Sorry! It's been two months since we last published a full-blown Newsletter with a complete recitation of what we've been hearing out there......As such, some of this material will be old hat to many of you. However, we know we've got some items that will grab your attention.........
REMEMBER, THIS COLUMN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS YOU, OUR READERSHIP MAKE IT! Let us hear from you regarding news, rumblings and items of interest to your peers in and associated with the Moving Industry. As always, ALL communications will be kept in the STRICTEST of confidence.....email us with your info at [email protected] .........
And now, here's what we are hearing ON THE STREET:
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO TRUTH TO THE RUMOR that a large UniGroup agent filed for bankruptcy...it's time to put that talk to bed.......
April is when we FINALLY can reveal the details behind BEKINS' re-capitlization plan........
GOOD PRESS DEPT. Glad to see that SCOTT MCNELLEY's Montgomery, AL-based ADMIRAL MOVERS is going to be part of an upcoming episode of ABC TV's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition"....Scott's company provided trucks, manpower, management and storage for the project....We'll have Scott let us know when the episode will air.......
MORE GOOD PRESS: With this year's donation of $30,000 on February 25th, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK's founder MARY ELLEN SHEETS announced that her company has now contributed $249,237 to the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY........
EVEN MORE GOOD PRESS: WADE MCLAREN and the folks at BLUE BIRD TRANSFER, of Portland, OR, received many thanks from the local ROTARY CLUB for their support of the Rotary Book project....Blue Bird provided storage and local transportation for the club in its BOOKS FOR UGANDA initative that helped distribute reading and educational materials to less fortunate children......
HEY, GIVEN THE DOWNTURN IN THE ECONOMY OF LATE, we're hearing that many contract packers and laborers are considering joining MOVING HELPER, an affiliate of the UHAUL CORPORATION.....What this company professes to do is allow laborers to set their own fees and have their services advertised on the www.movinghelper.com website......MOVING HELPER is apparently linked in some manner to the UHAUL website for those renter/shippers who might need help loading or unloading their rented UHAUL equipment.......BEWARE: In order to become a qualified service/labor provider through this service, you must first agree to give up 15% of your hourly fee to MOVING HELPER, AND sign a 10 PAGE LEGAL CONTRACT!!!!! Check this out at www.movinghelper.com ........(ONE MORE NOTE: Movers should point out the LONG LIST of confusingly different price listings by all of the MOVING HELPER Labor providers.....all the more reason for the shipper to hire a bona fide Moving Company in the first place!---No charge for that marketing tidbit....)
KUDOS to the AMSA on the development of the PROMOVER program......Do us a favor though, please reconsider allowing the link to advertising (on the PROMOVER website) of Truck Rental Companies the likes ofF UHAUL, PENSKE and OTHERS.....Competition is tough enough....we don't need to see Truck Rental company ads on a site devoted to the promotion of quality, certified moving and storage companies.......
SPEAKING OF PROMOVER....Congrats to UNITED VAN LINES who recently gained certification in that AMSA program by passing the background check of its operations and agreeing to abide by the the AMSA's delineated list of honorable business practices and Code Of Ethics....
PRUDENTIAL RELOCATION is doing some RELOCATION of their own....they're shutting down operations in Washington DC and moving everything to consolidate operations at their Phoenix AZ area offices.......
IT'S ALWAYS GOOD FOR A MOVER TO HAVE TO MOVE THEMSELVES....just to get a feel for what the shippers go through.....HILLDRUP UNITED is moving their Atlanta offices to newer and more spacious digs in the NE part of metro Atlanta from their present Stone Mountain facility........
Watch this space for a future editorial on THE VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP IN YOUR STATE MOVING AND STORAGE ASSN....now, more than ever, it's time to join your industry bretheren in membership to promote legitimate movers and practices in your state AND nationally....more to come......
