I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2928

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to improved consumer protection regulation of the household goods transportation industry, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. COBLE, and Mr. MICHAUD) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to improved 

consumer protection regulation of the household goods 

transportation industry, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer’s Relocation 

5 Protection Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Federal regulation of interstate transpor2 tation of household goods is essential to the mainte3 nance of the interstate household goods moving in4 dustry and so is vital to the requirements of our na5 tional economy and a strong national defense. The 

6 capability of the industry to meet the challenges pre7 sented by a mobile society is dependent upon a sys8 tem of Federal regulation that is uniformly applied 

9 regardless of State origins and destinations of con10 sumers’ moves. Wholesale proliferation of Federal 

11 regulatory responsibilities among the States must be 

12 avoided to ensure a consistent regulatory environ13 ment that allows the industry to perform its essen14 tial service to the public. 

15 (2) In 1996, Congress abolished the Interstate 

16 Commerce Commission and transferred its regula17 tions governing the interstate transportation of con18 sumers’ household goods to the Department of 

19 Transportation. The Department of Transportation 

20 and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra21 tion which are charged with regulation of the indus22 try have, on numerous occasions, advised Congress 

23 that their primary mission is truck safety regulation 

24 and that they have neither the resources nor the 

25 manpower to effectively regulate the moving indus-
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1 try. Unfortunately, this condition has nurtured the 

2 growth of a cottage industry of rogue movers that 

3 preys upon the moving public through a variety of 

4 schemes employed to gain the confidence of con5 sumers, and then their belongings, and finally, in ex6 change for those belongings, impose exorbitant 

7 charges for what purports to be a moving service. In 

8 reality, those services do not resemble the services of 

9 legitimate movers that conscientiously transport the 

10 overwhelming majority of the 1,300,000 interstate 

11 moves that are performed each year. 

12 (3) While the rogue movers’ participation in the 

13 interstate moving market is minutely small, the toll 

14 they have taken on the moving public and the legiti15 mate moving industry is enormous. Numerous re16 ports on the unlawful practices of these operators 

17 have been aired by our national television networks 

18 and countless similar press accounts have seriously 

19 tarnished the image of the entire legitimate moving 

20 industry which is made up largely of small business 

21 operators that comply with existing Federal regula22 tions. 

23 (4) Just recently the Federal Bureau of Inves24 tigation concluded a 2-year investigation into the 

25 practices of Florida-based unlawful operators that 
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1 resulted in Federal criminal indictments of 42 rogue 

2 movers and 74 individuals that were involved in 

3 their operations. Aggressive Federal enforcement ac4 tion of this nature must continue if we are to rid the 

5 moving industry of the scourge created by the rogue 

6 mover. 

7 (5) Under existing Federal law, consumers have 

8 an adequate remedy to compensate them for the 

9 loss, damage, or delay of their property. However, in 

10 view of the operating practices of rogue movers, it 

11 is appropriate to enhance enforcement by granting 

12 to the States authority over certain unlawful prac13 tices that are contrary to Federal law. 

14 (6) To meet this challenge it is appropriate that 

15 Congress act to close certain loopholes that have al16 lowed the unscrupulous mover to thrive. This can be 

17 accomplished by conferring authority on the States 

18 to take action against movers that violate important 

19 Federal licensing, pricing, and arbitration require20 ments or engage in the insidious practice of holding 

21 consumers’ goods hostage in exchange for a king’s 

22 ransom. At the same time, it is necessary not to lose 

23 sight of the importance of avoiding measures that 

24 would threaten the financial stability of the legiti-
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1 mate moving industry and its ability to serve the 

2 public. 

3 (7) Civil and criminal penalties are necessary to 

4 combat the unlawful practice of holding household 

5 goods hostage. 

6 (8) Too many brokers of household goods trans7 portation services, many of whom operate exclusively 

8 on the Internet, have run roughshod over consumers 

9 when arranging for the transportation of their 

10 household goods. Regulation of this segment of the 

11 moving industry is virtually nonexistent. Federal 

12 consumer protection regulations must be prescribed 

13 and the States should be authorized to pursue bro14 kers that fail to arrange legitimate moving services 

15 for consumers. 

16 (9) The Department of Transportation should 

17 establish a consumer complaint data information 

18 base and require the filing by movers of meaningful 

19 statistics on loss and damage claims. 

