Tag: movers

4 Moving Mistakes to Avoid During National Moving Month

Posted on by olympiamoving

National Moving MonthHappy National Moving Month from Olympia Moving & Storage! May kicks off the busiest moving season. Relocating can be tricky enough, but moving during the most popular season can add some complications.

Moving isn’t something most of our clients do very often, so it’s understandable why families sometimes make mistakes that can add stress to the relocation.

Here are the four most common moving mistakes we see, and how you can avoid them:

1. Scheduling moving dates too late.

Risk: The most popular summer moving dates can fill up a month or more in advance! If you procrastinate to call movers, you could lose your preferred date. That could complicate your closing or other relocation plans.
Olympia increases capacity every summer to accommodate as many of our clients as possible, but we encourage clients to contact us 4 weeks prior to move day to ensure availability. Check out our moving planning calendars to stay on track!

2. Hiring a “rogue” mover.

Risk: An unlicensed, uninsured company may have a lower price, but may result in a costly moving horror story. Unfortunately, we’ve all heard about movers sending untrained crews, hiking prices prior to delivery without reason or holding shipments hostage. This is all easily avoided by just checking for a few warning signs.
Olympia is a licensed, insured, full-service mover, a member of the American Moving & Storage Association, and was Wheaton World Wide’s 2013 Mover of the Year among other awards and recognitions.

3. Packing procrastination.

Risk: If you’re packing yourself, not finishing packing by move day leads to disorganization and stress. If a crew arrives a home expecting everything to be packed, they may not have enough extra supplies to finish the job for you. Worse, now that the crew has to finish your packing it could lead to your move going over estimate, as the estimator based his quote on a fully packed home.
Olympia checks in on clients’ packing progress the week prior to the move. We also provide full or partial packing services customized to our clients’ needs and budget. Use our free printable moving box labels to keep organized.

4. Not communicating with your moving company.

Risk: Planning a successful move takes time! Not filling in your mover on details or changes to your move (such as changes to your inventory, access to your home, or the addition of extra stops) results in an unprepared crew.
Olympia assigns each client a dedicated move coordinator. The coordinator stays in constant communication to ensure that both Olympia and our clients are fully prepared for move day.

Now that you know which mistakes to avoid, let Olympia deliver a smooth move for you! Request a free moving estimate, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Also check out:

Choosing a Mover: Making My Decision Easier
9 Essential Items You Shouldn’t Bring on Your Move
Change of Address Checklist

Olympia’s Lucian Tistu is Wheaton’s Driver of the Month!

Posted on by olympiamoving

Wheaton Driver of the MonthOlympia Moving & Storage is proud to congratulate our driver, Lucian Tistu, on his selection as Wheaton World Wide Moving’s April 2014 Driver of the Month! Lucian, a driver out of our Alexandria, VA office, is being recognized as one of the best in Wheaton’s Permanent Fleet.

Lucian has more than seven years of professional moving experience and is a top-rated driver in Wheaton’s driver rating program, a very prestigious status to achieve in the moving industry.

Clients who have relocated with Lucian certainly agree that this recognition is well-earned!  A client who recently relocated with Lucian from Clearwater, FL to McLean, VA sent us this feedback last month: “Lucian was fantastic, professional, efficient, considerate and careful. He went above and beyond in all aspects of the move. I can’t compliment him enough.”

Olympia would like to thank Lucian Tistu for his relentless care and effort to deliver an exceptional relocation experience for our clients. We are proud to point to Lucian as a leading example in our crew of trained moving professionals.

For his efforts, Lucian will receive a cash award, plaque, Driver of the Month uniform patches and equipment decals. Lucian is also now a nominee for 2014 Driver of the Year.

We look forward to proudly presenting Lucian his award when he returns from the road next month! He is delivering clients to their new homes in sunny Florida this week.

Olympia’s team has won several awards from Wheaton World Wide, including their most prestigious recognition: 2013 Agent of the Year.

Click here to read the full press release from Wheaton World Wide Moving.

