19:39 May 02 2014
Times Read: 898
From a online web newsletter that deals with our industry. Putting is here so when I have the "So, how do we pay the bills this month?" stress I will know I am not the ony one in the same boat.
Then again- I turned down a move just yesterday. Why? Military job, a code 4 *Meaning it was going overseas* You have to either pack or paper wrap all the items, place into wooden crates, seal, mark, and have them ready to ship out.
And sorry but... it just isn't worth wear and tear, supplies, using my packing up that I have in stock so I don't have to turn around and replace it with higher cost packing, labor cost, fuel
And refused one for storage as the company had a outstanding debt to me for over $5,300.00. While half was paid soon after, they will not be allowed into my warehouse till it is all paid. Even then.. most likely not. If you will not pay your bills- you just ain't going to pay them.
Once you get a history of that crap, I don't want to have anything to do with you.
Anyway-
It tears your heart out. How much in pain and suffering can the agents and drivers endure from SDDC and DPS and the MMC?
Mr. Summer:
I have been reading your articles about the current state of the military moving industry with great interest as someone is finally giving voice to the problems facing the small moving company. Your comments are exactly what I have been telling my wife and family for the past few years but I have done nothing personally to resolve the situation. I own two small moving companies in Kentucky serving the Fort Knox installation but recently made the decision to close both companies.
Our family business has been operating continually for 62 years and I have been working and owning the two companies for over 44 years. This was not an easy decision to make as I could have continued to funnel money back into the business but with the current rate structure for DPS and fees charged back by the Move Management companies, I could not justify taking money from local work and subsidizing the military work. Needless to say, I feel that the military is losing a company that provided years of experience and expertise that cannot be provided by a MMC sending in drivers to pack and pickup shipments with labor off the street.
While I have plenty of opinions concerning DPS and its impact on the small mover market, most of them have been voiced by you over the last few weeks. There is one area that I feel needs to be addressed and that is lack of oversight by the military of TSP finances and TSP's not making timely payments or in some cases not paying for services done by the agents. We, as the service providers, then have no recourse but to plead with TSP to pay, but really have no way recovered these fees due us. Suing is normally too expensive and due to interstate complications not feasible, so we just have to eat these charges along with the low rate that originated with the shipment.
At some point in time, there will have to be a review of this system as small companies will not be able to sustain themselves, as there will nothing to reinvest in your company: no money to buy/repair trucks, make capital improvements to warehouses, or invest in labor pool. While the moving business has always been a competitive market, rates as low as now being filed cannot be sustained. Every other cost is going up. Packing material has gone up over 18% in last two years with no offsetting rate increase. And yet the TSP keeps tacking on different fees to offset their costs and the small service provider has to accept this or the TSP will just move to another company that will do the job. Whether the TSPs or Big Van Lines were either tacit or complicit in the implementation of the DSP, it is the small companies, like myself, that bear the brunt of the work and cost of doing the job at cut rate prices. Over time, the erosion of small companies like mine will impact this system and hopefully those few companies remaining will benefit.
Please continue to make these issues known and maybe some good will result. Best Wishes.
Rick Masterson
Masterson Moving & Storage
Fireproof Van Lines, Inc.
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