20 (10) To promote the public’s access to an inex21 pensive means of resolving claims for loss or dam22 age, the present mandatory threshold for binding ar23 bitration should be available for all claims of 

24 $10,000 or less instead of the present $5,000 or less 

25 amount. In addition, neutral arbitration should be
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1 available to consumers to resolve certain transpor2 tation charge payment disputes in an inexpensive 

3 and expeditious manner. 

4 (11) The Department of Transportation must 

5 impose meaningful registration requirements on all 

6 applicants for Federal authority to engage in the 

7 interstate transportation of household goods to en8 sure they are qualified to serve the public and to 

9 thwart the proliferation of unscrupulous operators. 

10 (12) Consumers must receive written estimates 

11 of moving services and charges and inventories of 

12 goods to be transported to curb abusive rogue mover 

13 practices that misrepresent their services. 

14 SEC. 3. FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS RELATING TO THE 

15 TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS. 

16 (a) NONPREEMPTION OF INTRASTATE TRANSPOR17 TATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.—Section 

18 14501(c)(2)(B) of title 49, United States Code, is amend19 ed by inserting ‘‘intrastate’’ before ‘‘transportation’’. 

20 (b) ENFORCEMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION

21 WITH RESPECT TO INTERSTATE HOUSEHOLD GOODS

22 CARRIERS.—

23 (1) STATE ENFORCEMENT REGARDING TRANS24 PORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS.—Chapter 145 
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1 of such title is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘§ 14506. State enforcement regarding transportation 

4 of household goods 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY OF STATES.—

6 ‘‘(1) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Notwithstanding 

7 any other provision of this title, if an attorney gen8 eral of a State or other authorized officer of that 

9 State has reason to believe that the interests of the 

10 residents of that State have been or are being 

11 threatened or adversely affected because any person 

12 has engaged or is engaging in the performance or 

13 procuring of household goods transportation or serv14 ice (including accessorial or terminal service) subject 

15 to jurisdiction under chapter 135 or 139 in violation 

16 of one or more of sections 13702(a)(2), 13901, 

17 13902, 13903, 13904, 13906, and 14708, the State 

18 may bring a civil action for injunctive relief on be19 half of its residents in an appropriate district court 

20 of the United States to enjoin such transportation or 

21 service and to compel the person to pay to the State 

22 any civil penalty assessed under chapter 149 with re23 spect to such violation. 

24 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION.—A motor carrier providing 

25 transportation subject to jurisdiction under chapter 
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1 135, that knowingly and willfully refuses to relin2 quish possession of a shipment of household goods 

3 described in section 13102(10)(A) upon payment of 

4 not more than 100 percent of a binding estimate (or, 

5 in the case of a nonbinding estimate, not more than 

6 110 percent of the estimated charges for such ship7 ment) plus the charges for additional services that 

8 were performed at origin, en route, or at destination 

9 as authorized by the shipper and as required by sec10 tion 13702, shall be liable for a civil penalty under 

11 chapter 149. A State may bring a civil action under 

12 this subsection in an appropriate United States dis13 trict court to compel a motor carrier to relinquish 

14 possession of a shipment, to pay the civil penalty as15 sessed under chapter 149 to the State, or to obtain 

16 injunctive relief. 

17 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—

18 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The State shall serve prior writ19 ten notice of a civil action under subsection (a) upon 

20 the Secretary and provide the Secretary with a copy 

21 of its complaint; except that, if it is not feasible for 

22 the State to provide such prior notice, the State 

23 shall serve such notice immediately upon instituting 

24 such action. 
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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—Upon receiving notice of a 

2 civil action under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

3 have the right to—

4 ‘‘(A) intervene in such action; 

5 ‘‘(B) be heard on all matters arising there6 in; and 

7 ‘‘(C) to participate in or initiate an appeal 

8 of such action. 

9 ‘‘(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

10 bringing a civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this 

11 section shall be construed to prevent an attorney general 

12 of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the 

13 attorney general by the laws of such State to conduct in14 vestigations or to administer oaths or affirmations or to 

15 compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of 

16 documentary and other evidence. 

17 ‘‘(d) ACTIONS BY THE SECRETARY.—Whenever a 

18 civil action has been instituted by or on behalf of the Sec19 retary for violation of any provision specified in subsection 

20 (a), no State may institute, during the pendency of such 

21 action, a civil action under subsection (a) against any de22 fendant named in the complaint in such action for a viola23 tion alleged in such complaint. 

24 ‘‘(e) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—A civil action 

25 under subsection (a) may be brought in the district in 
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1 which the defendant is found, resides, or transacts busi2 ness or wherever venue is proper under section 1391 of 

3 title 28. Process in such an action may be served in any 

4 district in which the defendant resides or in which the de5 fendant may be found. 

