
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994                   TAG: 9407260005
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MOVERS KEEP ON TRUCKING - EVEN DURING SUMMER

If, during your leisurely summer ramblings, you pass a house with a moving van parked out front, don't stop to tell the crew about your lazy days at the beach.

Chances are they won't appreciate the reminder that there's no such thing as summer vacation in a business that often does as much work between Memorial Day and Labor Day as during the entire rest of the year.

``It's been a very hectic summer,'' said Wayne Newman, general manager of DunMar Moving Systems, Roanoke agent for Allied Van Lines.

With kids out of school, many people opt to pull up roots during the summer, he said, meaning three months of nonstop packing, loading, driving and unloading for his employees.

``The industry as a whole probably does 50 percent of its yearly work in these three months,'' said Chip Lawrence, president and general manager of Lawrence Transportation Systems Inc. in Roanoke, a United Van Lines agent. ``You have to beef up pretty well for the summer.''

For Lawrence, that's meant adding nearly 50 employees - many of them college students - to the normally 300-person payroll. Newman's company added eight summer employees, also students, to bring his staff to 25.

Don't get the movers wrong: They appreciate the business. But don't expect them to find time for your cross-country move at a minute's notice. Both local and interstate movers began booking up their summers in early spring, and now they're working on their August and September schedules.

``It's like a light switch,'' said John Lugar, president of Virginia Varsity Transfer, a Roanoke company that specializes in local moves. ``Sometime around March or April somebody turns it on, and then it just keeps going.''

Scheduling a move for the last week of the month can be especially difficult, Newman said, because that's when rental agreements expire and when most mortgage closings occur.

``Everybody fights for that one last week,'' he said.

While end-of-the-month craziness is a year-round phenomenon, it becomes especially hectic during the peak summer season, when moving companies may have to turn away potential customers who don't schedule far enough in advance.

``It's disappointing to turn away jobs,'' said Lugar, whose staff increased from 12 people last summer to 20 this year. ``We've been turning away jobs like crazy. But the people who call us first, get us first.''

If you're planning a summer move, also remember that many van lines - especially national companies - increase their rates during this peak season. Industry-wide rate increases typically are about 10 percent, Lawrence said, although increasing competition has forced some companies to abandon the rate increases.

But even rate increases and tight scheduling won't stop people from moving during the summer months, Lawrence said. And although the seasonal demand sometimes wreaks havoc on moving companies, they've accepted it as an inevitable part of summer.

``We're in a service business,'' Lawrence said. ``Whatever our customer demands, that's what we do.''

by CNB