RELO Roundtable…a gathering place

National Moving Month arrived on Tuesday. For some van line agents, their first official notice of planned booking and pricing restrictions arrived the same day. This is due to the increase volume of confirmed new order registrations that are already exceeding 2011 tonnage levels all across the country. While it might be a coincidence that [...]

A new bill (AB 2118) introduced to the California State Assembly by member Betsy Butler would prohibit “a household goods carrier from engaging, or attempting to engage, in the business of the transportation of used household goods and personal effects, by motor vehicle over any public highway in the state, including advertising, soliciting, offering, or [...]

On March 19, 2012, moving container granddaddy Portable On Demand Storage (PODS) became part of a bankruptcy protection plan filed by Arcapita Bank, a $7.4 billion Bahraini investment firm in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. In the news release announcing their court filing, Arcapita said it had more [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, March 15, 2012 – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in its ongoing commitment to consumer protection, has recently taken a number of actions to protect consumers from illegally operating moving companies. During the fourth quarter of 2011, CPUC staff took the following enforcement actions against moving companies for violations of the Public [...]

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) have agreed to cooperate in providing enhanced protection and assistance for consumers who move their household goods. The agreement leverages the efforts of FMCSA, which regulates interstate household goods moves, and the FMC, which regulates overseas household goods [...]

Thanks to the biggest solar storm in years, anxious customers waiting for the latest update on the arrival of their mover might have a problem for the next few days. Same with any household goods carrier whose fleet relies on GPS or cellular technology to exchange dispatch information and find directions to the correct address. [...]

Whoops, forgot to mention, #movechat moved! Instead of meeting on Tuesdays, the regulars decided the stars in the twitterverse lined up better for everyone to chat at 2:00 pm EST on Thursdays instead. What are Twitter Chats? Twitter chats are scheduled online conversations held inside a virtual community meeting room where everyone uses their newly [...]

Creating forth largest household goods carrier in U.S. The gossip that's been the talk around the moving, storage, and relocation industry's water cooler since late last year is now official. Indianapolis based Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. is completing the acquisition of Hillside based Bekins Van Lines. According to the company's website, Wheaton's management announced that [...]

But just not in the moving industry!The February report from FTR Associates, a transportation related research firm, shows that the monthly Driver Labor Index rose 0.3% from December to January. The represented the largest month-over-month gain since April 2010. This was the first year-to-year gain since December 2010 and the highest overall level since November [...]

A law firm representing Nationwide Van Lines recently contacted me to ask that I remove their clients name and any reference to Aldo DiSorbo or his family from a recent article, Senate relies on industry pros to rout out rogue movers. The reference included a hyperlink to the only qualified carrier included in the public [...]