Quality Movers are in High Demand: AMSA’s State of the Industry

Posted on by olympiamoving

Quality movers across the country look forward to the American Moving & Storage (AMSA) conference as an opportunity to share knowledge and learn how to better their companies and their industry to meet our clients’ needs.

Every year AMSA CEO Linda Bauer Darr (who Olympia recently moved!) offers big-picture insights as part of her “state of the industry” address.  The state of moving in the United States isn’t just insightful to moving companies, it also offers some understanding to changes in American life.  Here are some highlights from this year’s address:

Americans simply don’t move as often or as far as they used to.  The number of Americans moving across state lines has fallen 50% since the nineties.  This is partially due to the economy, but mainly because job opportunities across cities are more homogeneous than ever before since most Americans work in service industries.  In addition, the advent of telecommunication means that people just don’t need to move for work as much as they used to.

Quality Movers Raising the Bar

Despite this, quality movers are still in high demand.  These conditions cause the number of moving companies to decrease, which lets the quality movers who are leading the industry continue to grow.  Only by promoting the standards of ethics and accountability will keep the moving industry strong.  That’s why the ProMover brand  is so important. The program creates a high standard for moving companies and helps consumers find movers, as well as create an environment where consumers trust their movers and value their hard work.

With creativity and innovation, and by holding ourselves to a higher standard, we can work to create a future where the “values and principles of a good mover are beacon for other industries to emulate.”

 As an AMSA ProMover, Olympia Moving & Storage leads the way by adhering to to this high standard.  Every day we strive to advance the moving & storage industry by hiring staff & crew who put their clients first, going above and beyond to meet our clients’ needs, and adding value through technology.

You can watch the rest of this “state of the industry” address in this video:

Olympia & Wheaton Move CEO of the American Moving & Storage Association

Posted on by olympiamoving

AMSA ProMoverOlympia is proud to be an American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) ProMover. This organization represents the interests of quality professional movers through policy, advocacy, and education for both its movers and the consumer. Their ProMover certification program is key to helping fight “rogue movers,” dishonest or non-professional movers that cause the moving horror stories you may see in the media. The goal of the ProMover certification is to help the consumer identify professional, quality movers from among the pack.

Linda Bauer Darr, the president and CEO of the American Moving & Storage Association, has put a tremendous amount of work and dedication into providing Americans with a quality relocation experience. Nobody knows moving better than Linda Darr, so when it was time for her to move, she chose Wheaton World Wide and Olympia Moving & Storage to provide her relocation.

Linda Darr was already familiar with our company’s quality, as this was her second move with us. Upon the completion of her move, she sent us this thoughtful message:

“Thanks to Olympia Moving and the Wheaton Bekins team, I am happily ensconced in my new home in [northern Virginia]. The move went off without a hitch, just like it did last time your company moved me. The van operators and crew were fast, efficient, courteous and just all-around willing to help in any way possible to get the job done well. And they did what I know is a taxing physical job with smiles on their faces. What a tremendous team you have and your guys should make you proud – they made me proud of our industry and truly exemplified the ProMover mindset.

I want to especially recognize Rashod Butler and his crew of Marcel Buliga, Alexandru Aidinov, Andrei Talasman, Jorge Prada and Jo-Nathan Kelly who took such great care of my move and were unfailingly helpful and professional. I also want to thank Doug Myers, the General Manager at Olympia for his efforts coordinating with me to insure that it all went smoothly.

Thanks for everything you do for your customers and for our industry. And thanks for your personal support of my move. I couldn’t be happier with the results!

Best wishes to everyone at Wheaton Bekins and Olympia from your friends at AMSA!

Linda Bauer Darr
President & CEO
American Moving & Storage Association”

Thank you Linda for taking the time to recognize our crew!  Click here to learn more about our crew, and if you want to hire our excellent crew, request an estimate.

Linda Darr also recently spoke to ABC news about the 8 Things You Need to Know Before Moving, an essential read for anyone planning a move!

