North American Van Lines, or NAVL, is a large American trucking company originally formed in Cleveland, Ohio and later based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which specializes in home and office relocations.
North American Van Lines (northamerican.com) has 16 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 1.1 out of 5.
Also known as
northamerican.com
Website
northamerican.com
Category
Moving & Storage
Location
Columbia City, Indiana
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
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Most recent review: April 2026.
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I was moving 5 hours away, North American told me movers would come between 1-3pm on the day my lease was up. They came at 9:30pm and I had to make that 5 hour drive at night and in a storm. The movers also decided to up my price by $1000 once everything was on the truck and I still do not have a date as to when I am getting my stuff. Customer service has been entirely unhelpful and does not care at all about how inconvenient the his is. Do with that that information what you will.
DW
Don W.
Buyer Beware
We contracted with North American Van Lines to move our belongings from the northwest Chicago suburbs to Fruita, a small town in western Colorado. If you hire these guys, I will guarantee they will be breaking many of your items. While North American wrapped the furniture, we packed all the boxes ourselves. We spent hundreds of dollars for moving boxes, bubble wrap and other packing materials to make sure our items arrived safely. When the boxes were moved from our house into the trailer, they were in perfect condition. It didn’t matter. Our items did not break because of the way they were packed in the boxes. They broke because of the way the boxes were loaded and crammed on the truck.
When we contracted with North American, we specifically asked the salesman about items broken in shipping. He told us if anything was broken to take pictures of the broken items and the boxes they came in. Then file a claim using their online form which we did and the items would be paid for. That is not what happened. North American paid us $109 for a claimed $840 in damaged items. Then to discourage us from asking for anything more they said if we chose to, we could file for arbitration. They were also going to charge us $300 to file for arbitration to discourage us from further advancing our claim. North American is claiming that because they did not pack the boxes, they couldn’t be held liable for any damages. They further claimed that there was no written notification made of crushed boxes at the time of delivery.
The reason there is no written notification at delivery is the driver, who should have been supervising the unloading, was sleeping in the truck while another local crew that was brought in did the unloading. As for who packed the boxes, that is irrelevant because of the way the boxes were loaded. Even if North American had packed the boxes the same damage would have occurred. Having worked for UPS in the trucking industry I know there is a right way and a wrong way to load a truck trailer. Our trailer was 13-feet high. The correct way to load it would have been to stack boxes to build walls until the boxes reached half the height of the trailer. Then a wood platform is mounted across the trailer and more boxes are then loaded to the top. By doing it this way the weight of the boxes is evenly distributed and the boxes on the bottom are not crushed. When our trailer was loaded all our boxes were clearly marked with what was in them. Unfortunately, the crew member stacking the boxes didn’t speak English so it is unlikely he understood what was in each box. He then built the box walls from the floor all the way to the top without using any wood platforms. As a result, all of the boxes on the bottom were crushed by the weight of 13-feet of other boxes stacked on top of them. Those bottom boxes are where all of our broken items were packed.
Our trailer was 53-feet long. When it was loaded, all 17,000 pounds of our belongings were packed in the first third of the trailer. This left room for other loads to be delivered along the way. When we got to our new house we had to wait 10 days for our items to be delivered. Because of the excessive delay I asked the driver how many other stops he had to make enroute. He said there were no other stops. Our items went direct from Chicago. My point here is that if there were no other stops there was no reason to pack our items so tight. The box walls didn’t need to go to the ceiling of the trailer. Had the load been spread out more the boxes on the bottom may not have been crushed at all.
Buyer beware!
GG
Gary G.
Look at the Better Business Bureau…
Look at the Better Business Bureau reports on this company before you hire these crooks!
I called North America Van Lines to move us from Oregon to Montana. They farmed out the job to Moda Moving.
Moda Moving is the most dishonest, unethical, and incompetent company I have ever dealt with in my entire life.
We filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Oregon Department of Justice, FTC, FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, ATA (American Trucking Association), and U.S Department of Transportation because so they were so unethical and incompetent.
Four of our biggest complaints were:
Item #1 – Moda Moving relocation consultant that came to our home knowingly and deliberately deceived us.
Item #2 – Moda Moving was negligent in moving our household items in a timely manner.
Item #3 – Moda Moving was negligent in the handling our items multiple times and storing in a warehouse for two weeks, which resulted in numerous damaged and missing items.