PODS, GO-MINI's, SAM, CHRONOS and the other of our country's growing Portable Storage Container operations are keeping a wary eye out toward a growing national trend: Many neighborhood associations and communities are implementing local residential covenants that prohibit the extended presence of a portable storage container in their neighborhoods.....Some communities are attempting to severly restrict, if not ban altogther, the use of these increasingly popular modes of storage/transportation......
GRABEL MOVERS INTERNATIONAL has announced the appointment of RON DUNLAP as the company's new VP of Strategic Sourcing....
YOU MOVERS OUT THERE should take a cue from the folks at MOVING LINK ( see www.movinglink.com/seniors.html ) ....they're marketing to us aging BABY BOOMERS out there with their divisions such at NEXT STEP, SEGUE and OUT OF THE BOX...all programs specifically directed at and marketed to the aged and their relocation/moving/storage needs.........
The INDIANA HOUSEHOLD MOVERS & WAREHOUSEMEN have elected their 2009 Officers: Robert O. Shetler, Sr., President; FRED SCHLEICHER, VP, MARK RUSSELL, Treasurer and LINDA HARRIS, Secretary........
ALL MY SONS MOVING AND STORAGE has announced the release of their new MOVING ONLINE QUOTING AND BOOKING SYSTEM.....check it out at www.allmysons.com .........
HEY, IT'S NOT WHO YOU THINK DEPT. A while back we were getting some "tips" from industry peers who had asked us if we had heard the news about the recent record fines ($305,000) that were levied by the GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (GPSC) against ATLANTIC RELOCATION SYSTEMS, the well-respected ATLAS VAN LINES AGENT with nationwide offices, based in ATLANTA. The fines were levied for illegal and unauthorized operations. In the words of the recently-departed PAUL HARVEY: " Now, the REST of the Story">>>>>> ATLANTIC RELOCATION SYSTEMS WAS NOT, AND IS NOT, THE COMPANY FINED IN THiS INSTANCE....THE IMPOSTER was an outfit calling themselves ATLANTIC RELOCATION, INC. (in an attempt to work off the good name of the folks at Atlantic Relocation Systems)....GET THE WHOLE and ACCURATE STORY of what really went down at www.atlanticrelocation.net .....It's amazing just how far some rogue movers will go.......
We're hearing that the recent AMSA convention was a success.....a lot of good news coming out of that recent meeting in Dallas:
WHEATON VAN LINES Chairman STEPHEN BURNS was honored with the LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD......
EXECUTIVE MOVING SYSTEMS of Woodbridge, VA was chosen as the nations's top independent moving company for 2008 (the "Indy" Award); (Interstate Van Lines was the Inaugural Winner of this Award in 2007......)
AGENT OF THE YEAR...Awarded to LARRY FRY and his dad MILTON FRY of FRY-WAGNER MOVING AND STORAGE of Kansas City.....
Elected as 2009-2010 officers were Chairman LARRY FRY, Vice Chairman DAVID ARPIN, Secretary GLEN DUNKERSON and Treasurer STEPHEN BURNS......
YOU WANT TO READ ANOTHER GOOD INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER?...You should check out the publication that the CLAIMS PREVENTION & PROCEDURE COUNCIL mails out! VERY PROFESSIONAL and COMPREHENSIVE....go to www.claimsnet.org to check out their website....If you're not a member of the CPPC, you should be.....
ATLAS VAN LINES has signed NEW BELL STORAGE of Norfolk, VA as an agent......
BACK TO THE AMSA...KUDOS to them for their landmark study that provides all of us with an analysis of the size and impact of the Moving Industry....go to
MOBILITY SERVICES INTERNATIONAL (MSI) of Newburyport, MA and PODS (PORTABLE ON DEMAND STORAGE) have announced a new partnership making PODS an approved MSI GLOBESOURCE partner.....
