Colonial Van Lines
FMCSA registrant: COLONIAL VAN LINES INC
USDOT 1434373 · FMCSA SAFER · observed
150 consumer complaints filed with FMCSA in the last four years — 28 for holding goods hostage
What we found
Report assembled Oct 14, 2026 · Source observations are dated below- SERIOUS150 consumer complaints filed with FMCSA in the last four years — 28 for holding goods hostage
FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database (via the Protect Your Move registry) — by year: 2023: 43 · 2024: 27 · 2025: 17 · 2026: 63 (registry data as of 09/25/2026). Categories: Estimates/Final Charges 61, Loss and Damage 57, Pickup and Delivery 55, Deceptive Business Practices 51, Weighing 45. Separately, the registry reports a fleet snapshot of 0 trucks, 25 tractors, 25 trailers; this does not measure moves completed during the complaint period.
Hostage-goods complaints mean customers told FMCSA this company held their belongings until they paid more than the estimate.
Source: FMCSA Protect Your Move — complaint history · as of Oct 14, 2026
- SERIOUS1 closed FMCSA enforcement case against this carrier in the last six years
case TN-2023-3001-US1710, closed 08/03/2023. FMCSA enforcement record, six years as of 10/13/2026. The public record publishes the case number and closing date only — not the violation or the penalty.
FMCSA brought a formal enforcement action against this carrier and closed it. Ask the company what the case was for before you book.
Source: FMCSA SMS — enforcement cases · FMCSA enforcement report · as of Oct 14, 2026
- ON RECORDThe five most recent FMCSA investigations on record — most recent 06/09/2026 (Non-Ratable Review)
06/09/2026 Non-Ratable Review; 04/11/2025 Non-Ratable Review; 04/10/2023 Non-Ratable Review; 02/11/2022 Non-Ratable Review; 05/01/2019 Non-Ratable Review. FMCSA publishes only the five most recent investigations, so there may be more.
Source: FMCSA SMS overview · as of Oct 14, 2026
- CHECKS OUTActive federal household-goods authority (MC-681534)
FMCSA: ACTIVE; authorized for Motor Carrier of Property (Except Household Goods); Motor Carrier of Household Goods; insurance filings on file.
Source: Captured FMCSA record · Captured FMCSA record · as of Oct 14, 2026
- CHECKS OUTBBB rating A+ (not accredited) — Pompano Beach profile
BBB complaints: 142 complaints in the last 3 years (40 closed in the last 12 months); types: Service or Repair Issues 64, Delivery Issues 23, Order Issues 21, Product Issues 17, Sales and Advertising Issues 9, Customer Service Issues 5, Billing Issues 3; status: 104 answered, 38 resolved.
A BBB letter grade is BBB's own assessment; it is not an endorsement, a licence check or a clearance of the company.
Source: BBB profile · as of Sep 3, 2026
Changes on the public record
Changes observed in this company's federal and state records during the last 90 days. Each entry shows when the change was observed.
- Oct 14, 2026MEDIUM2 new consumer complaints filed with FMCSA (148 → 150 in the last four years).
- Oct 7, 2026MEDIUM1 new consumer complaint filed with FMCSA (147 → 148 in the last four years).
- Oct 1, 2026MEDIUMNew operating authority on record: MC681534 Motor Carrier of Property (Except Household Goods) — Active.
- Oct 1, 2026MEDIUMNew operating authority on record: MC681534 Motor Carrier of Household Goods — Active.
- Sep 30, 2026MEDIUM1 new consumer complaint filed with FMCSA (146 → 147 in the last four years).
What kind of company is this?
The captured federal record lists a carrier role. This alone does not establish current interstate household-goods authority or guarantee who will perform your move.
The captured FMCSA record reports interstate household-goods authority. Confirm its current status and the operating carrier before booking.
How long this company’s website has existed, from Internet Archive records. Very new websites are a common scam signal.
Fleet size reported in federal filings.
What we checked
- Federal operating authority (FMCSA)Active federal authority: carrier. Observed Oct 14, 2026. Carrier, broker and freight-forwarder authority are separate categories. This federal result does not determine its eligibility for in-state moves; see the separate state-registry check.
- Federal interstate household-goods carrier authorityThe captured FMCSA record reports interstate household-goods carrier authority. Observed Oct 14, 2026. Confirm the actual operating carrier and any separate operating restrictions for your move.
- State household-goods licenceWe could not complete the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) lookup (checked Aug 12, 2026). This is a gap in our check, not a finding about the company.
- Federal BIPD insurance filing (dated record)On-file BIPD amount ($1,000,000) met or exceeded the recorded requirement ($1,000,000). Cargo coverage is a separate question. As observed Oct 14, 2026; confirm current coverage before booking.
