In the process of searching for a moving company, movers are often asked if they are moving interstate or intrastate and not everyone knows how to respond. The benefit of being educated when it comes to your move is avoiding possible scams and more importantly knowing your rights during your move. Knowing what type of move you are performing accompanied with the laws and regulations can save you so much time, energy, and money.  If you are not sure between the two types of moves, we’ve broken down both moves.

What is an Interstate Move? – When you are performing an interstate move, you are essentially moving or transporting goods in and out of state lines not excluding international moves.

Interstate moves are governed by FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) rules and regulations. It is considered an interstate move if it involves a long distance moving company crossing a state line at any point during the move. Although the actual moving truck or van doesn’t cross state lines, it is still considered an interstate move because your goods have.

What is an Intrastate Move? – Intrastate moves consist of movers completing a move without crossing the border of another state.

Intrastate or local movers are not regulated by the FMCSA. Rules that apply to interstate moves are completely different from intrastate. Moving within a state means that you will have to understand the terms and conditions of moving as they change based on the state you reside in. Rules and regulations are outlined by the individual states and should be researched properly. Some states have more stringent licensing and monitoring guidelines than others.

Although you may be completing an intrastate move, your moving company can charge a long distance fee. Before choosing a licensed mover, make sure you aren’t hit with fees you weren’t made aware of. Understand your rights and verify licensing with each moving company before choosing. For more information on state guidelines, contact your state agency.

Giving Back to Our Community

Thanks to the generosity of our loyal customers, we have created the “Miles for Goodwill” program in an effort to give back to our San Diego community and help it prosper.  For every mile driven by our interstate vehicles, Atlas Transfer & Storage will be donating .5% of those miles in dollars to a local San Diego non-profit .  Every mile we drive will help the community thrive!

Get Involved

We invite you to join us in our efforts to support the San Diego community through our Miles for Goodwill program.  By moving with Atlas Transfer & Storage, you are also helping to “move” our community.  Our blog and Facebook page provides ongoing updates and important news concerning the Wheels for Goodwill program as well as information on how you can become a part of this ongoing project.  To get involved, please visit our blog and Facebook page to learn more about the Miles for Goodwill Project and stay updated on our ongoing charitable efforts!

List of Awareness Months

JANUARY – National Blood Donor Month

San Diego Blood Bank

www.sdbloodbank.org

FEBRUARY – Heart Disease Awareness Month

American Heart Association

www.heart.org

MARCH – San Diego Rescue Mission

www.sdrescue.org

APRIL – Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

ASPCA

www.aspca.org

MAY – National Foster Child Awareness Month

Polinsky Children’s Center

www.promises2kids.com

JUNE – National Safety Month

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

www.madd.org

JULY – San Diego Hospice

www.sdhospice.org

AUGUST – Community for Solutions

www.ccssd.org

SEPTEMBER – Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

St. Jude’s

www.stjude.org

OCTOBER – Blindness Awareness Month

Foundation to fight blindness

www.fightblindness.org

NOVEMBER – Breast Cancer

City of Hope

www.cityofhope.org

DECEMBER – Toy Drive

Marine Corps. Toys For Tots

www.toysfortots.org

OTHER:

Rady Children’s Hospital – www.rchsd.org

March of Dimes – www.marchofdimes.com

Shriners Hospital – www.shrinershq.org

Abused Women Shelters – www.safehorizon.org

Veterans of Foreign Wars – www.vfw.org

We made it to Phoenix! Well, Gilbert, Arizona actually.  I apologize in advance if this is not my best post but I am pretty exhausted, surrounded by boxes and lucky to have an Internet connection!

The movers showed up on Friday to load all our stuff on a huge moving truck!  We thoroughly cleaned the house and were Arizona bound by 11:00am Saturday.  The movers showed up bright and early this morning to do the move-in.  They moved most of our stuff into the house and put the rest in a storage unit.

I really have to take the time to let you know about Oakley Relocation out of Poway, California.  They handled both of our moves (CA-NV and NV-AZ).  They did such a great job, both times!  There were no surprises and everything went as promised.  Jim was our Relocation Consultant who helped arrange all of the details and Johnny was our driver.  He doesn’t just drive…….he organizes, manages, moves your stuff and drives the truck.  He handles the move and the laborers on both ends.  He is there when your stuff goes on the truck and when it comes off.  He is pleasant to work with and flexible if there are any hiccups (like you forgot to pull your wedding picture of the wall and safely pack it in a box).  This may seem like I am promoting them, well, I am.  Not because I’m getting any kind of kick back (because I’m not)  but because they deserve it for being a reputable company that delivers as promised!  I have to admit it, service like this doesn’t come cheap.  But if you want cheap, you should read some of the horror stories about moving companies.