6 ‘‘(f) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.—In ad7 dition to actions brought by an attorney general of a State 

8 under subsection (a), such an action may be brought by 

9 officers of the State who are authorized by the State to 

10 bring actions in such State on behalf of its residents.’’. 

11 (2) HOUSEHOLD GOODS BROKERS.—Section 

12 13904 of such title is amended—

13 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub14 section (e); and 

15 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(d) HOUSEHOLD GOODS BROKERS.—

18 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the effective date of the Consumer’s Relocation 

20 Protection Act of 2003, the Secretary shall adopt 

21 regulations prescribing practices and procedures that 

22 ensure the fair and equitable treatment of individual 

23 shippers that utilize brokers of household goods de24 scribed in section 13102(10)(A).
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1 ‘‘(2) STANDARD FOR SELECTING CARRIERS.—

2 Each broker of household goods that is registered by 

3 the Secretary under this chapter shall use due dili4 gence and reasonable care in selling or arranging the 

5 services of only those motor carriers of household 

6 goods that are in compliance with the requirements 

7 of this part and all applicable regulations maintained 

8 by the Secretary and the Board. 

9 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT BY THE SECRETARY AND

10 THE STATES.—

11 ‘‘(A) COMPLAINT.—Whenever the Sec12 retary or an attorney general of any State or 

13 other authorized officer of a State, in coordina14 tion with the Secretary, has reason to believe 

15 that a broker of household goods subject to this 

16 section has arranged for transportation by a 

17 motor carrier that has violated this part, or is 

18 consistently not fit, willing, and able to provide 

19 adequate household goods transportation serv20 ices, the Secretary may issue to such broker a 

21 complaint stating the charges and containing 

22 notice of the time and place of a hearing which 

23 shall be held no later than 60 days after service 

24 of the complaint to such broker; except that, be25 fore issuing any complaint under this sub-
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1 section, the State shall first request that the 

2 Secretary initiate an investigation and issue 

3 such complaint. If the Secretary declines to ini4 tiate an investigation, the State may initiate 

5 such an investigation and convene a hearing. 

6 ‘‘(B) RIGHT TO DEFEND.—The broker 

7 shall have the right to appear at any hearing 

8 convened pursuant to subsection (A) and rebut 

9 the charges contained in a complaint. 

10 ‘‘(C) ORDER.—If the broker does not ap11 pear at the hearing or if the Secretary or the 

12 State finds that the broker has violated this 

13 section, the Secretary may take appropriate ac14 tion to compel compliance with this part and 

15 regulations issued thereunder, including 

16 issuance of an order to limit, condition, or pro17 hibit such broker from any involvement in the 

18 procurement of service for the transportation of 

19 household goods. 

20 ‘‘(D) RELIEF.—Following an investigation 

21 and hearing under this subsection, the Sec22 retary or the State may bring a civil action in 

23 a United States district court or a State court 

24 for injunctive relief and to compel a person to 

25 pay any civil penalty assessed under chapter 
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1 149 to the United States or the State, as the 

2 case may be.’’. 

3 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis 

4 for chapter 145 of such title is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following:

‘‘14506. State enforcement regarding transportation of household goods.’’.

6 SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PRAC7 TICES AND PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE FED8 ERAL-STATE RELATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor11 tation shall establish a working group of State attorneys 

12 general, State consumer protection administrators, and 

13 Federal and local law enforcement officials for the purpose 

14 of developing practices and procedures to enhance the 

15 Federal-State partnership in enforcement efforts, ex16 change of information, and coordination of enforcement 

17 efforts, with respect to interstate transportation of house18 hold goods and of making legislative and regulatory rec19 ommendations to the Secretary concerning such enforce20 ment efforts. 

21 (b) CONSULTATION WITH INDUSTRIES.—In carrying 

22 out subsection (a), the working group shall include rep23 resentatives of industries involved in the transportation of 

24 household goods. 
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1 SEC. 5. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR HOLDING 

2 HOUSEHOLD GOODS HOSTAGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 149 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 14915. Holding household goods hostage 

7 ‘‘(a) HOLDING HOUSEHOLD GOODS HOSTAGE DE8 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘holding 

9 household goods hostage’ means the knowing and willful 

10 refusal to relinquish possession of a shipment of household 

11 goods described in section 13102(A)(10) upon payment of 

12 not more than 100 percent of a binding estimate (or, in 

13 the case of a nonbinding estimate, not more than 110 per14 cent of the estimated charges for such shipment) plus the 

15 charges for additional services that were performed at ori16 gin, en route, or at destination as authorized by the ship17 per and as required by section 13702. 

