Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 10:59
To: moving@avatar-moving.com
From: "T.J. Carney" <tjcarney@cmcn.com>
Subject: Re: AMS-Forum "take a deep breath"
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Tom Dun wrote:
>
> Until we eliminate 25 to 50 % of all the movers in this industry
> we are all going to suffer from sorry profits and poor attitudes.
> The first step of becoming a strong industry is for a few leaders
> like the CDR people to combine the efforts of the Allied and
> North American agents into a single entity.
>
> Anybody have a different opinion, I would love to hear it.

Tom, The moving business is about diesel fuel and sweat, it's about making a living with a truck and a willingness to do some heavy lifting. The ultimate goal of an investment firm like CDR is to extract as much profit from the owners of capital equipment and performers of labor as they can. I am confused on how moving the rewards of this business from the direct service provider, drivers and agents, to the investor is considered industry leadership.

The van line that can serve the national and global networking needs of my moving company at the best cost is my primary reason for an affiliation. My business strategy is to make a profit on each moving job or relocation project. If I have to figure out how to make a profit for my van line, on rates that are mostly determined by every factor except the cost of doing the work, I'm out of my area of interest (which is broad) and range of competency (which is, admittedly, narrow).

As states re/de/un-regulate entry into the trucking business, new moving businesses will be started every day, mostly by guys who learned the work from us, but couldn't afford to stay working for us at the wages this industry wants to pay. As new technology and investment strategies are created, so will new organizing principles for delivering relocation services develop. In my humble opinion, industry leadership will rest with the companies that figure out how to reward the people who do the work, that figure out how to make and keep the work worth doing.

My suggestion to everyone is to take a deep breath because capitalism is good at eliminating enterprises that fail to create or maintain a service the public is willing to pay for. If the moving business is not worth your investment, if it seems too risky, cash out now and put your dough into something else because most of the things you might hope for in the future for this business, things you might expect to happen, may not, and you might be one of the losers.

T.J. Carney


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