THERE IS STILL TIME to sign up for JOEL ARCHER's (ARCHER ASSOCIATES) CMC BOOT CAMP on March 17 and 18th in Indianapolis and on April 21 and 22 in Providence RI....Many of you attended Joel's CMC Bootcamp at the 2009 AMSA Convention in Dallas....Contact Joel direct at [email protected] for details....details are also on the AMSA website....
WILLIAM B. MEYER of Stratford CT and a leading agent for UNITED VAN LINES, has announced the acquisition of ARCHIVE SOLUTIONS OF CT, INC., a records management company located in Meriden, CT............
MCCOLLISTERS TRANSPORTATION received the 2008 Fleet Safety Award from the AMSA.....also receiving the award was FRY-WAGNER MOVING & STORAGE....
GRAEBEL RELOCATION SERVICES WORLDWIDE, INC. appointed BILL NEMER as VP, CLIENT SERVICES.....
TO HELP GET THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES.......ATLAS WORLD GROUP announced late last year that in order to protect workers from job loss, they would implement a temporary 5% pay reduction for all Atlas headquarters employees, effective in January...benefits were to remain intact...
DR. MOVE announces the release of their new online software reservation system....go to www.drmove.com for details....
CONGRATS TO UNIGROUP companies UNITED VAN LINES and MAYFLOWER TRANSIT on both being named to INBOUND LOGISTIC's TOP 100 CARRIERS list...
RONALD ROSSI was named AMSA SUPER VAN OPERATOR (Special Commodities) and THOMAS OLSEN received the same award for HHG....Can't be successful without good drivers!.....
GRAEBEL OKLAHOMA won GRAEBEL's COMPANY OF THE YEAR for the FOURTH (4th) consecutive year...Congrats to RICK HUMPHREYS and his staff....
SPEAKING OF GRAEBEL...they also announced the hiring of TIM HAGEN as their new VP of Global Sales...JACQUELYN LANDRIDGE was promoted to Director of International Operations..
CALLING ALL CALIFORNIA MOVERS: You need to support the efforts of STEVE WEITEKAMP and the other MOVING FORWARD members in their continuing efforts to address the CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD (CARB) and how that Board's proposed initiatives and directives would directly affect the HHG industry in the state.....Weitekamp has formed a LINKED IN group to specifically deal with, address and discuss this issue....go to www.linkedin.com ....type in STEVE WEITEKAMP in the "Search" box....his info and information on CARB will come up....YOU CAN ALSO EMAIL STEVE direct: [email protected] for more details.....
Speaking of LINKED IN...you should "Link Up" with ME (MARK GRAY of MOVERS SEARCH GROUP)...Check my profile out at
We mourn the passing of van operator SCOTT MILLER, a driver for VINCENT FISTER, INC. of Lexington KY who was shot and killed in an act of random violence on a Dallas highway....Police on the scene credited Scott with his "heroic" actions by controlling his rig and preventing injury to others on the highway even though he was mortally wounded......Vincent Fister has set up a memorial fund for Scott's wife Shannon and their two young daughters through Central Bank in Lexington, KY...The account name is "Vincent Fister, Inc., William Scott Miller Memorial Fund" and wire transfers will be accepted at Central Bank (ABA #042100146, account#10499271)......
CHECK OUT the latest edition of DIRECTION, The Magazine of the American Moving and Storage Association....There's some outstanding articles this month....the only questionable piece is a profile on a certain Moving and Storage Recruiter...How'd HE get in there????????
More HHG Recruiter News: Do you keep getting an "all circuits are busy" or "disconnected" recording when trying to call a certain Headhunter company?....Well, the circuits were NOT busy....that company closed its doors for good.....Don't worry....more and more headhunters who profess to know your industry are popping up every day......along with their high 30% fees and minimal 30 day candidate guarantees......(This has been a paid advertisement by MOVERS SEARCH GROUP, the country's most recognized name in professional recruitment and staffing EXCLUSIVELY for the Moving and Storage Industry. Visit our Website at www.MoverRecruiter.com )....
