Portable on Demand Storage and UniGroup Inc., the parent company of United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit, have agreed to a marketing alliance that provides for the exchange of services in portable container moving and storage and full-service moving.

The agreement provides St. Louis-based UniGroup access to PODS' fleet of 138,000 moving and storage containers serviced by 166 franchise and corporate locations.

In exchange, Clearwater, Fla.-based PODS, led by Chief Executive Tom Ryan, gains access to packing and loading services through the network of United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit agents at nearly 750 locations.

The alliance will allow customers to have not only full-service professional moving but also do-it-yourself container services, said Rich McClure, president of UniGroup.

UniGroup entered the portable container moving and storage market in 2006 with its brand Store and Move (SAM). The SAM network of 92 dealers in 65 cities will continue to provide portable containers under the new agreement.
UniGroup reported revenue of $2.1 billion in 2008, down 4.5 percent from $2.4 billion in 2007.