HEARD ON THE STREET
DIRE PREDICTION:
NATIONAL ACCOUNT BUSINESS DECLINE...
We're hearing that many companies are going to opt for a LUMP SUM PAYMENT option for their transferring employees. Fed up with paying third party relo companies during the mortgage crisis, coupled with an aversion to dealing with a myriad of different pricing options as a result of the individual tariff filings by movers effective in January, word on the street is that these national accounts will instead pay their employees a lump sum for relocation expenses. Under this program, the employees will be responsible for arranging for the relocation of their HHG, NOT the company. BAD NEWs for the National Account business. GOOD NEWS for COD?........We'll see......
The end of this month also marks the end of two great HHG careers: MIKE SHAFFER of Atlas Van Lines and LARRY MARZULLO of Bekins Holding Co. have both announced their retirement and will leave office on December 31st..........
During my college years n the 1970's, I worked and drove locally for HILLS VAN SERVICE in Gainesville, FL. HILL'S has announced the 10 year anniversary of it's affiliation with MAYFLOWER TRANSIT....
CONTEST: Here's your chance to win $50.....When I worked for Hills, they were an agent for another van line. NAME THAT VAN LINE. Winning entry will be drawn from all correct entries........ EMail you entry to
markgray@MoverRecruiter.com .......
SPEAKING OF MAYFLOWER......Their presence in the So. FL market has been reduced substantially in recent months with the dropping of WHEELER'S MOVING AND STORAGE and BROWN'S MOVING AND STORAGE from their agency roster.....Brown's had been a Mayflower Transit agent since sometime in the 1930's.......
BLUE BIRD TRANSFER, an agent of ALLIED VAN LINES, with offices in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA was recently recognized as a Special Products Division (200% increase in volume ) growth agent. Blue Bird was a first time $1 Million dollar booker in the SP Division and also had a SPD Salesman of the Year for the second year in a row.....
RENTACRATE, a key industry supplier, recently announced the expansion and promotion of it's senior management team. ROGER POST was named VP of Business Development; MATT BENYO is now Regional Manager in the Washington DC metro area; VERN MARTELL is Regional Manager of the SE and BOB SCHECTERSON was promoted to Regional Manager for NY and NJ.......
WOOD BROTHERS MOVING & STORAGE, an Atlas VL agent in Portsmouth NH, has announced a change in ownership. The agency was purchased by MARK HARRINGTON. Harring purchased the company from BILL and ED WALSH and will retain the existing company name......
METCALF MOVING & STORAGE of St. Paul, MN is celebrating 40 years as a Mayflower Transit agent......
CAPITOL MOVING AND STORAGE, agents for UNITED VAN LINES in Hartford CT, is celebrating it's 60th year of busines....50 of those years as a United agent....Congrats to MARK GAGNON and his staff..........
HIDDEN VALLEY MOVING & STORAGE has named HARRY LAKIN as their Chief Sales Officer....Lakin will operate out of HV's Phoenix, AZ location.......
FRED PARSHLEY has been named vice president of airfreight and logistics for UNIGROUP WORLDWIDE UTS........
SELECT VAN & STORAGE CO. of Omaha, NE, received the Commitment to Excellence Gold Award from CARTUS at CARTUS' 2007 Global Network Conference.. The award recognizes outstanding performance......
WE'RE HEARING GOOD THINGS about the "new" AMERICAN MOVING & STORAGE ASSN. (AMSA)....With it's new leadership and "out of the box" initiatives, many in the industry are returning to the Association as members....If it's been a while, you too should visit the AMSA at
www.moving.org ......
Looking to buy or sell used moving equipment? Check out
www.usedmovingvans.com ......If you have done business at this site, let us know and we'll report what you tell us.....
Watch this space next month for an announcement on industry veteran DOUG HOLMES and his new idea and service offering for the moving industry (and movers' clientele)...The response has been very positive and we'd like to fill you in.....
NEW TREND AMOUNG JOB SEEKERS: The Interactive Resume....This trend is catching on.....Applicants are sprucing up their on-line resumes by inserting hyperlinks to former employers and websites that have a connection to the candidate's work history...Hiring authorities will see a major influx of these internet-savvy resumes in 2008.......
THE COLD WEATHER has finally arrived to many parts of the country....doesn't a Moving and Storage Convention in FLORIDA sound pretty good? Well, come see what the Florida Movers and Warehousmen's Association is putting on in Orlando. Go to
www.fmwa.org to check out the 2008 Annual Convention itinerary. Not only will you get the chance to hear Office Moving Guru ED KATZ (
www.officemovingsystems.com ) speak, but if you're REALLY lucky, you'll get a rare chance to meet another person VERY near and dear to my heart.
CONTEST: Correctly guess who I am hinting at and win $100.00. EMail your guess to
markgray@MoverRecruiter.com . The winning entry will be drawn from the pool of correct contestants....
DEAN BARRETT, vice president of sales for RAY MOVING & STORAGE, Mayflower agents in Greensboro, NC, was named MOVER OF THE YEAR by the NC Mover's Assn..........
NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR SALES? Why not check out JOE ARCHER of ARCHER ASSOCIATES. Joe, an industry veteran, has a proven track record of results.....Check him out at
www.my-salescoach.com or at
www.joelarcher.com ..........
The "HEARD ON THE STREET" column is only as good as the information, you, the reader, provides. If you have news of interest to the HHG industry, why don't you drop us a line? Email your CONFIDENTIAL information to markgray@MoverRecruiter.com ....... 