18 ‘‘(b) CIVIL PENALTY.—A motor carrier that is found 

19 holding a household goods shipment hostage is liable to 

20 the United States for a civil penalty of not less than 

21 $10,000 for each violation. If such carrier is subject to 

22 jurisdiction under chapter 135, the Secretary may suspend 

23 for a period of not less than 6 months the registration 

24 of such carrier under chapter 139. 

25 ‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—A motor carrier that has 

26 been convicted of knowingly and willfully holding house-
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1 hold goods hostage by falsifying documents or demanding 

2 the payment of charges for services that were not per3 formed or were not necessary in the safe and adequate 

4 movement of a shipment of household goods shall be fined 

5 under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or 

6 both.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

8 such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing:

‘‘14915. Holding household goods hostage.’’.

10 SEC. 6. CONSUMER HANDBOOK ON DOT WEB SITE. 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall take 

13 such action as may be necessary to ensure that publication 

14 OCE–100 of the Department of Transportation, entitled 

15 ‘‘Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move’’ is 

16 prominently displayed, and available in language that is 

17 readily understandable by the general public, on the Web 

18 site of the Department of Transportation. 

19 SEC. 7. DISPLAY OF INFORMATION ON HOUSEHOLD GOODS 

20 TRANSPORTATION RELATED WEB SITES. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall modify 

23 the regulations contained in part 375 of title 49, Code of 

24 Federal Regulations, to require a motor carrier or broker 

25 that is subject to such regulations and that establishes and
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1 maintains a Web site to prominently display on the Web 

2 site—

3 (1) the Department of Transportation number 

4 of the motor carrier or broker; 

5 (2) the OCE–100 publication referred to in sec6 tion 6; and 

7 (3) in the case of a broker, a list of all motor 

8 carriers providing transportation of household goods 

9 used by the broker and a statement that the broker 

10 is not a motor carrier providing transportation of 

11 household goods. 

12 SEC. 8. CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATABASE. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 1 

14 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of Transportation shall establish a complaint handling sys16 tem to log individual shipper (as defined in section 13102 

17 of title 49, United States Code) informal complaints re18 lated to motor carrier interstate transportation of house19 hold goods, an annual database of such complaints, and 

20 a procedure for public access to such data. All complaints 

21 recorded in the database must be identified by motor car22 rier bill of lading number and forwarded to the involved 

23 carrier. For each motor carrier included in the database, 

24 the percentage of complaints which were disputed must 

25 also be recorded. 
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1 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor3 tation shall issue regulations requiring each motor carrier 

4 and freight forwarder providing transportation of house5 hold goods to submit an annual report on or before each 

6 March 31 covering the 12-month period ending on the 

7 prior March 31 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘report8 ing period’’) that summarizes—

9 (1) the number of shipments that originate and 

10 are delivered for individual shippers during the re11 porting period; 

12 (2) the percent of those shipments identified in 

13 subparagraph (A) which resulted in the filing of a 

14 claim for loss or damage in excess of $500; 

15 (3) the percent of claims identified in subpara16 graph (B) which were settled in the reporting period; 

17 (4) the percent of claims identified in subpara18 graph (B) which were declined in the reporting pe19 riod; and 

20 (5) the percent of claims identified in subpara21 graph (B) which were pending on the last day of the 

22 reporting period. 

23 (c) USE OF INFORMATION.—In determining which 

24 motor carriers providing transportation of household 

25 goods should be subject to an investigation, the Secretary 
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1 shall consider the failure to make a report in violation of 

2 section 14901 of title 49, United States Code, and infor3 mation in the database established under subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 9. ARBITRATION REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) OFFERING SHIPPERS ARBITRATION.—Section 

6 14708(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

7 inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘and 

8 to determine whether carrier rates, in addition to those 

9 collected at delivery that are unpaid, must be paid by the 

10 shipper as required by the regulations of the Secretary 

11 governing the payment for transportation and service’’. 

12 (b) THRESHOLD FOR BINDING ARBITRATION.—Sec13 tion 14708(b)(6) of such title is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘$5,000’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

15 (c) DEADLINE FOR DECISION.—Section 14708(b)(8) 

16 of such title is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’; and 

18 (2) by inserting after ‘‘for damages’’ the fol19 lowing: ‘‘, and an order requiring the payment of ad20 ditional carrier charges’’. 

