The moving industry is a service industry, it has its’ ups and downs and follows many trends related to the economy. The model, as it currently stands is in a state of resurrection following our most recent recession and current housing boom. Many agents have been left scrambling as the season began and realized the depth of their staff shortage for field work. Many recruited heavily in an attempt to fill gaps in their rosters and in doing so, with good intentions, placed applicants into positions they may not have been qualified for, or had not yet come to grasp with the process involved with moving a customer with high expectations and professional requirements.

It is now August, the billing is coming in. So are the claims. Issues unknown with packing are starting to rear their ugly head, issues identified earlier like residence protection failures, storage handling failures, are now being submitted via claim forms. Workman’s comp is starting to mail out notices, using words like “disabilities” and “permanent”, A simple, straightforward training program, administered over a 1-2 day period may have eliminated a great many of these claims, probably not all, but 30-40% of these issues could have been prevented with proper instruction of technique and communication. How much skill for this industry did we expect to walk in off the street? How much pressure did we put on our lead people to perform their allotted tasks with uneducated support?