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| FlatRate moving - crain report (By Valerie Block) |
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| MOVERS BEAR HEAVY LOAD: TOUGH RULES, FEWER JOBS -- COMPANIES MARKET, DIVERSIFY TO GET AHEAD |
Sharone Ben-Harosh, founder of Flat Rate Moving Systems, is one of the lucky ones. Around him, inexperienced and illegal moving companies have been sent packing by a state crackdown on shady operators. The remaining companies are scrambling to box up fewer jobs, as consumers and businesses steer clear of rising relocation costs.
Mr. Ben-Harosh, who started his Manhattan-based company nine years ago, expects 30% growth this year, with revenues rising to $3 million. Even so, he is impatient for 1999 to roll around. "Now developers are preparing for construction," he says. "In a year, many markets will open as apartments become available. Then the game will begin."
The warm-up, however, is proving to be bruising. A nearly decade-long effort to regulate New York's moving industry, a business dominated by small companies and thin margins, is finally beginning to show results. Dozens of companies have been forced out of business, others have had to adopt more mainstream business practices, and newcomers face stiffer licensing procedures. To stay in business, movers are refining their marketing efforts and expanding into other lines of business.
Offenders weeded out
According to the state Department of Transportation, the number of licensed movers in New York City, Westchester and Long Island dropped to about 400 in 1997 from 500 in 1996. State officials say some of the worst offenders have been eliminated.
The crackdown grew out of a 1992 state Senate inquiry into overcharging by the industry. Legislators passed two bills compelling movers to provide a written estimate for any job and to have a formal program to resolve disputes. Six other measures still await action.
The Department of Transportation, which licenses movers, is also getting tougher. "New standards and procedures make it more difficult to get a moving license," says Charles Bauer, chief of motor carrier services for the department. Licenses are more easily revoked and reviews are carefully carried out, he says.
Other forces are cleaning up the industry as well. Some unlicensed movers had been drumming up business by taking out Yellow Pages ads and then skipping out on the bills. Those ads, however, would bring the companies business for at least a year, until new books were printed.
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Now, Bell Atlantic checks with the Department of Transportation for licenses, edits ads and is strict about bill payment -- tracking companies to make sure they're not simply changing their name every year.
The new scrutiny is welcomed by reputable companies. "The DOT has done a wonderful job," says Mr. Ben-Harosh. "The companies that remain have very high integrity."
But with business slower than they would like, the surviving movers are unpacking new marketing skills and diversifying their businesses. At least a dozen have set up Web sites, many with interactive estimates.
New types of business
Others are branching out from moving residential clients to taking on corporate work and providing storage. "The storage business is a natural outgrowth," says Lois Benjamin Bohm, president of Shlepper's Moving and Storage. She notes that less maintenance and fewer staff requirements make it easier to manage. Ms. Bohm, who's been in business for 20 years, has two storage facilities, a moving unit for corporate customers called Business Transfer, and a 50% interest in Flat Rate. Revenues are about $3 million annually.
Manhattan-based Moishe's Moving Systems Inc. has added a mini-storage unit and a document storage business. The company has curbed some of the unbridled growth in residential jobs that made it a target for consumer complaints and state Senate inquiries in the early 1990s.
But for many movers, the best way to get through the shakeout is simply to move ahead. The Padded Wagon has been in existence since the 1950s and has offices in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Florida and Chicago. "We have a tremendous amount of account work with interior decorators and designers," says David Day, the firm's operations manager, who's been in the business for 40 years. "We keep busy when others are slow."
Copyright 1998 Crain's New York Business, Inc. All rights reserved. All information used by permission.
Learn more about Washington DC Moving Company
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| USEFUL MOVING INFORMATION |
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FlatRate Moving developed a totally new concept offering customers an all-inclusive,
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FlatRate Moving is licensed by both the commerce commission and the Washington DC Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Interstate commerce commission MC #480211 Department of transportation US DOT #1206503 INFORMATION CENTER Located at 279 Derwood Circle, Rockville, MD 20850
Department of Transportation US DOT #1206503, our information Center-Sales Office is staffed with consultants experienced in all aspects of the moving industry.
All kinds of packing materials are displayed and available for your move. It's simple. FlatRate.
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