Guides
Who leads in moving right now for new owners
Seven moving companies are winning new customers on repeat volume, referral networks and specialty work, with what each one does and who it fits.
What to take away
- The movers who lead in moving right now for new owners are not the biggest advertisers. They own a repeatable source of jobs: corporate relocation contracts, van-line agency networks, senior-move referrals, or a specialty few others will touch.
- Seven are named below with the segment each one owns and who it suits, from Two Men and a Truck's franchise density to JK Moving's government and employee-owned interstate work.
- Every one of them books a surveyed estimate, in person or by video, before quoting. None of them wins on the lowest number.
- Read a competitor's quote process, not their website. The estimate type they state tells you how they price risk.
- Watch what a competitor declines. Those customers call you next.
Seven movers winning new customers right now
The firms below are winning for checkable reasons. Each entry gives what the company is, the segment it takes, and the customer it fits.
- Two Men and a Truck.The largest franchised residential mover in the United States, with several hundred locations and roots in Lansing, Michigan, where it started in 1985. It wins on brand recall and local franchise density, so a customer moving across town often finds one nearby. Fits households that want a known name and a flat local rate.
- United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit.Both are van lines under UniGroup, and both win corporate relocation and long-distance household work through booked agency networks: a local agent sells the move and the van line hauls it. Fits customers moving interstate with a relocation benefit. Expect a binding or non-binding estimate issued after a survey. United publishes an annual National Movers Study on state-to-state migration.
- Atlas Van Lines.A van line based in Evansville, Indiana since 1948, with a wide agency network and a military and government book. It wins moves that require weight tickets and a tariff-based bill, the paperwork a corporate client needs. Fits federal employees and anyone whose move is reimbursed.
- North American Van Lines.A van line owned by SIRVA, which also owns Allied and is based in Chicago. It wins corporate accounts and the volume that arrives through relocation management companies. Fits transferees whose employer picks the mover, which leaves little for a local firm to pitch.
- JK Moving Services.An independent, employee-owned interstate carrier in Sterling, Virginia, founded in 1981. It wins government and corporate contracts plus specialty work, and it runs its own fleet instead of brokering loads. Fits customers who want one carrier accountable end to end. Pricing is a surveyed, binding estimate.
- College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving.A franchise founded in 2005 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, built on labor-only and small local moves plus junk removal. It wins the customer who needs two people and a truck for three hours, not a full-service interstate move. Fits apartments, dorms and single-item jobs.
- Caring Transitions.A franchise network of move managers based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It coordinates the downsizing, the estate sale through its CTBids online auctions, and the move itself. It refers the hauling to movers it trusts, so a mover on that referral list gets repeat senior work. Fits households moving a parent out of a long-held home.
What the winners have in common
- They survey before quoting, in person or by video, and they state the estimate type in writing.
- They name what the quote excludesstairs, long carry, elevator wait, packing, and anything the customer packed.
- They present valuation coverage in the regulator's terms and record the customer's selection.
A mover that skips any of these is not competing on the same terms. It is competing on price and hoping the survey was right.
Three things every winner does
- Survey before quoting, in person or video
- State the estimate type in writing
- Name what the quote excludes
- Present valuation coverage in regulator's terms
- Record the customer's selection
Worked example: reading a competitor's quote
Say a competitor quotes a three-bedroom local move at a flat rate with no survey. You survey the same house and find a basement, a piano and a 60-foot carry from the door to the truck.
Your arithmetic, in your own variables:
Reading a competitor's flat quote
- Competitor quotes flat rate, no survey
- You survey: basement, piano, 60-foot carry
- Crew hours = (load + drive + unload) x crew
- Your cost = crew hours x loaded hourly rate
- Your price = cost / (1 - target margin)
- Competitor loses or crew walks
A two- or three-person local crew typically bills $100 to $200 per hour in most markets, before access charges. A flat rate set by phone rarely reflects that.
The competitor's flat rate was set without the carry or the piano. When their crew arrives and the customer refuses the added access charge, the job either runs at a loss or the crew walks.
Either way that customer is shopping again, and you are the surveyed alternative. The pricing and profit guide covers why access charging carries the margin on local work.
Where each one is beatable
Two Men and a Truck franchises are strong on brand and weaker on unusual jobs. A piano, a safe or a hoard is often outside what a general franchise crew will quote.
Where each mover is beatable
Two Men and a Truck
- Weakness
- Unusual jobs
- Opportunity
- Piano, safe, hoard
- Win on
- Brand
Van lines
- Weakness
- Slow on short notice
- Opportunity
- Next-week household
- Win on
- Corporate accounts
JK / employee-owned
- Weakness
- Not cheapest
- Opportunity
- Labor-only work
- Win on
- Accountability
College Hunks
- Weakness
- Small jobs only
- Opportunity
- Four-bedroom interstate
- Win on
- Small job
United, Mayflower, Atlas and North American win corporate accounts but move slowly on a household that needs a date next week. Their agency networks are booked in season, and a direct carrier can take the job.
JK and the other employee-owned carriers win on accountability, but they are not the cheapest and they do not chase labor-only work.
College Hunks wins the small job, and it does not want the four-bedroom interstate move.
The senior-move managers refer only to movers they have used and trust. Getting on that list is a service question, not a price one, and the services and packages guide frames it as a defined service rather than a favor.
What to do with this
Three moves, in order.
Three moves to make now
- Price against the surveyed standard
- Position on what they decline
- Write a proposal that names the gaps
Price against the surveyed standard. Where a competitor quotes by phone, your surveyed estimate is the product. State the estimate type, list the access charges, and let the contrast do the work.
Position on what they decline. The jobs the seven above turn away are available. Whether you can take them is a question of equipment and trained crews, not preference.
Write a proposal that names the gaps. A quote that states plainly what the others left vague wins on the contrast. The sales and proposal guide makes the same argument about scope.
What not to do
Do not copy a competitor's price. You cannot see their cost base, their claims history or their wage bill. Check your own wage assumption against the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage tables for your area and build up from your own numbers.
What not to do
- Do not copy a competitor's price
- Do not copy their compliance position
- Do not judge a market by who operates there
- Check your own wage assumption
- Check your own authority and permits
Do not copy their compliance position either. Whether a competitor holds authority you do not, or operates in ways you have not confirmed are permitted, tells you nothing about what applies to you.
That question goes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for interstate authority and to your state regulator for intrastate work. The licensing and compliance guide sets out how to check your own position.
The FMCSA's Protect Your Move pages explain what a customer can check about any carrier.
Do not judge a new market by who already operates there. Presence does not prove profitability. The expansion and market guide treats competitor count as one weak input among several. The Small Business Administration's business guide covers management and growth generally, not this trade.
Common questions
Why these seven and not the biggest advertiser in my city?
The seven above win on a repeatable source of jobs: franchise density, a van-line agency network, a government contract, or a referral list. A heavy local advertiser may be buying jobs at a cost per lead that does not survive the season. Check the quote process before you treat anyone as the leader.
Is requesting a competitor's quote acceptable?
Requesting a quote as a genuine potential customer is ordinary market research. Wasting an estimator's morning on a survey for a move that does not exist is not, and it is how you become known in a small market.
How often should I re-check this list?
Once a season. Van-line agency networks and franchise territories move slowly, but a new senior-move referral list or a government contract award can change who is winning in your area within a year.
What if a competitor is operating without required authority?
That is a matter for the regulator, not for your marketing. Report it if you choose, and do not build a strategy around it.
