Movers hold furniture hostage on the truck demanding $2k+ cash above the binding estimate

Rogue moving companies load a customer's entire household onto the truck, then refuse to unload at the destination unless the customer pays $2,000-$5,000 more than the binding estimate in cash or money order on the spot. This matters because the customer's belongings are literally held captive: filing an FMCSA complaint takes 6-18 months to resolve, local police consider it a civil dispute and refuse to intervene, and the customer often has children starting school or a job starting Monday so they pay under duress. The practice persists because FMCSA licenses over 14,000 interstate movers but employs fewer than 100 investigators, penalties max out at $10,000 per violation which is less than the profit from a single hostage job, and unlicensed brokers who subcontract to these carriers face zero liability for the carrier's behavior.