Based on recent calls to the CMSA office, from both carriers and shippers, June was an extremely busy month for our industry. This is great news for CMSA members, the legal and licensed carriers of California. Please be certain that efforts to service as many jobs as possible doesn’t cause anyone in your operation to take his/her eyes off important safety issues. It is necessary to conduct regular safety meetings to address potential risks to both movers and the public, and develop proactive procedures. Even though we may be hot, tired and sore, we must never forget that we operate large vehicles on the public highways and need to always follow proper safety protocols.

Our office has received several calls related to warehouse lien issues. We expect many more in the fall, and the best advice that we can give is to stick to the established method developed in our CMSA lien manual. We periodically hear from members who are tempted by methods that appear to simplify the process, but may leave them open to greater potential liability. Our manual was developed and approved by CMSA Legal Counsel Mark Hegarty and, in my opinion, is the best document related to the issue in our industry. If you don’t have a copy of this important manual, call our office and get one soon.

June is also the time of the annual meeting of the National Council of Moving Associations. This is the only opportunity for many directors of state, national and international moving associations to gather to share information and programs that benefit the moving industry. For the second year, we met with the National Conference of State Transportation Regulatory Specialists, the association of regulators, this time by video conference. Our conversation focused on our concerns related to Internet sites such as: Angie’s List, Yelp and Craig’s List. We shared our position that these sites need to stop listing, and thus giving credibility to illegal operators to the detriment of the moving public, regulated industry and the taxpayers of their states. More state regulators appear to understand the issue and are at least starting to address the problem and we are encouraging them to take action. At the end of the meeting, I was re-elected as a Director of NCMA, one of three officers of this group.

Over the last month, I, along with CMSA member Permit Puller, met with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on the issue of commercial parking permits in the city. We advised them of our concerns related to program costs and required notice time (up to eight business days) to comply with San Francisco’s posting program. While they did not acknowledge that the program was onerous, they did state that they have recently hired seven new staff members, who have yet to start, to do the posting. They agreed that as they develop the program, they may be able to reduce the notice time by several days in the future, but no commitment has been made. It is worth noting (and we shared this with our hosts as well) that the San Francisco permit program has the most expensive costs per permit and longest notice period prior to date of service of which we are aware.