- Cancelled or revoked insurance filings on record13 cancelled or revoked insurance filings on record with FMCSA. Review the filing dates and reasons. This history does not by itself mean the company is currently uninsured. 5 cancellations left no filing of the same coverage in effect on the cancellation date (BIPD cancelled 2020-04-06, next filing effective 2020-04-07; BIPD cancelled 2011-03-29, next filing effective 2011-04-01; CARGO cancelled 2011-03-29, next filing effective 2011-04-01; BIPD cancelled 2010-01-23, the last record of a filing first recorded cancelled 2010-01-17, next filing effective 2010-03-29; CARGO cancelled 2010-01-23, the last record of a filing first recorded cancelled 2010-01-17, next filing effective 2010-03-29). For 7 of them FMCSA records a filing of the same coverage type in effect on the cancellation date. For 1 of them, whether coverage continued cannot be judged from the files: FMCSA’s own later record of the same filing is dated after the cancellation (BIPD cancelled 2012-05-20, later record dated 2013-01-05). FMCSA’s files hold 42 filing records for these 26 filings; 10 later records on filings that had already ended and 6 replacement records dated the filing’s own effective date are listed but not counted. FMCSA’s authority history also records 10 involuntary revocation actions (served 2021-08-25, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2021-09-23; served 2021-06-24, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2021-07-07; served 2020-11-18, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2020-12-03; served 2020-03-10, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2020-04-10; served 2013-03-18, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2013-04-09; served 2012-04-17, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2012-04-23; served 2012-02-02, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2012-02-07; served 2011-03-02, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2011-04-04; served 2011-03-02, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2011-03-21; served 2009-12-21, disposition DISCONTINUED REVOCATION decided 2009-12-24), 1 revocation or suspension order (INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION, served 2009-12-28, effective 2010-02-01), 1 authority action with a revocation, suspension or out-of-service disposition (GRANTED served 2009-11-12, disposition REVOKED decided 2010-02-01) and 1 reinstatement (served 2010-03-31).
- Review ratings compared across sourcesGoogle has an unknown number of reviews, too few to compare with Trustpilot's 2992; star ratings differ by 0.7 stars.
- Address and operating-location evidenceProperty use and a customer-accessible operating facility have not been established. A registered address, mailing address and local office can serve different purposes.
Address use and operating locations
A registered office, mailing address and operating facility can be different places. Residential or mailbox use alone does not establish improper operation.
No current source-backed property-use determination is available. This is a verification gap, not proof of a false address or a verified operating facility.
FMCSA regulatory snapshot
- Authority status
What does this mean?
Federal operating authority is category-specific: carrier, broker and freight-forwarder roles are separate. An active registration or one active role does not establish household-goods carrier authority. Operating restrictions are checked separately. - Active federal authority: carrierObserved Oct 14, 2026
- Carrier operation
- Interstate
- Interstate HHG carrier authority
What does this mean?
"HHG" means Household Goods. This field checks interstate carrier authority, not separate broker authority. A "No" here does not rule out broker authority; consult the category-specific federal dockets below. - Yes — authority recordedObserved Oct 14, 2026
- Operating status
- ACTIVE
- Trucks
What does this mean?
FMCSA calls these "power units", meaning trucks, tractors, and other registered moving vehicles the carrier owns or leases. - 25
- Drivers
What does this mean?
Drivers the carrier has registered with FMCSA. This is the official number; some carriers operate with more drivers than registered. - 25
- Insurance status
- —
- Safety rating
- Satisfactory
- DOT complaints (FMCSA)
- 150 consumer complaints on fileBy year: 2023: 43 · 2024: 27 · 2025: 17 · 2026: 63 · registry data as of Sep 25, 2026 · FMCSA complaint historyEstimates/Final Charges (61)Loss and Damage (57)Pickup and Delivery (55)Deceptive Business Practices (51)Weighing (45)Shipment Documents (39)Claim Settlement (39)Hostage Goods (28)Operating Authority (11)Insurance (4)Other Commercial Complaints (2)Whistleblower Complaint (1)
- FMCSA enforcement & investigations
- 1 closed enforcement case(s) (six years): TN-2023-3001-US1710 2023-08-03 · SMS recordInvestigations: 2026-06-09 Non-Ratable Review; 2025-04-11 Non-Ratable Review; 2023-04-10 Non-Ratable Review; 2022-02-11 Non-Ratable Review; 2019-05-01 Non-Ratable Review
- Physical address
- 1441 SW 29TH AVE STE 100, POMPANO BEACH, FL 33069
- Operating authority dockets
- ActiveMC681534Motor Carrier of Property (Except Household Goods)ActiveMC681534Motor Carrier of Household Goods
A company can hold several federal dockets over its lifetime. Only an Active docket grants operating authority. An inactive one is history, not a violation.
State household-goods licence
In-state moves are governed by the state, not the FMCSA. We tried to read Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) on Aug 12, 2026.
Reviews and complaints — every platform we check
Listings are matched using company names, addresses, phone numbers and websites. Reviews belong to the business or location shown.
