Closing a door; opening a window

Opportunity Knocks Closing a door; opening a window When my mother-in-law passed, my wife received a small hand-stitched embroidery from her sister-in-law as a thoughtful, personal condolence.

When the Lord closes a door,
somewhere He opens a window.

It's a variation of an old Lithuanian proverb used by Julie Andrews character Maria in Rodgers and Hammerstein's popular classic, Sound of Music.

The message will always holds a special place in our family's heart because Grandma used to love to watch our toddlers sing along and romp with the Von Trapp Family kids in the movie. The simple little gift reminds us all everyday of her eternal optimism.

It surprised me a little when an older industry colleague used the same phrase last May while we lamented the dearth of job prospects for experienced, tenured workers in the moving industry.

Last week I found out he's now selling mobile/portable moving and storage services. And apparently doing quite well at it.

At least that's according to Dennis, one the former owner-operators he recruited from his agency to work in the rapidly growing container moving franchise. Not only did he tap into the local driver pool, but he's also attracted the attention of many of his former corporate clients who were finding a shortage of traditional capacity in the full-service moving industry this summer.

Opportunity knocks for new breed of OTR cowboy

Dennis contacted me to see if he could backhaul military tonnage in a mobile/portable container once he delivered his customer in Colorado.

Apparently he found several orders on the Available Tonnage List that would fit into the 16' box he's hauling. I told him probably not since, as far as I knew, most military approved transportation service providers (TSP) didn't have interline agreements with portable storage container and moving companies that weren't affiliated with national van lines.

But should they? And would these type unconventional collaborations meet the business rules requirement in the military's ever-changing Defense Personal Property Program,DP3?

It appears that there are a few military service members moving out of Colorado that probably hope so.

Does your moving company maintain a tonnage exchange list? – RELO Roundtable

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