Budd Van Lines

4 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 BUDD VAN L INES remained committed to the company’s mission, and they did not implement a single layoff during the pandemic in spite of the decline in revenue. The Budd Sales Team made a strategic shift to handle more personal residential moves during this period and it helped offset the decline in corporate relocations. The post- pandemic rebound of 2021 was far better than expected. Relocation volume starting in May saw an unprecedented number of relocations in industries like pharma, high tech, and defense contractors. Grund acknowledges, “Because we did retain our employees and driver teams, the company was able to handle the largest move volume in the company’s 47 year history. During the pandemic our driver teams followed CDC standards with mask wearing and social distancing with customers. The company sent out weekly COVID-19 updates to clients and relocating families. We are very fortunate to have had a less than 1% transmission rate of COVID-19 in the field with customers and driver teams.” Not to say that the moving industry isn’t still being hit hard today. They have seen a 9% inflation rate in material prices every six months for the last two years. Paper shortages are one thing, but truck parts and even drivers are hard to come by these days. When a part breaks it can take months to replace. Despite the supply chain challenges, Budd had an on time service percentage of 99.9% in 2021. “It was absolutely amazing that we had only 33 delay claims out of 7,000 families serviced around the country. It was by no means easy, but our team pulled it off,” Grund reports. Budd Driver Teams do short runs and cross country, with an average move of 13,000 pounds, going 1000 miles. They also have husband and wife couples who work as a team when it comes to driving, which works out well for many reasons. Budd Van Lines credits two innovations as key to their success. First is the unique service model “Team Pack – Team Haul”, while the second is the “Load it Once” Modular Move System. Grund explains, “Team Pack – Team Haul is a different way of doing things from the classic way that moving van companies have operated. Most companies developed a franchise model, where the mover in the city you leave would pack things and send them off to another franchisee at the destination. So, if you were moving a family from California to Florida, there would be an agent who assigns packers in California. There’s going to be a company that assigns a driver to move it across the country, and then there is another agent in Florida to assign people to do the delivery services. It’s a whole bunch of different people touching a family’s move at one time and the service levels can be inconsistent.” With Budd Van Lines, that family moving from California to Florida is assigned one Budd driver team from start to finish. The driver is also the