Revathi,

Let's start:

1. First of all, I understand you refer to this report: Consumer Report: High Touch Moving Systems Inc., US Dot# 1384327. Since then I can see this company registered one more truck and got one more complaint in the BBB, so it is still SOUR B company ("Relatively safe").
   
   
2. Estimates by cubic feet are illegal. Long distance companies are only allowed to give non-binding estimates by weight. Unless they are willing to guarantee you this price in writing I would say you should not go with this deal.
   
   Cubic feet deals give movers a lot of freedom in organizing the items on the truck in a way that would benefit them, because when the same items are repacked on the long distance truck they often take significantly less space. This is why today movers are only allowed to give weight-based estimates. By the way, distance and route are important for movers to decide on the price per lb (or the cubic foot, which as I mentioned is no longer legal) 
   
   
3. On-site estimates - again, today they must perform a visual estimate even for 1-bedroom moves (unless you are moving just few particular items). Visual estimate is your chance to negotiate a flat fee for your move (binding price), which in general can be based on cubic feet (thats how visual estimators estimate the weight of the shipment - they multiply cubic feet by 7, usually). 
   
   
4. Terms of the deposit - this is actually their business. It's also your business, so you can negotiate to pay everything at the delivery. If they don't agree - you can always tell them that you would choose a different company. Sales people hate to loose commission, so you might get a waiver for the deposit. In any case, your move is small one, they might not insist on it anyway.
   
   
5. You are right about one thing - renting a truck is often more expensive then using movers - see this question: California to Kansas - hire a mover or rent a truck? 

Hope all that helps.