This issue of The Communicator details the success of the recent 105th annual California Moving and Storage Association’s (CMSA) convention in Rancho Mirage. Additionally, we do our best to celebrate the event in pictures. I won’t use this column to elaborate, only to say that if you missed it, you missed a terrific event at a great value. We thank, now Senior Chair Shiree Hammer for her successful year as chair of the CMSA Board and welcome the 2023-2024 Chair Jesse Chabot and offer him all our best wishes for the year ahead!

One of my goals for the 2023-2024 year is to ensure that CMSA and its members have the best possible opportunity to communicate with the Global Household Goods (GHC) contractor, HomeSafe Alliance. To that end we worked with HomeSafe Alliance, adding them as Association members and securing their participation in our convention. Subsequent to our convention with the support of our CMSA Board of Directors, we sent a letter to Matt Dolan, HomeSafe Alliance president, and members of his leadership team. The goal of the letter was to identify potential issues at the 10,000-foot level and open a line of communication. We shared that our members have made it clear that they want CMSA to continue to be a voice for the boots at the curb and the brick-and-mortar moving companies that support them.

Matt Dolan responded to our letter in a very timely fashion and stated that HomeSafe Alliance looks forward to working with us to help CMSA members succeed. The road ahead may be long, but we have taken our first step. HomeSafe Alliance is clear, they have more that needs to be shared with movers, including fundamental items such as pricing and service requirements. As we move forward, we look to you for issues, concerns, and even successes and compliments related to the contract. Potentially, some issues will be out of the control of even the prime, but even related to those, we will do our best to provide as clear an answer as possible.

June started with a quick trip to Omaha, NE to lead the National Council of Moving Associations (NCMA) meeting. Participants, besides CMSA, included IAM, ATA MSC, the Canadian Moving Association, and a number of State Associations. The purpose of the informal gathering is to share issues and best practices related to our Associations, with our members always top of mind. As one might imagine the GHC was an important topic with reports from IAM VP of Government Affairs Dan Bradley and Daycos President Brandon Day. Daycos will serve a supporting role to HomeSafe Alliance in the new program, and their participation in our discussion was of real value. At the conclusion of our meetings, I was reelected as NCMA Chair.

I wrote this column as I was flying back from Omaha, there was a US Navy Sailor in dress uniform sitting close to me on the flight. As we prepared to land in Phoenix, the pilot came over the passenger address system and stated that our plane had the honor of transporting the remains of a fallen service member to his final resting place. He advised that we would remain in our seats until the casket had been removed from the plane and received by his waiting escort. It definitely puts things in perspective.

June 2023 - CMSA Communicator