FAQ: Common Concerns That Reference the AMSA Weight Guide
You are a representative of an interstate moving company. That is why it is important that your staff stay aware of all AMSA guidelines. To save you some time, here are some highlights from the AMSA guide in an FAQ format. These are common questions that moving company employees get from customers. Many of them want to know the process behind determining the weight of goods.
Buy Arbitration $189-How are estimates based on the weights of shipments?
Say a customer is getting a non-binding estimate. The mover, of course, provides charges to the customer based on that shipment. The charges concern the true weight of the shipment. There are certain factors in which the law prohibits the mover from making charges. The factors? Estimates about time (hours), cubic feet, and volume. This means charges that are not based on weight get forbidden. There is also a federal regulation that interstate moving companies must adhere to. It enforces that weights of shipments get figured out by means of a state-certified scale. When this takes place, the mover must give the customer the weigh tickets to the weigh master. This is in advance of the customer receiving the final invoice.
-Does the customer have the right to watch your company’s movers weigh the truck? (This is after the shipments get loaded onto the truck.)
Shipments get weighed in the town or city where the goods get loaded. Drivers get their trucks weighed in advance, before loading the goods. Why? This is so they can subtract that total from the truck’s weight, once the items get loaded. Next, the driver weighs the truck a second time after the items get loaded.
Drivers also have the right to postpone weighing shipments. Some companies prefer weight to get calculated until arrival at the final destination. Then, the driver weighs the truck with the items still in the truck. Next, the driver weighs the truck one more time, once the items get unloaded.
In either scenario, the customer has the right to watch the weighing occur. The driver must get an official weight ticket with the signature of the weighmaster. US law requires that to happen after every weigh-in. Drivers must also know to hold on to a copy of the weight tickets. But that is not the only copy they need. They also must hold on to a copy of the bill.
Buy Arbitration $189-Do customers have a right to ask drivers to re-weigh if they suspect an error has occurred?
Yes. Customers do have a right to ask drivers to re-weigh. But they need to do so before the goods get unloaded. Otherwise, it is too late. Moving companies cannot charge customers when re-weighs take place. That is according to US law. But the final charge is always based on the total from re-weighing.
Also, the customer does not have a clear legal right to watch over the re-weigh. In fact, the customer must sign a document stating the right to watch the re-weigh has gotten waived. Most companies are polite and allow their customers to watch the re-weighs. But that is only if the customer insists on being there. If you have any problems like this a moving claim form must be provided to the customer by law and regulations.