Meet Our Growing Team!

Posted on by olympiamoving

For moving companies, it’s the people that make all the difference.  From our crews on the trucks, to our sales and coordination team, to our office support staff, Olympia always hires talented people who put the needs of our clients first.

Winter may be a slower time for moving, but the Olympia team doesn’t hibernate through the season.  The company always takes advantage of the time to add improvements to the client experience, train the staff, and move the company forward.  Most importantly, winter is the perfect time to hire new members of the Olympia team and prepare them for the busy summer season.

This winter, Olympia made more hires and added more new roles than ever before, marking landmark growth for the company.  In addition to hiring several drivers and many new crew members, we added NINE new staff members to the office support staff, increasing our support staff 38%!

Customer Service

Candace Longo
Amy Grant
Meaghan Mitchell

The biggest expansion was to our relocation coordination team, giving us the ability have an individual relationship with each client leading up to, during, and after their move.  We added four new members to the department.  Candace Longo, Amy Grant, and Meaghan Mitchell joined us as part of the Clark & Reid acquisition.  Between them they have a combined 20 years of experience in relocation coordination.    Candace will be leading the team as the department manager, her motto is that if the client feels they are not getting exceptional service at any point in the move process, she wants the coordination team to know!

Operations

Oscar Padilla
Keith McEwen
Travis Swalbach

In the fall, Oscar Padilla, formerly VP of a NYC-based moving solution company, joined Olympia to lead the operations department as VP of Operations.  Since then, he’s reorganized the operations department to maximize efficiency, play to the strengths of our current staff, and increase the experience level of our highly-trained moving crew.  As part of this re-organization, two new members were added to the operations office staff.  Keith McEwen has worked with Olympia for many years as one of our top movers, and will leverage this experience in his promotion to Operations Manager in our Boston office.  Travis Swalbach joined Olympia as Warehouse Manager.  He’ll use his seven years of warehouse management experience, most recently with Coca Cola, to optimize the important storage branch of our business.

Sales

Mike Smith
Hampton Watson

The Olympia Office Movers branch of our company added new commercial move consultants as part of our continuing expansion of commercial moving services.  Mike Smith, who is joining us as a Commercial Sales Manager in the Boston office, comes to Olympia from working in the relocation industry in the U.K. for over 25 years.  He worked for both Pickfords and TransEuro before establishing his own relocation company.  Hampton Watson III comes to Olympia from working at Ryder, the well-known American-based provider of transportation and supply chain management products.  He will be a Commercial Sales Manager in the Washington D.C. office.

We’re really excited to see what these talented individuals will contribute to Olympia!

Click here to meet the rest of the Olympia team.

$45,000 Contributed to Special Olympics in 2013

Posted on by olympiamoving

photo (46)In 2013, Olympia Moving & Storage was proud to launch our partnership with Special Olympics Massachusetts & Virginia. We’re pleased to announce that our first year contributing to this fantastic organization was a major success!

Our 2013 contribution to Special Olympics by the numbers:

  • Volunteered for 10 events, including Summer Games, Jolly Jaunt, and Plane Pull
  • Our crew pulled a 164,000 pound plane in support of Special Olympics VA.
  • Olympia’s president, Michael, rappelled down a 22 story hotel in support of Special Olympics MA.
  • Donated free moving and logistics services valuing $39,432.50
  • Raised $6,865 in monetary donations to support the athletic program
  • Over $500 contributed to Special Olympics through our clients
  • Total value of our contribution was over $45,000 in 2013!

We would like to thank the staff at Special Olympics MA & Special Olympics VA for being fantastic partners and for working tirelessly for their athletes. The determination and joy of Special Olympics athletes is contagious, and so inspiring to our team.

Olympia Moving & Storage will be continuing to grow the Special Olympics relationship in 2014. In addition to providing logistics support to more events and competitions than ever before, we have a few new events and surprises in store. We’re looking forward to supporting even more athletes in the new year!

