American Van Lines (AVL) is among our highest-rated providers due to its straightforward pricing and extensive services. AVL offers flat-rate pricing that provides transparency ahead of moving day. If you’re on a fixed budget and worried about price fluctuations, AVL can be a great choice.
AVL is a carrier, meaning it services all moves it books rather than contracting out to another mover. It provides experienced moving crews, with crew members averaging a decade on the job. This experience lends itself to high-quality packing and crating services for fragile items.
As an added bonus, AVL offers expedited shuttle service between major cities. If your move falls on a more commonly traveled route, you could get a reduced rate for service.
Our thoughts on American Van Lines
American Van Lines scored 4.2 out of 5 stars in our rating system. Its binding estimates make it one of the best long-distance moving companies, and it features transparent pricing as a carrier that handles its own moves.
However, limited customer service hours, spotty reviews and large deposit requirements held it back in our ratings.
What we like
American Van Lines employs experienced moving crews that undergo background checks, drug screens and rigorous training before deployment in the field.
According to AVL, its workers average 10 years of industry experience. This can provide you with peace of mind if you entrust awkward or fragile valuables such as pianos and fine art to this mover.
Additionally, AVL provides bottom-line pricing for long moves. Long-distance and full-service interstate moves are priced at transparent flat rates, which makes it easier to move within a set budget. This includes its shuttle services between major cities and along popular intercity routes.
What we don’t like
Not everything about AVL’s pricing model is likable. The mover requires you to pay upfront deposits between 10% and 50% of your final invoice. While these deposits are fully refundable if you cancel at least seven business days before your scheduled moving date, it can be frustrating if you’re trying to keep moving costs low or are managing large sums of money during a new home purchase.
As a carrier, AVL claims to handle all moves internally without outsourcing to third parties. However, some customer reviews I read contradict this claim. These reviews mention third-party carriers handling moves originally booked with AVL, which calls into question AVL’s transparency and could lead to unreliable service quality.
AVL’s customer service hours are limited, with abbreviated Saturday hours and no Sunday call center hours. This can easily cause communication problems if you’re moving on a weekend.
Compare top moving providers
American Van Lines employs quality moving crews, making it an excellent choice for complicated long-distance moves. However, there is a steep premium for its services, as its deposit requirement is significantly higher than similar movers.
Moving services American Van Lines offers
American Van Lines offers local and long-distance moving service packages. With AVL, you’ll have access to loading, unloading, transportation and released liability coverage for your goods.
Local moves
American Van Lines lets you choose from an all-inclusive local moving package, which is its most hands-off option, and a tailored moving package that lets you pick and choose the services that fit your needs and budget.
The provider’s flexible service options allow you to decide how much involvement you want from AVL. For example, you can have its movers handle packing and transportation or pack yourself and let them pick up and transport your pre-packed items. Partial packing allows you to have AVL pack only your fragile belongings while you box up the rest.
Long-distance moves
American Van Lines offers long-distance moving services to the lower 48 states and many major cities. As a carrier, AVL owns and operates its own large fleet of trucks with branches across the U.S. This helps to reduce last-minute delays, hiccups and overall uncertainty with your long-distance move.
Optional services
Optional relocation services include piano moving, antique crating and protection, vehicle shipping, and climate-controlled storage units at secure facilities. You can also opt for valuation coverage for any of these more valuable items. While it isn’t technically insurance, it functions similarly and covers you in the event of loss or damage.
Nonresidential services
AVL also provides military moving and commercial moving assistance. Its military moves feature all-inclusive moving quotes. These quotes include packing, assembly and disassembly, and online shipment tracking.
Commercial or corporate relocations include anything from moving a single employee to an entire company.
Pricing and quotes
I contacted AVL to get an estimate for a three-bedroom cross-country move from California to North Carolina. It took me about 40 minutes to complete the quote and involved a thorough inventory of my cargo items.
This room-by-room breakdown included questions about disassembly and reassembly options, packing and unpacking, and numerous other services.