Listing matched to this business.
Source checked Sep 3, 2026
Possible business match. Confirm the listing before relying on its rating.
Source checked Sep 3, 2026
Not accreditedListing matched to this business.
Source checked Sep 3, 2026
Listing matched to this business.
Source checked Sep 3, 2026
Detailed listing checks and review analysis are included in the full report.
Verified customer experience reports
Structured accounts from customers who proved their move with a bill of lading or final invoice, a verified email, and a verified phone. No star ratings, no anonymous reviews, and nothing a company can pay to change — how this works.
No verified customer reports yet. Only customers who can document their move may submit one — that keeps the count honest, and it means it grows slowly.
Moved with Colonial Van Lines? — you will need your bill of lading or final invoice, and a phone that can receive a code.
Work at Colonial Van Lines? Claim this profile to respond publicly to reports. Claiming is free and never changes the records on this page.
The full verification report
Each section of the full report names its sources: official federal and state records, the company's own website, review platforms and other public pages. Access requires a one-time fee, shown at checkout.
Research coverage
What this report checked, source by source. Coverage describes the scope of the report; it does not grade the company. A search with no match applies only to the named source, date and recorded scope; it does not establish that no cases exist.
Incomplete: BBB complaints and reviews in full, Phone, address and identifier search, Follow-up on unresolved leads not yet checked.
| Source | Status | Date | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company identity | Checked — record readFederal registration USDOT 1434373 corroborated (the USDOT number its website prints, matched to this business). | — | — |
| Company website | Checked — record read6 page(s) of the company website read. | Sep 3, 2026 | View source |
| FMCSA registration (SAFER and MOTUS) | Checked — record readSAFER and MOTUS records read for the verified USDOT. | Oct 14, 2026 | — |
| FMCSA complaint history | Checked — record readProtect Your Move complaint history read. | Oct 14, 2026 | View source |
| FMCSA safety record (SMS) | Checked — record readSMS inspections, crashes and enforcement cases read. | Oct 14, 2026 | View source |
| FMCSA insurance filings | Checked — record readFMCSA Licensing & Insurance open data (data.transportation.gov), read 2026-10-14 for USDOT 1434373 (MC681534); the legacy L&I files are frozen at 2026-05-14 and the MOTUS files are as of 2026-10-13: 26 insurance filings from 42 filing records (13 replaced, 13 cancelled); of the 13 cancelled filings, 7 had a filing of the same coverage in effect on the cancellation date, 5 had none and 1 cannot be judged from these files; 10 later termination records on filings that had already ended, not counted again; 6 replacement records dated the filing's own effective date, not counted as an end; 2 filings listed as active or pending in the MOTUS insurance file (1 more listed there but contradicted by a history record, not counted as on file); 14 authority actions, including 10 involuntary revocation actions (10 discontinued); 1 action with a revocation, suspension or out-of-service disposition; 1 revocation or suspension order. FMCSA's MOTUS insurance file lists CARGO $5,000 effective 2024-04-06, contradicted by a history record dated 2026-09-20 (cancelled, in FMCSA's MOTUS insurance history file). | Oct 14, 2026 | View source |
| State business entity register | Last checked more than 30 days agoSecretary of State entity record: last read on 2026-08-12, more than 30 days ago; a fresh read is required before this lane counts as covered. | Aug 12, 2026 | View source |
| State mover licence | Not available when checkedFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS): the source was not available when checked. | Aug 12, 2026 | — |
| Not available when checkedgoogle: listing identity confirmed by phone, website, but this run did not show its review count. | Sep 3, 2026 | View source | |
| Yelp | Not available when checkedyelp: a same-name listing in the same city was found, but Yelp pages cannot be read, so its phone/website/address anchors could not be confirmed; its metrics are not attributed. | Sep 3, 2026 | View source |
| BBB | Checked — record readbbb: listing identity confirmed by website. | Sep 3, 2026 | View source |
| BBB complaints and reviews in full | Not yet checkedThe BBB complaint and review corpus was not retrieved in full. | — | — |
| Trustpilot | Checked — record readtrustpilot: listing identity confirmed by website domain. | Sep 3, 2026 | View source |
| Phone, address and identifier search | Not yet checkedPhones, addresses, domain and registration numbers were not searched independently of the company name. | — | — |
| Related entities | Checked — record readLinkage computed over the acquired listings. | — | — |
| Follow-up on unresolved leads | Not yet checkedUnresolved leads were not followed up. | — | — |
Ledger evaluated Oct 14, 2026.
Report assembled Oct 14, 2026. First published Sep 2, 2026. This report pulls from 396 pieces of information across federal, state, review, and identity sources. Check each source's date for when its information was observed.
NMB does not invent facts. When a section reads "—" or "this check has not run yet," that means we have not been able to verify the information from a primary source. It does not mean the answer is good or bad.
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