Speaking of Industry Magazines...here's a shout out to the CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF MOVERS....their publication THE CANADIAN MOVER is slick and professional.....You can check out our friends to the north by visiting www.mover.net ......
ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE has named TWO MEN AND A TRUCK as the nations' Number One moving franchise.......look it up at www.twomenandatruck.com ....
LONG-TIME NORTH AMERICAN VAN LINES agent HARRIS MOVING AND STORAGE has unfortunately closed their doors in Houston.....
The ATA will celebrate it's NATIONAL TRUCK DRIVER APPRECIATION WEEK in November (1st-7th) this year.....NOW IF THEY'D ONLY MOVE THE TRUCK DRIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS TO ANY TIME BUT THE SUMMER TO ALLOW HHG DRIVERS TO COMPETE, THEN WE'D REALLY HAVE SOMETHING!!!!....I know why they hold that driving championship during your busy season...they don't want the professional drivers from the Moving and Storage sector to be able to walk away with the trophy every year.....I'd like to see some of those general commodity carrier drivers have to back their rig up a winding driveway sometime.....
CHECK IT OUT: www.emover-software.com will do all the work for your moving/storage company; lead manager, estimates, dispatch, crm, auto-reply, storage, billing, payroll, etc.....Browser based version is ASP.NET 2008........
AT THE RECENT ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FLORIDA MOVERS AND WAREHOUSMENS ASSN, RANDY BROWNING of BROWNING MOVING & STORAGE was re-elected Chairman; MIKE JOHNSON with SPIRIT MOVERS was re-elected Vice Chairman; JIM DUNCAN with ROGERS, GUNTER, VAUGHN (VANLINER agent) was re-elected Treasurer; ANDY NEWIT with A-1 MOVERS was elected Secretary; BRENT CUTLIP of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK and TOME WESTWOOD of ACE RELOCATION were elected as Directors......Not up for reelection, but remaining on the FMWA Board were DAVID SHAY, GREG PIERCE, PAUL GLEASON, LARRY PARKS and MARC ARNOFF.....
Referencing BROWNING MOVING AND STORAGE (above), they were pleased to announce that their very own WENDY KLUKOWSKI was recognized as one of United Van Lines' 2009 HEART OF QUALITY award winners......The Heart of Quality Award is based on Customer Service Survey scores......
JOHN BISNEY, with the AMSA, recently sent out a warning advisory to all AMSA members to beware of bogus letters, appearing to be from the DOT, asking for carriers to submit company financial information.....These fraudulent letters are signed "Senior Procurement Officer"...The AMSA warns you NOT to submit the information as called for..........For more info, contact DOT's Office of the Inspector General Hotline at 800.424.9071........
MOVE IT NOW, an up and coming Moving franchise operation, is considering changing their business model 180 degrees and looking at jumping into the office moving arena with both feet......
AND ALONG THIS LINE, while OFFICE MOVING is not guaranteed to be recession proof, it is a fact that during slow economic times that most companies can still benefit from the services of an office mover.....During the boom times, they hire office movers to relocate to larger spaces. During economic slumps, downsizing and consolidation forces a reverse move to smaller spaces. It's not uncommon for them to store their (now) surplus furniture in an office mover's warehouse rather than liquidating it...During a recession, vacancy rates soar. To offset this, higher rent office buildings offer free rent and PAY FOR THE MOVES in an effort to fill their buildings...this is an opportunity for qualified office movers that can and should be pursued. One guy has preached to your industry for years about the need to diversify and establish a professional, trained and certified office moving division....ED KATZ. Now, more than ever is the time to contact ED and avail yourself of his expertise to help you branch out into the O&I field...AND DO IT THE RIGHT WAY.... See www.officemoves.com for details.....
Didn't see YOUR company, organization or association mentioned here this month? Would it help to get the word out to close to 8,000 readers EVERY month? If so, perhaps you should drop us a line. All submissions, information and communications will be kept in the strictest of confidence. Email Mark Gray at [email protected] | 