You can learn more about our relationship with Special Olympics and donate to this worthy cause at olympiamoving.com/specialolympics.

2013 Total Quality Commitment Award Winner

Posted on by olympiamoving

_KES3923_resizeOur interstate partner van line, Wheaton World Wide Moving, released the recipients of the 2013 Total Quality Commitment (TQC) Award on Wednesday. Olympia Moving is proud to announce that both our Watertown, MA and Alexandria, VA moving branches are recipients of this distinguished recognition!

Additionally, the Olympia Moving & Storage Watertown, MA branch has been singled out as one of the top 20 highest-scoring agents in the TQC program across the entire van line!

This is the 10th year that Olympia Moving has been recognized by this award. Olympia received numerous other awards from Wheaton World Wide in 2013 including their top honor, Agent of the Year.

The Total Quality Commitment Award is only given to the highest-performing agents in the van line for the following metrics in the Total Quality Commitment program:

  • Packing claim frequency
  • Packing claim dollar average
  • Hauling claim frequency
  • Hauling claim dollar average
  • Warehouse claim frequency
  • Warehouse claim dollar average
  • Safety points
  • Weight estimate accuracy
  • Customer Service Ratings

Olympia will formally receive these awards at the upcoming regional meeting.

Congrats to our crew, drivers, and staff for leading the way for the quality standards in the moving & storage industry!

You can read the full press release at this link.

Olympia Moving at Jolly Jaunt to Benefit Special Olympics

Posted on by olympiamoving

The holidays are the season of giving, so Olympia was happy to provide free logistics support for Special Olympics MA‘s Boston Jolly Jaunt.

This annual holiday-themed event is a 5K walk/run around the Boston Common. Runners were encouraged to get in the spirit and wear holiday-themed costumes, and we got a kick out of their creativity!

As Special Olympics MA’s Official Logistics Sponsor, we managed the pickups and deliveries for the events’ equipment and supplies. We had a truck and crew available to assist with set up and day-of support.

At our event sponsor booth, runners enjoyed free candy canes and our mini holiday photobooth.

Most importantly, the runners raised over $125,000 for the Special Olympics athletes! The money will be used to provide year-round sports training and athletic competitions for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

You can check out the rest of the pictures in our Facebook album, be sure to like our Facebook page while you’re over there!

You can learn more about Olympia’s ongoing sponsorship of Special Olympics at olympiamoving.com/specialolympics

Manager of Newly Acquired Clark & Reid Executive Moving

Posted on by olympiamoving

Olympia Moving logoClark & Reid Executive Moving logoWheaton World Wide Moving logo

 Olympia Moving & Storage is proud to announce that it will be managing the newly acquired Clark & Reid Executive Moving; marking Olympia’s continued growth in the area of corporate relocations.

Olympia’s interstate partner, Wheaton Van Lines, finalized their acquisition of the Clark & Reid brand today, and selected Olympia to run the day-to-day operations of this new venture. The Clark & Reid brand will continue to operate independently and the combined entity will make Olympia one of the largest relocation service providers in the Northeast.

“The addition of Clark & Reid signals an operational expansion and offers new opportunities in the corporate universe,” said Michael Gilmartin, President of Olympia Moving & Storage. “For over 100 years, Clark & Reid has earned and maintained a stellar reputation for providing high end, executive relocation services. With continued investment in the organization, we are confident that we can build upon a great foundation”

Press Release from Wheaton Van Lines:
Link to Press Release

Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. acquires Boston-based Clark & Reid
Indianapolis, Ind. | November 25, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS – Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. announced it has acquired Boston-based moving company, Clark & Reid, known for corporate relocation and high-end service.

The acquisition will allow Clark & Reid to grow its scope of service and expand its focus on corporate relocation, backed by a larger network and significant resources. Wheaton will be able to further expand its ability to provide top block service to corporate clients – large and small – by building on Clark & Reid’s quality and experience in the corporate arena.