So that’s it, we made it.  Here is where it all begins.  First step, register Madison for school and then we will go from there……slowly unpacking as we reinvent ourselves!

- Shar

Builders think empty nesters are moving to the big city. Guess again.

As the rock ‘n’ roll generation enters retirement age, developers and builders seem convinced that empty nesters will desert their suburban communities and move to high-end urban housing. Sorry, folks, but the conventional wisdom surrounding the 36 million baby boomers born between 1945 and 1955–the first cohort–is again wishful thinking.

An analysis of the new Census shows a 10.3% decline among core city dwellers, a loss of some 1.3 million people over the past decade. For this analysis we looked at population numbers from the Census for boomers aged 45 to 54 in 2000 and compared them with the numbers for those aged 55 to 64 in 2010.

In our ranking of the 51 largest metros in the U.S., the urban cores of San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago scored near the bottom, suffering double-digit percentage losses of boomers. New York’s urban core lost 12% of boomers in their mid-50s to mid-60s.

You could blame this loss on the economy, which has postponed retirements and brought home many of the boomers’ largely job-poor children back to the suburban house. Or you can credit it to boomers who appear to be working longer than ever. Yet the moving patterns of older baby boomers suggest a strong anti-big-city bias.

So where are these surviving boomers settling as they enter their golden years? The top ten on our list are all affordable, generally low-density Sunbelt metros (see table).

But by far the biggest trend among boomers is not to move at all. “The boomers are staying put more than anyone thought,” says Sandi Rosenbloom, an expert on retirement trends and a professor of planning and civil engineering at the University of Arizona. “People of that generation tend to own their own homes and stay there. The idea that they are relocating to the city really comes from the wishful-thinking school of planning.”

CHICAGO (October 19, 2011) — Allied Van Lines, Inc., one of the world’s largest moving companies and a subsidiary of SIRVA, Inc., announced that eleven Allied agents received its APEX quality award at its 2011 National Convention held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  The APEX quality award is awarded to those agents who have achieved the highest quality rating of “Excellent” for customer focus performance each quarter for over fifteen consecutive years, as measured by a third party vendor.

The agents awarded include San Diego Moving Company Atlas Transfer & Storage Co., Inc. of Poway, CA, Bayshore Transportation System, Inc. of Newark, DE,

Beverly Hills Transfer & Storage Co., Inc. of Gardena, CA, Blanchette Moving & Storage Co. of Lewiston, ME, Mathis Moving & Storage Co. of Newark, OH, McNaughton Brothers, Inc. of Indiana, PA, Mills Van Lines, Inc. of Strongsville, OH, Piepho Moving & Storage, Inc. of Onalaska, WI, Schick Moving & Storage Co. of Tustin, CA, Skaleski Moving & Storage, Inc. of Green Bay, WI, and Spaeth Transfer, Inc. of Bremerton, WA.

“Regardless of size or distance, customers every year entrust their belongings to one of our more than 400 Allied agents nationwide,” said Bill Lyon, Vice President and General Manager of Allied Van Lines.  “These eleven agents are being recognized for consistently being the best and we are proud to have them as part of the Allied family.”

About Allied Van Lines

Established in 1928, Allied Van Lines, with more than 400 agent locations in North America, is an experienced leader in household goods moving and specialized transportation services. Allied is one of the world’s largest moving companies and one of the established global brands of SIRVA, Inc., a leader in providing relocation services to corporations, consumers and governments around the world. For more information about Allied Van Lines, visit www.allied.com. Allied Van Lines, Inc., U.S. DOT No. 076235.

About SIRVA, Inc.

SIRVA, Inc. is a leading provider of relocation solutions to a well-established and diverse customer base around the world. The company handles all aspects of relocation, including home purchase and home sale services, household goods moving, mortgage services, and home closing and settlement services. SIRVA conducts more than 300,000 relocations per year, transferring corporate and government employees in addition to individual consumers. SIRVA’s well-recognized brands include Allied, Allied International, Allied Pickfords, Allied Special Products, DJK Residential, Global, northAmerican, northAmerican International, SIRVA Mortgage, SIRVA Move Management, SIRVA Relocation and SIRVA Settlement. More information about SIRVA can be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.sirva.com.

Family-owned companies form the bedrock of the U.S. business community — especially the moving industry. Yet, leading a family-owned business, and managing the leadership transition from one generation to the next, can be challenging.

