49 C.F.R. § 387.401 – Definitions.

(a) Freight forwarder means a person holding itself out to the general public (other than as an express, pipeline, rail, sleeping car, motor, or water carrier) to provide transportation of property for compensation in interstate commerce, and in the ordinary course of its business:
1. (1) Performs or provides for assembling, consolidating, break-bulk, and distribution of shipments; and
2. (2) Assumes responsibility for transportation from place of receipt to destination; and
3. (3) Uses for any part of the transportation a carrier subject to FMCSA jurisdiction.
(b) Household goods freight forwarder
(HHGFF) means a freight forwarder of household goods, unaccompanied baggage, or used automobiles.
(c) Motor vehicle means any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used to transport property, but does not include any vehicle, locomotive, or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails. The following combinations will be regarded as one motor vehicle:
(1) A tractor that draws a trailer or semitrailer; and
(2) A truck and trailer bearing a single load.