MOVING FIRMS TRACK LOADS WITH COMPUTERS, SATELLITES

The moving vans measure the loads in cubic feet. A van may move more than one household on a single trip.

Ted Gilbert took a rather circuitous route to Cape Girardeau.

Gilbert, a moving van driver from Nampa, Idaho, began by picking up two loads from California and transporting them cross country to Connecticut. From there, he went the short distance up to Boston where he picked up another two loads, one bound for Kansas City and the other for Jonesboro, Ark.

Shortly before 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, as he was unloading the truck in Jonesboro, Gilbert received a dispatch from the home office in Boise telling him to pick up a load in Cape Girardeau Thursday morning that was headed for Davenport, Iowa.

He said that unless plans change, he would then drive up to Chicago to pick up two more loads, both destined for Texas. He was not sure where he would be sent next, other than to be certain that he would be sent somewhere.

Summertime is, he said, his busiest time of year.

It is estimated that between 17 and 20 percent of the population of the United States -- upwards of 50 million people -- will move this year. Of that 50 million, 45 percent will move between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Rafael Miller, president of Muscle North American Van Lines in Poplar Bluff, said many of his customers have children and wait until the summer to move. Business, he said, always picks up as soon as school lets out for the year.

Miller estimates that 25 percent of his business in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois comes from January to May, but a whopping 60 percent comes from June through September.

Most of the moves that he makes in June or July are booked by the end of April or by mid-May at the latest.

Booking moves and estimating departure and arrival times has become easier for the moving industry with the advancements in computer and satellite technology.

Trucks drivers used to have to keep contact with the parent companies through the telephone, but now, most national moving companies use satellites and computers to know exactly where each truck affiliated with the company is. Every 15 minutes, the sites are updated, thus allowing companies easier access to a truck in the right area that is going in the right direction for a customer.

"We can know within 100 yards the exact location of every truck in the company," Miller said.

Each truck has a satellite hookup mounted on the top of the cab. Inside the cab, the drivers have access to lap top computers that allow dispatchers to send messages directing a driver to a new location and a new pickup. The same technology even allows the company to know if the truck is idling or if it is shut off.

"I used to use a cell phone to keep in touch, but not any more," Gilbert said.

"They know exactly where I am at all times. I can't hide any more," he said.

In addition, the computer programs employed by moving companies allow the companies a better chance at figuring when a load will be picked up and delivered and what the cost will be.

By law, truck drivers are allowed to drive just 10 hours a day. