AmeriSafe quotes qualifying interstate moves as a binding estimate: a fixed total for the inventory and services listed, locked in writing before the truck rolls. It cannot go up at delivery, no weight-based 'true-up' invoice, no fuel-surcharge escalation, no delivery-day renegotiation. The one thing that changes a binding estimate is a change to your inventory, and that happens through a signed addendum before move day, never at the curb. Your coordinator confirms in writing whether your route and inventory qualify.
This guide explains exactly how binding pricing works, what locks the price, how services are itemized, and how it compares to the non-binding and hourly estimates most moving companies offer.
What is a binding estimate?
A binding estimate is a fixed total price for your move, locked in writing before the truck arrives at your home. It is the FMCSA's own term, and it is enforceable: once you sign, that is the number you pay for the inventory and services listed, regardless of whether your shipment weighs more than estimated, regardless of fuel prices on the road. We price it on the truck space your inventory actually needs, measured from your video inventory or itemized list, not a weight guess.
It is the cleanest pricing model in the moving industry and the only one that genuinely aligns the mover's incentives with the customer's. Your goal: a smooth move at a predictable price. Our goal: deliver the move efficiently. A binding estimate does not reward anyone for stretching the move into more billable time.
Binding vs. non-binding vs. hourly
Interstate movers quote one of three ways. A non-binding estimate is a guess: your final bill is based on the actual weight of the shipment, and federal rules allow the mover to collect up to 110% of the estimate at delivery, with the rest billed after. That gap between the phone quote and the delivery bill is where most moving-day horror stories live. Hourly pricing works for short local moves but creates terrible incentives on interstate hauls, where the meter runs through loading, transit, and unloading.
A binding estimate is the most predictable: you and the mover agree on a single number for a defined inventory and service list before the truck rolls. Both sides have certainty. Both sides do the work upfront, accurate inventory, clear specialty-item disclosure, agreed-upon services, but once it is signed, the price is the price.
One more edge specific to AmeriSafe: because we hold both carrier and broker authority, every move is priced two ways, on our own equipment or with a preferred carrier at volume-negotiated rates. Your estimate is the better of the two numbers. A carrier-only company can never shop your move; a broker-only company has never run one. We do both.
Every service itemized up front
Binding pricing works because nothing is vague. Before you sign, your coordinator builds your inventory with you (a quick video tour or an itemized list, no in-home sales visit) and prices the estimate line by line: the truck space your inventory actually occupies, packing services you choose, custom crating for specialty items, building access (stairs, long carries, shuttle trucks where a street cannot take a trailer), and storage-in-transit if you need it.
You see and approve every line before you book. That is the point: nothing appears for the first time on the final bill. If a service is on the estimate, it is in the locked total. If it is not, it only gets added because you request it, through a signed addendum, priced before the work happens.
What can change the price (and what cannot)
Once your estimate is signed, the binding total can change in only a few specific scenarios, all of them on you to disclose or request:
- You add or remove items not on the original inventory after the estimate is signed
- You change the move date in a way that requires re-routing or re-scheduling
- You add packing or unpacking services that were not part of the original quote
- Specialty items (piano, antique, fine art, pool table) discovered at pickup that were not disclosed
Why this matters for interstate moves
An interstate move has too many variables for hourly pricing to be fair to either party, distance, weather, traffic, building access, parking, the specifics of every floor in your home. And a non-binding estimate turns those variables into your problem at delivery.
A binding estimate is the only model that lets you actually budget the move. You sign one number. You pay one number. Done.
Ready to price your interstate move? Request a quote online or call 855-967-0102. A senior coordinator can walk through your inventory, itemize every service, confirm whether your move qualifies for a binding estimate, and put your price in writing.