If you don’t think family businesses play a huge role in the U.S. economy, think again. According to Gaebler Ventures, a Chicago- based venture capital fund, despite the rising influence of big corporations, family operations continue to be a powerful economic force in the U.S. In fact, many big corporations themselves are family-owned.

Indeed, family businesses account for a staggering 50 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), Gaebler said. And while it’s tempting to believe that the majority of family business GDP is attributable to thousands of small operations, it’s important to recognize that 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are family-owned.

That means family-based operations are represented across the spectrum of American companies, from small businesses to large corporations, the firm noted.

That’s goes double — if not triple — for the moving and storage industry, notes Linda Oakley, VP-sales for San Diego moving company Atlas Transfer & Storage Co., an agent for Allied Van Lines.

“Growing up in a familyowned business, we learned what it takes to be a leader and an entrepreneur in the moving industry,” she said. “Every night at the dinner table, we discussed the day’s business challenges, with topics ranging from the current price of fuel, health care costs and where interest rates were at. We watched our parents and their friends with family-owned businesses discuss customer and employee issues and listen to their solutions. Learning about the challenges at work came directly from watching and observing our parents and their owner friends.”

Oakley said that in a family-owned business environment there tends to be more resilience and ambition to continuously keep improving.

“A family business tends to want to keep their customers for life and we generate new business from networking around the family’s community,” she said. “We tend to have open innovation sessions to brainstorm new business ideas, solutions to ongoing challenges, while continuously adjusting to the current market conditions. In a family business, we trust and respect each other and work to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

And those traits provide a huge economic payoff for the country as a whole, according to Gaebler’s research. He said family companies are responsible for 60 percent of the nation’s employment and 78 percent of new jobs created.

The gap between employment and job creation figures may indicate that family businesses are one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy because their new job requirements outpace their current employment rates when compared to other businesses.

TACKLING TRANSITION

Often the biggest challenge for family-owned companies, both inside and outside the moving industry, deals with the tricky issue of transition — the movement of control and ownership from one generation to the next.

Gaebler’s research notes that only a third of all family businesses successfully make the transition from first- to second-generation largely because succeeding generations either aren’t interested in running the business or make drastic changes when they take the helm.

The significant failure rate of family transitions highlights a number of concerns about family businesses in general, including the ability of these organizations to maintain a consistent value system and business philosophy. This issue will come into even sharper focus in the coming years as baby boomers prepare to hand off their companies to their children, the firm says.

Linda Bauer Darr, president and CEO of the American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA), addressed this very issue at the group’s annual meeting earlier this year in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Perhaps the most important challenge we face is that of the potential leadership void we face as an industry,” she said. “President John F. Kennedy put words to this challenge expressing what I am sure many of you feel after years of hard work building your companies and coming to a time in your life when you want to pass the torch but suffer over leadership void. He said, ‘It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities … for there is a new world to be won.’”

Darr said that for many family-owned moving and storage businesses, the time is drawing near for someone else to take the helm.

“Yet you can’t do that without being confident of their success,” she said. “Outside of the family succession model, we have done little to prepare our young workers for the leadership roles they will soon be asked to take. And, as an industry we have done little to recruit new workers. In the years ahead, we should look at this and start to craft a plan of how we can focus attention on our industry as a positive and promising field of work.”

It’s a challenge Atlas’ Oakley recognizes, too. “It is imperative that any family business implement a succession strategy. Without an effective succession strategy in place, an environment of confusion and complacency may result, thereby making it difficult for the business to develop, grow and be profitable,” she said.

“It is vital for the family members to talk amongst one another to set monthly and annual benchmarks to help foster both business, as well as personal goals,” Oakley said. “An effective succession strategy requires a clearly communicated and agreed upon vision for the business. Vision is essential as it provides the direction and guidance necessary to properly identify where the company is headed. A well-communicated vision addresses the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and it is a central component in any and all family businesses, not just our business.”

John W. Crane, of First Financial Group, a planning firm based in Reston, Va. And affiliated with Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, said the importance of a succession strategy for a family-owned business cannot be overstated. The value of the business, he said, can often represent the majority of that family’s wealth.

“For these families, it is even more vital for the family-owned business to have a succession plan in place, as compared to others,” he said. “If the value of the business goes down or even disappears, the majority of the family wealth will follow right along with it. Depending on the event, this adverse hit to the value of the business can happen quickly, without leaving much time to react or maneuver to protect the value.”