Clark & Reid will continue to operate as a separate brand under the Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. umbrella and will have offices in the Boston and Washington, D.C. markets. Boston-based Olympia Moving and Storage Company, two-time Wheaton Agent of the Year, will manage Clark & Reid’s day-to-day operations and will service Clark & Reid customers nationally.

This is the second acquisition in as many years for Indianapolis-based Wheaton Van Lines. The company purchased Bekins Van Lines in 2012, making Wheaton Van Lines the fourth largest household goods mover in the country. Privately held, the combined company produced record revenue for 2012, and is on track to do the same for 2013.

“The success of the Bekins acquisition helped pave the way for the van line to position itself for future acquisitions, giving the company both the financial wherewithal and infrastructure to grow top and bottom line revenues for our agents and drivers,” said Wheaton | Bekins CEO Mark Kirschner.

The addition of Clark & Reid will make the company even stronger and more diverse. Founded in 1902, Clark & Reid has a rich history of providing executive relocations for corporate clients, and its name has been synonymous with quality service. It was ranked number one in service by Alan Trippel’s 2012 Nationwide Relocating Employee Survey on the household goods industry. Clark & Reid received the highest overall customer satisfaction score, the highest Top Block service score, and the highest net satisfaction score in the survey.

“The transition will be seamless, and corporate clients will find they have the same move managers and personnel with whom they’re familiar and that there will be no disruption in service,” Kirschner said.

Together, the three brands – Wheaton World Wide Moving, Bekins Van Lines and Clark & Reid – will include more than 348 agents nationwide.

About Olympia Moving and Storage Company
Olympia Moving & Storage Company is a full-service moving company in Boston, Mass. and Washington, DC. Since its inception in 1993, Olympia has built an unparalleled reputation for delivering exceptional local moving, interstate moving and international moving services. Olympia Moving is the preferred mover for numerous universities, law firms and real estate organizations. The company’s commitment to excellence is reflected by its 2007 and 2013 Agent of the Year awards, from Wheaton World Wide Moving. For more information, visit www.olympiamoving.com or call 800-222-4744.

About Wheaton World Wide Moving and Bekins Van Lines
Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. is one of the world’s most highly regarded providers of transportation services. The van line is now the fourth largest household goods carrier in the country. Headquartered in Indianapolis, it offers private and corporate domestic and international household goods relocation services as well as special commodities and logistic services. The United States Military also is one of the company’s largest customers. Wheaton Van Lines, Inc. is partner to approximately 348 Wheaton, Bekins and Clark & Reid agents nationwide. To learn more, visit www.wheatonworldwide.com.

Free Printable Moving Boxes Labels

Posted on by olympiamoving

Nobody likes packing, but the moving process is always much smoother if you keep organized. That’s why Olympia offers free printable moving box labels to their clients, or anyone who’s moving. These pretty labels are sure to brighten your boxes, and may even motivate you to keep packing!

We’ve designed unique, color-coded labels for every room in your home to help the movers easily differentiate the boxes during delivery. Be sure to write descriptions of each box’s contents to aid in locating specific items while unpacking. Believe us, you’ll thank yourself later!

Also included are “fragile” stickers to warn movers of breakable contents like glass, dishes, figurines, and pictures. As a bonus, we also created adorable kids’ moving box labels to help your little ones find their toys as soon as playtime in the new home begins.

All labels can be printed on standard blank Avery or shipping labels using a laser printer, just be mindful that these boxes are meant to used on boxes, as they will be difficult to remove on furniture.

You can also purchase pre-printed moving box labels from us, along with other packing materials.

Moving Box Labels

All labels are 3.33″ x 4″ and are laid out 6 per sheet. We recommend using Avery Shipping Labels for Ink Jet Printers, 3.33 x 4 Inches. However, take care to only use the labels on boxes, as they will be difficult to remove from furniture.

Click on each link to download the respective PDF, or you can download all the moving label PDFs using [this link].


Living Room Moving Box Label
Dining Room Moving Box Label
Kitchen Moving Box Label
Storage Moving Box Label
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