How do you inventory a shipment so nothing goes missing?

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Keep your own numbered list of every box and major item, match it against the mover’s inventory at loading before you sign, and check every number off again at delivery before you sign the receipt. On an interstate move, federal rules require the mover to prepare an inventory that you both sign page by page. On a move within Georgia, no rule requires one: ask the carrier to inventory your goods before loading starts, and know that on an hourly move you may pay for that time.

Who has to make the inventory

On an interstate move. The federal consumer booklet in Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 375 says: “Your mover must prepare an inventory of your shipment.” The mover is required to list any damage or unusual wear, and “both you and the mover must sign each page of the inventory.” You have the right to note any disagreement before you sign.

On a Georgia move. DPS’s moving guide makes it your request: before loading begins, “you may ask the carrier to make an inventory of your property and accompany the mover while the list is prepared.” It also says: “If you are billed on an hourly basis you may have to pay for the time an inventory takes, but without one you could have difficulty proving a claim.” If you disagree with anything on the inventory, the guide tells you to note it on the form before you sign it, and to make sure the notations also appear on the company’s copy.

Build your own numbered list first

Before moving day, make a record you control:

  1. Number every box, and label it with the room and a short description of its contents on more than one side.
  2. Keep a master sheet that ties each number to its contents.
  3. List furniture and high-value items one by one.
  4. Photograph valuable and fragile pieces, showing any existing wear.

Your list does not replace the mover’s inventory. It gives you something to check the mover’s inventory against. Valuable items also need to be listed on the bill of lading itself, as covered in how high-value items change your coverage.

Match at loading

As the crew loads, walk the mover’s inventory page by page. Confirm that every item you handed over is on it and that the condition notes are accurate. If a sofa is marked scratched and it is not, or an item is missing from the list, write your disagreement on the form before you sign. Your signature is your agreement to what the page says.

Match again at delivery

Check items off by their numbers as they come off the truck, and inspect the fragile and valuable pieces before you sign anything. The federal booklet says: “Do not sign until you have assured yourself that it is accurate and that proper notations have been entered regarding any missing or damaged items.” DPS’s guide says to make a written notation of any damage or loss on the inventory or bill of lading, on both copies, because otherwise “it could be very difficult to collect on a claim.”

A note on the delivery paperwork is a record, not the claim itself. File a written claim afterward: within 90 days on a Georgia move, and within nine months on an interstate move. The delivery-day routine is covered in how to inspect your shipment at delivery, and where the inventory fits in the whole day in what happens on moving day.

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