Crane also notes that Guardian, its subsidiaries, representatives or employees do not provide legal or tax advice, so consult with your attorney, accountant or advisor for advice concerning your particular circumstance.

TRANSITION TIPS

Oakley said one critical component in crafting a succession strategy is trust amongst the entire team.

“Most employees lack trust in their employer’s business, yet if a team trusts not only their employer, but their product and each other, they have a competitive advantage over their peers in the marketplace,” she said. “But a lack of trust may destroy a successful succession strategy. Family members work together for the business to succeed for the entire family, not just for the individual family members who are working there.”

A succession plan will fail, according to Oakley, if the leaders and family members do not make a concerted effort to discuss changes and obstacles arising from everyday life.

“As demonstrated by the last three years in the moving and storage business, the economy is a force that we have no control over,” she said. “But we can proactively make internal changes to our business plan that will have a positive outcome.”

Crane offers two important points family-owned moving and storage companies should consider:

First, make sure you establish what he calls a “fully funded” buy/sell agreement. “A buy/sell agreement is a legal contract drafted by an attorney that obligates surviving owners, or the company itself, to buy-out the interest of an owner who dies or becomes disabled,” he said.

“The buy-/sell agreement typically dictates an obligation for the estate of the deceased owner or departing owner to sell and sometimes, more importantly, to whom they must sell their ownership interest,” Crane said.

The agreement may also spell out other triggers, such as the retirement of an owner, the criminal conviction of an owner, and more, he said. “This agreement ensures that there will be a ready market for your business interest should you die, become disabled or otherwise leave the business,” Crane said. “The agreement also spells out methods to determine a fair price for your ownership interest.”

Second, make sure the business invests in insurance or massive cash reserves to fund the buy/sell agreement.

“Life insurance provides one way for a business owner to protect the current value of their business for its heirs and for the surviving owners/employees,” Crane said. “A family-owned business that is worth $10 million and has the value of that business fully insured through life insurance will be in the best position to meet the needs of the business and the needs of the family heirs in the event of the death of the owner.”

While no one likes to discuss their own mortality, such life insurance policies mean if the owner dies, the business receives a near immediate infusion of cash that can keep it running and deliver on obligations to the heirs.

“Without that near immediate infusion of cash, the business can struggle and the value of the business could drop to zero,” Crane said.

LOOKING FOR OUTSIDE ADVICE

Many family-owned firms are used to keeping things “in the family,” yet Oakley contends that it’s often advisable to seek outside advisors for tax and legal counsel, depending on the situation.

“They are another critical component to protecting both the family and the business,” she said. “Tax laws for estate-planning purposes are continuously being modified and it is impossible to know all of the changes without outside counsel. We recognize when there is something we don’t know, and we have to go out in the marketplace and seek professional help.”

If the intention is to eventually sell the business, then long-term planning gives the family an exit strategy, Oakley said. Furthermore, outside counsel may also be utilized to reinforce a family’s communication with one another.

At the end of the day, “Communication is the most important ingredient in a healthy, family-owned business,” she said.

“Making the time and make it happen is a significant component to the growth and profit of the family business.”

DAUGHTER TRANSITIONS

A recent trend worth noting is the increasing number of family-owned businesses that are being passed down to daughters.

According to research by Chicago-based Gaebler Ventures, over the past five years, woman-owned family businesses have increased by 37 percent.

There is also evidence to indicate that women-owned family businesses are better prepared for transition scenarios and have higher success rates than businesses controlled by their male counterparts.

SUCCESSION SUGGESTIONS

John W. Crane (www.cranefinancial.com), of First Financial Group, suggests several tactical steps family-owned moving and storage companies should adopt to help create a successful succession strategy:

Protect the value of the business. Imagine a family-owned business, built over 25 years, with Jim Smith, the family patriarch, at the helm. He has done all the right things. Well-known in the community, he knows all the local realtors and multi-tenant building owners by first name and is a very successful local area business. They seem to get business without even trying. Cash flow and profit for the business has never been higher, and as such, the business receives its highest valuation ever from a professional appraiser. Suddenly, the family patriarch and primary owner dies. The relationships built over 25 years … were these relationships with the logo on their business card, or were these relationships with Jim Smith? What is likely to happen over time if the business was really all Jim Smith?

