10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

JULY 2005 TRUCKER TALK

SUMMER MOVES
By Writers and Owner Operators Rod & Kim Grimm

It’s finally summer, or at least it should be. Last week (June 4th), believe it or not, I-80 as well as highways 287 and 30 were closed in Wyoming due to snow! Coming home from California a couple days later, we ran into snow again over Donner, in Nevada and just outside Salt Lake City, Utah. While half of the country was freezing, the other half was baking with temperatures in the upper 90’s and humidity. To borrow a line from a friend, Mother Nature doesn’t know whether to have a “hot flash” or a “cold flash” so she’s having both.

No matter what the weather is though, summer is the time for people to be on the move! But not just vacations – some are actually moving to a new place or home. The kids are out of school and there shouldn’t be snow, so people are planning their moves. While lots of military personnel are planning out of the country moves, most people are planning the more conventional moves. But whether you are moving across the country, across the state, across town or just across the street, it’s still a big pain. In our case, by the time this story is in print, we should have completed our big three block move. 10-4’s editor Dan Linss and his family just completed a longer move, taking them from Southern to Central California. They found a nice place in the hills and got the heck out of the Southern California rat race.

First off, Rod and I would like to thank Leslie Bates at Ferring Homes in Center Point, Iowa for being such a big help with our move. At one point in her life, she had her own brokerage firm and owned two trucks – one she drove herself. Her first-hand understanding of what we were trying to accomplish while turning a round a week to California has been an enormous benefit to us.

Three years ago we bought a one-acre lot three blocks from the home we were living in at the time. Although there was no house on the lot, we went to work anyway. First we put in a spectacular garden and then a nice workshop/shed, complete with Gorilla Shelving, heat and electricity. People thought we were crazy. Here was this empty lot with a garden and a shed! But now we are in the “home” stretch and it is all coming together.

With some late spring rain, there have been lots of delays, so I have had to call and reschedule the plumber, electrician and landscaper a few times. I think it really helped being from a small town, where people know who you are and tend to be more flexible with their schedule. A crew is scheduled to come out to do some painting and help us move the big stuff. When that’s done, Rod will turn a short round and I will stay back to finish moving all the small stuff and decorate. I already know where most everything will go. July 9th we’re having a New House Barbecue. Rod is looking forward to cooking for all our family and friends that can come and visit.

Packing up everything you’ve accumulated in your life can take some time – how much time depends on how old you are, how much room you’ll have at your new place (hopefully more), how many kids you have, whether or not you are or aren’t a “pack rat” and a host of other factors. Personally, I think I have enough stuff to fill our new home quite nicely! Maybe even a little room will be left over (it’s a bigger house). Remember that the more room you get, usually the more stuff you acquire. I will wait a little while before going shopping for more stuff. Okay, times up!

You see lots of what I call “do-it-yourselfers” out on the road this time of year, driving the rented moving truck (no CDL), towing the family car behind, and absolutely clueless about how to actually operate this big vehicle they are suddenly in. Dan can attest to that. It had been quite a while since he drove a big truck and after almost taking out a telephone pole on his first right turn (out of the U-Haul parking lot), he quickly realized that wider is better – at least in regards to turning. He described his moving caravan as “a carnival on wheels going down the road” but he got their stuff to the new place without any problems. But be careful of these people (sorry Dan) – although it’s probably a lot cheaper than hiring movers, it’s not always safer. I’ve seen many rented moving trucks sitting upside down in ditches along the road with the family’s belongings scattered all over.

If you’re move will be taking you far, it might be a good investment to get a professional with experience and insurance. They have had a lot of practice moving and their packing skills are amazing. These professional movers do something most of us dread ever doing – and they do it on a weekly basis. This got me to thinking about my column. I began to be on the lookout for some bed bug haulers so I could talk to them about what they do, how they do it and why.

While walking across the 49’er parking lot in Sacramento, we were fortunate to meet Star Baby, an adorable cocker spaniel, and her owner Jim Stuker from Forrest, Illinois. When I realized that he pulled a moving van, I asked him about it. Jim told us he’d had “27 good years” moving people. It allows him to meet lots of people and travel. Still loving the challenge of putting the puzzle together, Jim loves getting all of someone’s possessions to fit in his trailer. He takes great pride in delivering that freight in the same condition it was loaded. Several times he’s been told by his customers, “We moved ourselves last time and we’ll never do that again.” The men and women that pull these trailers have more than freight inside – they have people’s entire belongings.

After talking with my sister-in-law Sue Wiley who works as manager for I-Go United in Lincoln, Nebraska about my “moving” article, she told me a “You’re not going to believe this” story about a driver out of the main office in Omaha. While delivering a load in Montana, the driver, along with the shipper, were coming back out of the house when they heard something in the trailer. It sounded like hooves. They peeked around the back of the trailer and to their surprise there was a bull elk back there. Scared and unable to turn around or back out of the trailer, they had to call someone at the Game and Parks Commission to come out and help. They had to tranquilize the animal to get it out safely. While most damage claims go to the driver, this one went to the corporate office. Can you imagine what they thought when they read “elk damage” as the nature of the claim!

Sue gave me the number of one of their drivers – Bob Gourley of Sioux City, Iowa – so that we could chat about driving a moving truck for a living. Moving is a chore for most people, but Bob truly enjoys what he does. I can relate to his love of travel, and this is the way he does it. But it’s not always been that way. Traveling yes, trucking no. Starting out with the Barnum and Bailey Circus as a rigger (hanging the ropes in the rafters), he traveled with the circus from 1980 to 1984. Then, while at Madison Square Garden, he was in the right place at the right time. A rigger called in sick so Bob filled in and was then hired by rocker Ozzy Osbourne.

Over the next few years, he toured with Ozzy and other bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Molly Hatchet, Kansas and others. He then came home to get married, and while helping a friend named Edgar that worked for Lent Van Lines in Des Moines, Iowa, he got interested in moving. Trucking would be a way to “get paid to go places” he figured. So he got his Learners Permit and went with Edgar on the road. Three months later he was assigned his own truck and has been driving ever since.

Bob looks forward to the times when his wife Cindy can ride along. They have been married for “seven wonderful years” and have four children between them. Driving a moving van since 1992, he still loves the road and the freight he hauls. Personally, after meeting Bob, had we needed a mover, he (or someone just like him) would be my pick. Most everything you own goes in that trailer and you want the driver driving that truck to take care of it like it was theirs. Antiques and treasures that can’t be replaced are part of those loads, unlike the freight we haul. Hey, if something should ever happen to one of our loads, they can always make more cheese in Wisconsin!

A reputable moving company isn’t cheap, but they can provide several valuable services like boxes, packing materials and storage space (which you might need if there is time between getting out of the house you have now and into your new one). I think some of the docks we have to get into can be bad, but think about getting into some of these housing developments. These guys don’t just bump the dock and have a forklift unload them – they get out of the truck and start using their muscles – what fun. I don’t know how they do it!

If you have a summer move planned, we hope it goes smooth and that everything arrives safe and sound – whether you do it yourself or have one of the professionals take care of you. Either way, drive safe and be careful out there. And remember to watch out for those “rolling carnivals” as inexperienced (rental) truck drivers make their way to exciting new destinations over the next few months.