21 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES TO SHIPPERS.—Section 

22 14708(d)(3) of such title is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

24 (B) as subparagraphs (B) and (C); and 
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1 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (B) (as so 

2 redesignated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) the shipper was not advised by the carrier 

4 during the claim settlement process that a dispute 

5 settlement program was available to resolve the dis6 pute;’’. 

7 (e) ATTORNEY’S FEES TO CARRIERS.—Section 

8 14708(e) of such title is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(e) ATTORNEY’S FEES TO CARRIERS.—In any court 

10 action to resolve a dispute between a shipper of household 

11 goods and a carrier providing transportation or service 

12 subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I or III of chapter 

13 135 concerning the transportation of household goods by 

14 such carrier, the carrier shall be awarded reasonable attor15 ney’s fees by the court only if—

16 ‘‘(1) the court proceeding is to enforce a deci17 sion rendered through arbitration awarding addi18 tional charges to the carrier under subsection (a) 

19 and is instituted after the period for performance 

20 under such decision has elapsed; or 

21 ‘‘(2) the shipper brought the court action in 

22 bad faith—

23 ‘‘(A) after resolution of such dispute 

24 through arbitration under this section; or
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1 ‘‘(B) after institution of an arbitration 

2 proceeding by the shipper to resolve such dis3 pute under this section but before—

4 ‘‘(i) the period provided under sub5 section (b)(8) for resolution of such dis6 pute (including, if applicable, an extension 

7 of such period under such subsection) 

8 ends; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) a decision resolving such dispute 

10 is rendered.’’. 

11 SEC. 10. CIVIL PENALTIES RELATING TO HOUSEHOLD 

12 GOODS BROKERS. 

13 Section 14901(d) of title 49, United States Code, is 

14 amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘If a carrier’’ and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a carrier’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(2) ESTIMATE OF BROKER WITHOUT CARRIER

20 AGREEMENT.—If a broker for transportation of 

21 household goods subject to jurisdiction under sub22 chapter I of chapter 135 makes an estimate of the 

23 cost of transporting any such goods before entering 

24 into an agreement with a carrier to provide such 

25 transportation of household goods subject to such ju-
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1 risdiction, the broker is liable to the United States 

2 for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 for each 

3 violation. 

4 ‘‘(3) UNAUTHORIZED TRANSPORTATION.—If a 

5 person provides transportation of household goods 

6 subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter 

7 135 or provides broker services for such transpor8 tation without being registered under chapter 139 to 

9 provide such transportation or services as a motor 

10 carrier or broker, as the case may be, such person 

11 is liable to the United States for a civil penalty of 

12 not less than $25,000 for each violation.’’. 

13 SEC. 11. INDIVIDUAL SHIPPER DEFINED. 

14 Section 13102 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(25) INDIVIDUAL SHIPPER.—The term ‘indi17 vidual shipper’ means any person who is the con18 signor or consignee of a household goods shipment, 

19 is identified as such in the bill of lading or other 

20 similar contract, owns the goods being or to be 

21 transported, and pays for their transportation.’’. 

22 SEC. 12. ADDITIONAL REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 

23 MOTOR CARRIERS OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS. 

24 Section 13902 of title 49, United States Code, is 

25 amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para2 graph (5); 

3 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) HOUSEHOLD GOODS; ADDITIONAL RE6 QUIREMENTS.—In addition to the requirements in 

7 subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall register a per8 son to provide transportation of household goods de9 scribed in section 13102(10)(A) only after such per10 son—

11 ‘‘(A) identifies the arbitration program in 

12 which it participates and provides a copy of its 

13 notice of such program as required by section 

14 14708(b)(2); 

15 ‘‘(B) identifies its tariff and provides a 

16 copy of its notice of the availability of such tar17 iff for inspection as required by section 

18 13702(c); 

19 ‘‘(C) certifies that it has access to, has 

20 read, is familiar with, and will observe all appli21 cable regulations of the Secretary and the 

22 Board governing consumer protection, esti23 mating, consumer rights and responsibilities, 

24 and options for limitations of liability for loss 

25 and damage; and 
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1 ‘‘(D) discloses any relationship involving 

2 common stock, common ownership, common 

3 management, or common familial relationships 

4 between such persons and any other motor car5 rier, freight forwarder, or broker of household 

6 goods within the past 3 years. 