Item #4 – Moda Moving did not respond to phone calls for status of our move as well as our complaints.
Beware of this company.
The estimator (Zane) who come out to our house is a master at “bait and switch”. Everything he promised never happened. He will lie to directly to your face about what the move rate is, among other things. What you sign is not what he promises you.
We were told our items would be loaded on ONE truck and unloaded ONCE. Instead, our items were loaded onto multiple trucks, unloaded in a warehouse in Wilsonville, left sitting in a warehouse for two weeks, loaded on a truck AGAIN, and then went through Seattle, before finally arriving in Montana.
We paid over $4000 a month in advance to “guarantee and reserve” that our move would happen the week we planned. Instead, we had to wait over two weeks for our items to arrive.
Moda Moving is clueless about how logistics and scheduling works. The destination agent on my signed agreement (Montana Transfer Company) was not even used. This, despite the fact they had multiple empty trucks in the Portland area the week we moved and could have brought our items to Montana.
We were told we would have “professional movers” handle our items with care. This did not happen. We had movers that could not ever figure out to turn a chair 90 degrees, so it fit though our front door easily. Instead, they just smashed it through the front door. They dropped a treadmill on its side, and it shook the entire house. Then, the supervisor has the gall to tell me that whoever assembled the treadmill broke it.
By the time we finally received our items, they looked like they had been through a war zone. And items were missing and never showed up. This was due to the careless and reckless way they were handled by Moda Moving.
I contacted their management (Chris Hill, Randy Peacock, Joe Transini), but my concerns about their unethical practices just got dismissed. Or not answered at all.
We received over $1600 back in damaged items/claims from Moda Moving parent Company, North American Van Lines. This was through a tedious claims process. Yet, two months after filing the claims on missing items that never got delivered, we still have not received money for lost items.
I have told North American Van Lines of all the unethical behavior, reckless behavior of Moda Moving, but they have done nothing.
And dealing with North America Van Lines has been a nightmare.
One of the worse decisions we ever made was to call North America Van Lines.
MB
Michaela B.
Do not use - one the worst moving experiences I've ever had!
I don't often leave reviews and when I do, it's mostly positive reviews to reward efforts made by a business. However, the nightmare experience I had with this company was simply too much for me to ignore.
I engaged North American VanLines to help facilitate my relocation from the US back to New Zealand. It should also be noted that I've lived in 5 countries so this was by no means my first relocation.
Initially the contact was good and after comparing their quote to another company I had researched, I chose these guys for the job. And that ended up being a decision I deeply regret. As I was moving during Covid and at a time where New Zealand had strict quarantine rules, the timing of my move and travel had to be timed to match all entry and quarantine rules. With about a week to go before my move (and after I had followed up multiple times to ensure my packing/moving date was locked in), the company got in touch to say that oh, sorry - we're not able to come on the agreed date anymore and did I want to cancel my booking or choose another, later time?
I called them, furious of course, to again explain that the date we had agreed was closely matched with my flights, entry allowance into NZ etc and there simply wasn't the flexibility to just "pick another date".
At this point, their VP got involved and managed to sort this out. Great, I thought. Except that this ended up being one of many, many issues that I ended up facing. Everything from their movers not bothering to wear masks during hours of packing up my apartment (despite me explaining the devastating effect it'd have if I tested positive during my pre-departure PCR test) to the delivery of my shipment being delayed by months. Yes, months. And despite of me keeping them updated about my search for a new home so that I had a place ready by the time my things arrived, they didn't even bother to update me about the delays. My agreed delivery date came and went and noone had even bothered to send me an email to let me know that in fact, my things were still somewhere in China at this point with no confirmed delivery date. So I ended up having to sleep on a blow up mattress in an empty house for nearly TWO months after the agreed delivery date. I asked them for a partial refund to cover the extra cost I had as I now had to buy items for the house to manage while waiting for my shipment and they point blank refused to refund anything. And let me just say - this chaos didn't come cheap - they charged me over USD 15,000 claiming they're one of the best international movers out there.
When my things finally arrived, several pieces of furniture, clothes, etc were damaged beyond repair. I had paid for a service that was meant to include unpacking and instead I was left with all my boxes that I had to unpack myself and move all sorts of heavy items by myself across a three level house because they simply couldn't be bothered to do their job properly (that I had paid for).
