United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-07-12 monographic deposited born digital 9 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-819T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T P0b002ee18039e064 f:d01819t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T GAO-01-819T Consumer protection Household goods Motor carrier operations Testimony A01388 Consumer complaints against household goods carriers have multiplied over the last five years, while the Department of Transportation has conducted limited oversight of the industry. It does not collect nationwide information on consumer complaints in the household goods moving industry, but estimates that it receives about 4,000 complaints each year. The Department has done little to carry out its responsibility for consumer protection in the interstate household goods moving industry because this is a relatively low priority compared with its primary mission of promoting motor carrier safety. Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has recently begun activities that have potential to improve its ability to oversee the industry and protect consumers, the agency has fallen behind in completing these actions. FMCSA has not met the milestones that were in effect only three months ago for completing many of its planned activities and has extended the milestones by several months to a year. In addition, the Department did not conduct a study by mid-1997 of the effectiveness of arbitration as a means of settling household goods disputes, as required by the ICC Termination Act of 1995. The agency plans to conduct the study from fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2005. This testimony summarizes a March report (GAO-01-318). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T.pdf GAO-01-819T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-819T Testimony GAO-01-819T; Consumer Protection: Federal Actions to Oversee the Household Goods Moving Industry Are Unlikely to Have Immediate Impact; Consumer protection Household goods Motor carrier operations