Moving and Storage Business News

The News Review:

- Two Common Moving-Company Scams and How to Avoid Them
- Emrick’s Van & Storage marks 30 years of business
- Sign of the times: Rental
- Nuke waste dump operator pays fines for self-reported violations

Two Common Moving-Company Scams and How to Avoid Them
Washington Post – Mar 22, 2008
Or that the movers won’t show up on time — or perhaps at all. But the one thing you probably aren’t worrying about may be the biggest concern of all: that the moving company you hired is a scam company, holding your stuff hostage until you fork over a wad of cash. "There are bad guys out there for a number of reasons, just like in any other industry," said Linda Bauer Darr, president and chief executive of the American Moving and Storage Association. Darr said there are two primary scams consumers should watch out for when hiring movers: the hostage-goods scam and the advance-deposit scheme. "In a hostage-goods situation, somebody has already moved your stuff and quoted you one price. But by the time you get to the destination, they’re holding on to the goods and they ask you to pay an inflated price," she said. "We all know that when someone’s charging twice the amount they originally quoted, something’s gone afoul…
They include: The moving company has no interest in an on-site inspection of your goods, which is key to giving you an accurate estimate of your total moving cost. The movers will accept only cash or a large deposit before they move. The company’s Web site has no local address or information about licensing. The estimate is much lower than any other estimate you receive. It’s always good to get at least three companies’ estimates.

Emrick’s Van & Storage marks 30 years of business
Enid News & Eagle – Mar 22, 2008
The photo was taken in 1925 and shows Baker’s grandfather in front of a moving truck. Written on a sign above the truck are the words, “Let Us Move You, We Know How. ” When Baker and his wife bought Emrick’s Van & Storage in Enid in 1977, he had no idea his grandfather had ever worked for a moving company. In fact, Baker didn’t even find the picture until after his father died. It was among photos boxed up inside his father’s house. After 30 years of moving service for Enid and Oklahoma City, that slogan has become something of a motto for Emrick’s Van & Storage, even if Baker was not fully aware of it. Emrick’s actual slogan reads “Let Emrick’s & Allied Take You Home: A Tradition You Can Trust.

Sign of the times: Rental
Denver Post – Mar 22, 2008
” Stats show downturn The Denver metro area recorded 1,611 new home starts during the fourth quarter of 2007, the lowest number of quarterly starts in seven years, according to Metrostudy, a provider of market information to the housing industry. Housing starts for the year were 10,135, down 36 percent from 2006. One of Buchanan’s projects, Hangar 2 at Lowry, has changed from all for-sale residential to a mix of retail, office and self-storage space. “People aren’t pushing the panic button, but the market ebbs and flows,” Buchanan said. “I would describe the market as very tenuous. ” Tom Gougeon, chief development officer for Continuum Partners, said company officials decided a year ago to build apartments at its development at Interstate 25 and Belleview Avenue. “When we started planning those first blocks, we had more for-sale housing,” Gougeon said…
“People aren’t pushing the panic button, but the market ebbs and flows,” Buchanan said. “I would describe the market as very tenuous. ” Tom Gougeon, chief development officer for Continuum Partners, said company officials decided a year ago to build apartments at its development at Interstate 25 and Belleview Avenue. “When we started planning those first blocks, we had more for-sale housing,” Gougeon said. “But we were leery of where the market might go, so we decided we didn’t have to make for-sale work in the first phase. That turned out to be a good choice. ” Continuum also is reconsidering how it will develop Kent Place at South University Avenue and East Hampden Avenue.

Nuke waste dump operator pays fines for self-reported violations
Denton Record-Chronicle – Denton Record Chronicle – Mar 22, 2008
The penalties stem from incidents in Andrews County, near the New Mexico border, where Waste Control Specialists operates a transfer, treatment, storage and disposal facility for Cold War-era radioactive waste. Neither of the chemical contamination incidents endangered the public, the company said. According to an enforcement agreement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, in 2005 the company allowed radioactive materials, including Plutonium-239 and Americium-241, to get into an administration and laboratory septic system. That system was within a quarter-mile of a well used for drinking water.