One of the core values of the California Moving and Storage Association is engagement with industry and regulators to improve both the environment for the moving public and the legal and permitted industry. We also work with these groups to continually improve the image of our industry. We take pride in being professional movers and the work that we do and take personal offense to the unethical and frequently criminal actions of rogue operators. Our engagement has resulted in a seat on the ATA Moving and Storage Conference Board of Directors, where I also serve as the Enforcement and Consumer Protection Task Force Leader for the Government Affairs Committee, with the larger committee chaired by CMSA Chairman John Chipman Jr.

The ATA MSC recently conducted a Moving Industry Enforcement Summit with regulators from both Federal and State agencies (BHGS, FMCSA, FBI, FMC, STB and numerous state regulators and law enforcement agencies) additionally Move Rescue, a Unigroup company, made an excellent presentation.

I had the opportunity to work with ATA MSC Executive Director Katie McMichael over the last several months to develop the program. Katie did most of the organizing and was the event host. The event was a great opportunity for the industry to share our concerns with a broad range of state and federal agencies that could have a positive impact on the problems created by unlicensed operators in our industry. We shared that these illegal operators are doing real damage to the moving public, the regulated movers who follow the rules, and the taxpayers. One important philosophical issue that some bureaucratic agencies need to understand is that Regulations are not just for the Regulated but for anyone who attempts to engage in regulated business! Thankfully that is not an issue that we currently face in California.

I was pleased that leadership from the Bureau of Household Goods and Services (BHGS) attended the Summit. I shared the success story of BHGS in California. On the interstate enforcement front, BHGS has reunited 171 victims of hold hostage actions with their household goods since 2019. This is an awesome number that is not matched anywhere else! BHGS has also signed a Memo of Agreement (MOA) with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that gives them legal authority to enforce federal law related to household goods. Ten other states have also signed MOA’s and our Enforcement and Consumer Protection Task Force is encouraging other states to follow suit. State enforcement of federal law is the quickest and most effective way to protect consumers making interstate moves.

It is always our goal to drive business to the legal and permitted mover and making illegal moving an uncomfortable place in which to operate is definitely a step in that direction.

I hope that you are planning to join your fellow CMSA members for our 104th Annual Convention in Reno, Nevada from April 19-24. The team from BHGS will be there and would appreciate the opportunity to meet with as many CMSA members as possible. It is also a great opportunity for us to thank them for the great job they are doing.

February 2022 - CMSA Communicator