Are your moving company's text messages actually reaching customers?
If you haven't checked lately, there's a real chance they aren't.
And you'd have no idea.
The rules changed again in 2026.
Moving companies that thought they were already set up correctly are getting hit with blocked messages, rejected campaigns, and lost jobs.
Here's what changed, what you need, and how to fix it before it costs you.
SMS compliance means following the federal rules and carrier requirements that govern how businesses send text messages to customers in the U.S.
For moving companies, this covers every automated text your business sends:
Booking confirmations
Crew ETAs
Quote follow-ups
Payment reminders
Review requests
The system behind all of this is called A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code). It requires every business to register who they are and what they're texting about before messages go through.
AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all enforce it.
If you're not registered and compliant, your texts get blocked entirely. Not delayed—blocked.
Your customer never gets the message and has no idea why.
Being registered used to be enough. It isn't anymore.
Carriers raised the bar in early 2026. Moving companies that already went through registration are now getting rejected for things that were never flagged before.
Here's what's catching people off guard.
"Customers can opt in when submitting a quote request" used to pass. It doesn't anymore.
Carriers want the exact words you showed the customer, proof your business name is in the consent language, and documentation of how you collected that consent. If you used a web form, they want a screenshot. If you did it verbally, you need a written script.
Your privacy policy probably needs to be rewritten
Carriers are rejecting campaigns because privacy policies say things like "we may share data with affiliates or partners" without being specific about SMS.
The language carriers now want looks like this:
"We do not sell or share mobile or personal data with third parties, affiliates, or partners for marketing or promotional purposes."
Most small business privacy policies were never written with SMS in mind. That gap is now getting people rejected.
Carriers require a public Privacy Policy page, a public Terms of Service page, and a public opt-in page on your website.
A Google Drive link or a PDF doesn't count. If it's not a live page on your site, it won't be accepted.
You have to spell out what types of texts you're sending, how often, how customers can opt out, and that message and data rates may apply.
Leave anything out and you start over from scratch.
You register your business with The Campaign Registry (TCR). This is the database carriers use to verify that you're a legitimate business. You need your legal business name, EIN, website, and contact info.
Think of it as a license to text.
You register each type of message separately. Appointment reminders, marketing texts, and payment confirmations are all different campaigns. You cannot use one registration for all of them.
A checkbox, not just a phone number field, that tells customers what they're agreeing to. It needs to say how often you'll text, how to opt out, and link to your Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Here's what a compliant opt-in looks like:
"I agree to receive text messages from [Your Moving Company] about my booking, crew updates, and follow-ups. Message frequency varies. Msg and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. [Privacy Policy] [Terms of Service]"
If any of those hit close to home, fix it now. Not next month.
If a CRM, dispatch platform, or moving software sends texts on your behalf, ask these questions before you sign anything. A good vendor will answer them clearly. A bad one will fumble.
On registration:
On consent:
On accountability:
Moving companies run on text messages. Booking confirmations, crew ETAs, dispatch updates, payment follow-ups. When texts stop going through, jobs fall apart.
When carriers tightened the rules in 2026 and our customers started seeing new rejections, we got to work.
Here's what we're doing:
✔️ We identified the new rejection patterns and built a compliance checklist around them so submissions stop being a guessing game.
✔️ We work directly with Twilio, holding live meetings and escalating through their leadership, because waiting in a support queue is not good enough when your customers are not getting texts.
✔️ We are updating the software to add the new required fields for Terms of Service and Privacy Policy URLs, and we are testing everything manually before pushing it live.
✔️ Our customer success team is helping moving companies update their websites because carriers require live public pages that most small businesses don't have set up correctly.
If you're a SmartMoving customer and want to make sure your setup is solid, reach out to our team (customersuccess@smartmoving.com) today. We will walk through it with you.
If you're shopping for software and your current provider hasn't said a word about any of this, that tells you something.
Yes. Any moving company sending automated texts to U.S. customers is required to register under the A2P 10DLC system. All major carriers block unregistered traffic.
Q: What happens if my moving company is not SMS compliant?
Your texts get blocked and never reach customers. Fines start at $10,000 per violation from carriers like T-Mobile. Under the TCPA, you can also face $500 to $1,500 in fines per individual text message sent without proper consent.
Brand registration takes a few minutes to a couple of days. Campaign registration is currently running 10-15 business days. There is no way to rush it, so start early.
Some do, some don't. Ask specifically whether they handle both brand and campaign registration, and how they capture and store customer opt-in consent. Get a clear answer before you trust them with it.
Yes. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the federal law governing business texts. It requires written consent before sending marketing messages, opt-out instructions in every text, and consent records kept for at least four years.
We handle the complexity so you can focus on the move. 💪