A House of Representatives Subcommittee is looking at the question of whether household goods movers need more regulation.

Thursday, the House Transportation highways and transit subcommittee heard testimony on the issue.
Rep. Tom Petri, chairman of the subcommittee, said he was alarmed to hear of growing consumer complaints three years after the Department of Transportation promised to make improvements. Since that time, oversight of the moving industry has been transferred from the now-defunct Interstate Commerce Commission to the fledgling Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Petri, R-Wis., said lawmakers want to investigate whether Congress should pass legislation that would give states and local governments the power to enforce federal law against interstate movers.
In March, the General Accounting Office issued a report on the issue, taking the FMCSA to task for not doing a good enough job overseeing movers. Since then, the agency has issued a number of press releases detailing enforcement actions taken against unscrupulous movers.
Joseph Harrison, president of the American Moving and Storage Association, said his group wants to eliminate unscrupulous movers but opposes expanding federal law. He would rather see the DOT do a better job of enforcing existing regulations, he told the subcommittee.