7 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE; FIND8 INGS.—The Secretary shall consider and, to the ex9 tent applicable, make findings on any evidence dem10 onstrating that the registrant is unable to comply 

11 with the requirements of one or more of subpara12 graphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) and sub13 paragraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(4) WITHHOLDING.—If the Secretary deter15 mines that any registrant under this section does 

16 not or is not able to meet the requirements of para17 graph (1) or (2), the Secretary shall withhold reg18 istration for a period of not less than 1 year.’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end of paragraph (5) (as 

20 so redesignated) the following: ‘‘In the case of a reg21 istration for the transportation of household goods 

22 described in section 13102(10)(A), the Secretary 

23 may also hear a complaint on the ground that the 

24 registrant fails or will fail to comply with the re25 quirements of paragraph (2).’’.
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1 SEC. 13. ESTIMATING AND INVENTORY REQUIREMENTS. 

2 Section 14104 of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended—

4 (1) in subsection (b) by striking paragraph (1) 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED TO BE IN WRITING.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

8 provided [in this subsection], every motor car9 rier providing transportation of household goods 

10 described in section 13102(10)(A) subject to ju11 risdiction under subchapter I of chapter 135 

12 shall conduct a physical survey of the household 

13 goods to be transported on behalf of a prospec14 tive individual shipper and shall provide the 

15 shipper with a written estimate of charges for 

16 the transportation and all related services. 

17 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—A shipper may elect to 

18 waive a physical survey under this paragraph by 

19 written agreement signed by the shipper before 

20 [the] shipment is loaded. A copy of the waiver 

21 agreement must be retained as an addendum to 

22 the bill of lading and shall be subject to the 

23 same record inspection and preservation re24 quirements of the Secretary as are applicable to 

25 bills of lading. 

26 ‘‘(C) ESTIMATE.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding a 

2 waiver under subparagraph (B), a carrier’s 

3 statement of charges for transportation 

4 must be submitted to the shipper in writ5 ing and must indicate whether it is binding 

6 or nonbinding. 

7 ‘‘(ii) BINDING.—A binding estimate 

8 under this paragraph must indicate that 

9 the carrier and shipper are bound by such 

10 charges. The carrier may impose a charge 

11 for providing a written binding estimate. 

12 ‘‘(iii) NONBINDING.—A nonbinding 

13 estimate under this paragraph must indi14 cate that the actual charges will be based 

15 upon the actual weight of the shipment 

16 and the carrier’s lawful tariff charges.’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(d) INVENTORIES.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every motor carrier pro21 viding transportation of household goods described 

22 in section 13012(10)(A) subject to jurisdiction under 

23 subchapter I of chapter 135 shall prepare, at the 

24 time of loading a shipment of such household goods, 

25 a written inventory of all articles tendered by an in-
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1 dividual shipper and accepted by the carrier for 

2 transportation. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Every inventory under this 

4 subsection shall list or otherwise reasonably identify 

5 each item tendered for transportation, be signed by 

6 the shipper and the carrier or their respective agents 

7 at both the origin and destination, and shall be at8 tached to and considered part of the bill of lading. 

9 ‘‘(3) RECORD INSPECTION AND PRESERVATION

10 REQUIREMENTS.—An inventory under this sub11 section shall be subject to the same record inspection 

12 and preservation requirements of the Secretary as 

13 are applicable to bills of lading.’’. 

14 SEC. 14. EXTEND CIVIL PENALTIES TO BROKERS OF 

15 HOUSEHOLD GOODS. 

16 Section 14901(d) of title 49, United States Code, is 

17 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) BROKERS.—If a broker of household goods 

19 described in section 13102(10)(A) providing service 

20 to individual shippers and subject to jurisdiction 

21 under subchapter I of chapter 135 fails or refuses 

22 to comply with any regulation issued by the Sec23 retary relating to the protection of individual ship24 pers, such broker shall be liable to the United States 

25 for a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 for each 
27

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1 violation and for each additional day during which 

2 the violation continues.’’. 

3 SEC. 15. PROGRESS REPORT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor6 tation shall transmit to Congress a report on progress in 

7 implementation of this Act, including the amendments 

8 made by this Act. 

9 (b) OVERSIGHT HEARINGS.—The Committee on 

10 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

12 and Transportation of the Senate shall conduct periodic 

13 oversight hearings on the effects of this Act, including the 

14 amendments made by this Act, no less than annually for 

15 the first 5 years following the date of enactment of this 

16 Act to ensure that this Act, including the amendments 

17 made by this Act, is being implemented according to con18 gressional intent.

Æ