Is it me or ?

I've seen a few Mayflower trucks running around, too.

 

The motel I used to stay at in jersey used to full of bed buggers , they always had a funny story to tell and a cooler full of beer in the trailer when they were folding blankets..
A Wheaton driver once told me the company slogan was " Wheaton where you're furniture takes a beatin " .

 

Back in the day there used to be a lot of them out there, Allied, United, Mayflower, Bekins, Global, Wheaton, Atlas, North American, etc....
As a teenager, one of the drivers (N/A) would come into the bar looking for hands to pack & load a move the next AM, paid $100 cash for the day, good $$$ back in the 70's.....Bed bugging was hard work, pain in ### sometimes too...Many of the guys went to the temp control, critical cargo side.....Many worked the conventions from place to place, but most started in the household sector.....
I remember one time, I went to work an early AM deal (United), some professional hockey player, don't remember the name, but I do remember that he and the wife ate breakfast, left the dirty dishes on the table & counter, and just split....What a minute, I aint doing no dirty dishes, nope aint happening, we just boxed them up and rode, good times.....

 

You see those flat beds hauling PODS, and I have delivered a few UShip crates. Just being done more creatively.

 

I think between people using a uhaul themselves, and the recent explosion of the PODS style of moving, the full service movers are declining.

I have noticed that uhaul is also now offering a Pods style experience. They will deliver as many pods as needed, you load them up, nice, at ground level, when they are full, they will then deliver them to your new house, or to the uhaul Storage facility of your choice for later access.

Compared to giant custom rigs that have to have very tight load/haul/unload schedules, being able to have cheap mass produced pods that you rent out, and then can haul like any other freight, you gain much from the efficiency of scale, the lower investment, and being able to make money on storage when there is a delay, instead of not being able to make it to your next move appointment on time, so you can offer a cheaper price.

I own a couple of the older 96" wide Allied Van Lines moving trailers, and compared to a standard dry van, they are fancy.... I love them! Lol

 

I saw an ODFL trailer parked down the street last year. Apparently you can call ODFL, they will drop off an empty trailer, you load it, call them when you are ready, they weigh it and pull it where you tell them you want it. They will park it, and you call them to pick it up when you have it unloaded. I was not aware OD was in the moving business.

 

Aint that the truth!.....By the end of a bed buggin day, somebody better have a cooler full of cold ones....

 

I was with national van for a long time
It amazes me they're still going
One time I hired a buddy to help me unload in Florida
He came into the truck and asked if I was gonna reuse the mattress carton
I said no and he went back in the house
I started wondering why he asked me that
I went in and there he was with his big knife slicing it down the middle

We put that side down

 

Moved a "crazy cat lady" across town once. Just her and 10 cats but she had 6 mattress'...one of which they used as a litter box. I know because she said "the cats like to piss on that one" Why she didn't just throw it away I'll never know