $4,000. The scale weight makes it $4,700. At delivery the most the mover can collect is $4,400 (110%); the other $300 is billed later.
Not to exceed
A not-to-exceed (also "binding not-to-exceed" or "guaranteed not to exceed") price is common practice built on the binding rules: the customer pays the actual charges or the ceiling, whichever is lower. If the shipment is lighter, they pay less; if it's heavier, they never pay more than the ceiling.
Flat rate
On local moves many companies sell a flat rate — one price for the whole job, whatever the hours. It works like a binding price for the services listed.
In MoveBoard
- Each kind of move has a Default Estimate Type — Flat Rate, Binding or Non-Binding — on its settings page (for long distance: Settings › Long distance › Intrastate and Interstate). Change it on one order with the Estimate Type row of the Order card.
- On a long-distance order, the long-distance summary on the Quote card says in one line what the estimate promises — for example Binding: the customer pays $… plus only services added later.
- For a ceiling price, give the order a not-to-exceed percent: the ceiling is the quote plus that contingency percent — see Not to exceed. The crew's bill warns when it goes over.
- After delivery, the long-distance bill of lading shows what may be collected at delivery and what is billed later.
Related guides
- Estimates & pricingNot-to-exceed pricesGive the customer a ceiling price — the quote plus a contingency percent — and warn the crew when the bill goes over it.
- Long distanceA long-distance orderWhat is different in the order window when a move is long distance — the Pickup and Delivery halves, the tariff rows, the Linehaul Charge and its step-by-step pop-up, and the long-distance summary on the quote.
- Estimates & pricingFlat rate local movesQuote a local move as one fixed price built from its size and distance, instead of hours times a rate.
- Moving industry know-howLocal, intrastate and interstate movesThe three kinds of move in the moving business, who regulates each, and how MoveBoard tells them apart.
- Moving industry know-howChange orders in movingThe standard van-line change order — why the customer signs a priced change before the extra work, the federal rules on binding and non-binding moves, and how MoveBoard's change order follows them.
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