The quote for my 2,900-mile move was as follows:
- Packing services only: $4,799
- Transportation without packing: $12,532
- Transportation with packing: $17,331
- Transportation with packing and one month of storage: $21,743
I called AVL more than six months ahead of my proposed moving date. Expect higher rates if you get a quote during the month you plan to move.
American Van Lines advertises binding flat rates for all its moves. Unless you add inventory or service requirements to your move after completing the quote process, your price will remain the same.
Companies that promise flat-rate pricing are bound by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 110% rule, which allows movers to charge a maximum of 110% of your quoted moving rate on your delivery date.
American Van Lines also advertises transparent rates for moving shuttle services between major cities. You can save money here by packaging your goods on a moving truck that transports multiple moves simultaneously.
| Moving Route | Approximate Distance | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Miami, Fla., to Los Angeles, Calif. | 2,700 miles | $7,297 |
| Washington, D.C., to Dallas, Texas | 1,300 miles | $5,155 |
| Greensboro, N.C., to Atlanta, Ga. | 300 miles | $3,190 |
| Los Angeles, Calif., to Houston, Texas | 1,500 miles | $5,354 |
Local moves are billed hourly. We recommend speaking with a moving coordinator to get your own quote if you’re considering a local move with AVL.
American Van Lines’ availability
American Van Lines has three central hubs: Pompano Beach, Florida; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Dallas, Texas. From these locations, it provides long-distance service to all lower 48 states along with limited local options.
It has no service options in Alaska or Hawaii and does not advertise international moving services.
Guarantees and insurance
American Van Lines offers valuation coverage options. The lowest tier of coverage is the industry standard released liability protection, which covers your goods at 60 cents per pound per item.
This is supplemented by AVL’s full-value protection options, which cover up to $6 per pound per item. If you’re transporting high-value items such as antiques, then you may also want to consider extraordinary value protection at up to $100 per pound per item. You’ll have to request pricing information for this when you call AVL for a quote.
Customer thoughts
American Van Lines receives generally positive scores on third-party customer review sites, including close to 4 out of 5 stars on its Better Business Bureau profile and 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google Reviews for its Florida branch.
I read more than 100 American Van Lines reviews and noted several trends to be aware of.
Positive reviewers commonly touched on the movers’ professional conduct and prompt yet thorough moving quotes. For example, Bryan praised the driver, movers and customer service department in his Google review.
My experience with AVL reflected the same experience, as I easily got an estimate for a lengthy move. All pricing breakdowns were easy to understand and accompanied by an emailed itemized quote.
Negative reviews are expected in the moving industry — even for established and respected providers — and AVL is no exception. Some reviewers reported negative experiences with bait-and-switch tactics, where AVL would send third-party movers to handle some relocations. This counters its claim that it is solely a moving carrier.
Final take: High-end moving services at a cost
There’s a lot to like about AVL. It offers transparent pricing and operates as a carrier, meaning it handles its own moves. It does so with some of the most well-trained labor in the industry, using highly qualified movers and customer service personnel to make your move a pleasant experience.
These benefits come at a cost. You’ll need to pay an upfront deposit of up to 50%, and AVL’s quotes are generally higher than its competitors’, according to my secret shopping with other movers. Additionally, several customer reports of third-party labor involvement are mildly concerning.
Regardless, you can get a free estimate from AVL right here.
Our rating methodology for movers
Our moving recommendations are all backed by our detailed rating methodology. To fairly assess both interstate and local movers, we have tailored two sets of review standards for long-distance and intrastate movers.
Both sets of review standards assess factors including reputation and customer satisfaction, availability and range, services offered, pricing and quote practices and customer service. We rate each moving company out of 100 possible points. We then divide the final score by 20 to obtain the 5-star rating we feature in our reviews.
BBB and other third-party ratings are accurate as of December 2023.
Editorial note: The name “Homefront” refers to the alliance between USA TODAY and Home Solutions that publishes review, comparison, and informational articles designed to help USA TODAY readers make smarter purchasing and investment decisions about their home. Under the alliance, Homefront provides and publishes research and articles about home service and home improvement topics.
Homefront has an affiliate disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Homefront editorial staff alone (see About Homefront). Homefront adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is believed to be accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
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