The only reason I'm giving them two stars instead of one is because my insurance claim was processed quickly and efficiently and the guy who handled that was great.
I would never recommend this company to anyone. I understand that some of the delays in shipment was due to Covid and outside of their control but the complete lack of updates and transparent information was fully within their control and they simply didn't care about any of the stress the situation was causing me. All they cared about was to ensure they got paid and this was to be done before I even received my shipment. The customer service and care of this company was truly shocking and next time I'm on the move, I'll stay well and truly clear of this business!
FW
F. W.
extremely rude and unhelpful
Called to get a quote for (a far/big and lucrative for them) move. Because my household is at a storage unit and not in-home, the home walkthrough wasn't an option. The lady on the phone, instead of thinking of options or passing this on to a manager, was extremely short with me and just said 'well ma'm I don't know what to tell you, bye'. LOL to customer service.
GB
Gregg B.
No accountability
We decided to use this company for our move from OH to FL because the company I work for uses them through our SIRVA relocation program and it is a well established company. The cost was not the cheapest and we paid for additional insurance. Some items were damaged during delivery, most notable were my tempurpedic mattress and my piano. Upon delivery of the items we were surprised at the damage to the mattress and discussed it with the driver. He advised us that within a week of sleeping on it the bulges would settle. We deferred to his advice since he was the professional and ship and pack for a living with an established company. It did not reform or settle. Not only did we pay the “weight fee” but we paid an additional fee to have it packed and unpacked by their professionals, similarly for the piano. I had my piano tuned less than 6 weeks prior and it should not have needed to be retuned until later this year. I submitted a claim for both of these items, and the claim was denied due to normal wear and tear for the mattress and was told that for the piano that they would not accept liability as pianos have to be tuned an repaired after a move. We were not informed of this prior to the move. I asked to be provided with written / electronic documentation where I could find what is covered or not covered for the piano. My request was denied and I was told (in writing) that they didn’t have anything that they could have sent to me regarding what they covered or don’t cover on pianos and that the denial was based on her 40 years of handling claims. The experience on the sales end and actual movers was great and seamless. The experience on the back end, after the money was collected and the lack of accountability or documentation for covered / exclusions on claims or responsibility for the damages occurred because of how the items were packed and shipped by their professionals leaves a lot to be desired. We are very disappointed and will not recommend them.
SH
Sevos/Hamilton F.
We used North American several times…
We used North American several times with excellent results. However, the move across country through Beltmann Group, NJ was a disaster. They "lost" 4 large paintings and damaged a number of items. Because items were in storage, we were not able to claim and Beltmann/North American's so called search did not located the lost items. Obviously, we will never use them again.
MW
Ms Wendy W.
NYC MOVING TO MIAMI cost $9000 what a…
NYC MOVING TO MIAMI cost $9000 what a horrible experience OMG This company is horrible. This is not the famous moving company we all think we know.Apparently it is some kind of franchise. The Beltmann Group in Piscataway represents them. We had a slick power point presentation from a very personable trusting salesman. That is where it all stops. We chose them so we would have a stress free move from NYC to Miami on March 17 right before the Corona crisis cranked up.We had them pack all our belongings. Apparently none of their workers or trucks are owned by North American and all the work in farmed out to free lance workers who must bid on the jobs.Their truck in NY had to be 30 years old. We paid for them to pack us in NYC. Apparently we did not watch carefully how they packed some expensive items,Even the Florida delivery team said everything was packed horrible.Some items appear to have been unpacked at their warehouse before shipping to Miami for what reason I don't know but maybe to make more space on the truck.They broke our $1000 bicycles with no regards for our belongings. They broke our $1200 lamps and took them apart and stripped the metal threads so they can not be reassembled. Tops of halogen pole lamps were hanging by wires. One $10,000 credenza which we made sure was packed nicely they unpacked it at the warehouse and broke off the wooden legs and delivered it to us on a hand truck with 2 legs instead of 4 legs and scratched .
In addition they had the audacity to show up at our nice apartment building in Miami with a F'N Uhaul truck , how embarrassing.
Apparently they hired a mover from Miami to drive to NYC then back to Miami with our merchandise , We were under the impression they used all their own trucks and made trips to Miami all the time with their own trucks.
DO NOT USE THIS MOVER.