Establish the true value of the business. For families whose total wealth is near the current $5 million Estate Tax Exemption threshold, it is important to establish the value of the business for Estate Tax Planning and to meet with a qualified Estate Tax Attorney. The business should be valued by an accredited and certified business valuation expert. The valuation document provided by an expert will provide documentation and rationale that defends the stated value of the enterprise. This valuation document could become a key component of an Estate Tax calculation, and if challenged by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), could become a key component of the family’s case as to why they owe — or why they don’t owe — a stated amount of Estate Tax upon the death of the owner.

Keep cash resources available. Unplanned transitions are typically stressful because something unplanned has happened that is now forcing the transition, such as death, disability or lawsuit. If the family wants to keep the business running, large cash reserves may be needed to keep it afloat while they transition to life without the long-term owner at the helm.

Cash resources may be needed to deal with a sudden drop in sales, hiring a replacement for the owner or cash payments for heirs.

Equitable treatment of heirs. Let’s say the primary family owners have four children, with two involved in the business and two not involved.

How will the two not involved in the business be treated fairly? Ongoing cash payments? A lump sum payment up front? Will the business be able to make those payments?

It’s reasonable to expect the surviving heirs to have trouble getting along if they feel they were cheated out of their share of the inheritance.

It is far better to have those issues planned and stress tested by a team of experts before the event occurs.

I plan to write rave reviews about the whole experience.  It couldn’t have been better.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Kelly

2. Research Your Pet’s New Home
To prevent any problems upon your pet’s arrival, you should research and confirm the regulations at your pet’s new home. This is especially important for animals other than dogs and cats, but keep in mind that many municipalities place bans on certain breeds. For international pet relocation, understand quarantine procedures and start your paperwork far ahead of time. If you’re renting a home, you’ll need written documentation of your landlord’s policy on pets.

3. Prepare Your Pet
If your pet is being transported over a long distance, gather everything needed for the journey. Most transporters require you to provide enough food for the journey and an additional amount in case of unforeseen delays or emergencies. Chew toys, treats and blankets will also keep your pet happy and comfortable during the journey. Communicate with the pet shipping company to understand the kind of kennel needed for the journey– some carriers may require a sturdy hard-top kennel. Lastly, label your pet’s kennel in large clear letters.

4. Confirm Your Pet Carrier Has the Right Equipment
Communicate with your transporter before they arrive to understand where and how your pet will be transported. Ask the right questions: “Will my pet stay with you inside the vehicle, or in the back?” “Will my pet have ongoing access to water?” and “How frequently will you stop to let my pet out?” should all be understood ahead of time.

5. Look for Transporters With Great Feedback
Before placing your pet in the care of a transporter, online tools can help you determine the reputation of your transporter. Search online for the name of the pet moving company and browse the Better Business Bureau, if needed. In the United States, professional pet movers must also be licensed by the USDA’s Animal Care Unit if they are transporting a “regulated” animal.

I want to thank you for your teams excellent handling of my move from California to New York. Your entire team from the initial contact through final delivery were excellent. I want to particularly mention your leads:

Alex Hunter, Relocation Consultant/Sales – I would like to nominate her Consultant of the Year
Alex is an excellent relocation expert who accurately assessed my contents, got all the paper work and quotes to me quickly, prepared/ set up packers for my breakables (dishes and some other items), and thought of everything that other movers I used prior to you did not – e.g., got a crate for my stone table top, and boxes for my beds.

Matt Devlin – I want to nominate him for driver of the year.
Matt is an excellent professional driver who managed the move teams in California and New York to get all my items loaded, transported, and unloaded safely for me. He kept me informed for the pick up, transport, and delivery of my goods. They efficiently packed and unpacked my goods and made sure the correct items went to my apartment and storage location in New York. Matt and ALL the men loading and unloading my items were great. Matt also expertly drives his long distance carrier truck to get it into tight locations that other movers said they would have to shuttle my goods from a small truck to the larger carrier.

Annette Ahrens – She handled paperwork and helped schedule my move and breakable packing
Annette really helped with getting all the paperwork processed and in scheduling the move date and packers to get my breakables packed the day prior to the move. She kept me informed of the dates and organized the teams to come to my house so everything went smoothly the day of the move.

I would have gotten this letter out sooner but since I have arrived we had the hurricane and I had to evacuate for few days and move everything I had unpacked away from the windows and get it restored again. I did complete a phone feedback for you and gave you the highest rating for every category.

Again thank you for providing me with your excellent “A” team. I have moved cross country 6 times and you have moved me the last 4 times. You are by far the best moving company and your team this last time was the best I have ever had. I will definitely use you again if I move to another state in the future and I will recommend you to everyone I know.  Also, thank you for the restaurant gift card. That was very nice of you.

Sincerely,
Mary M.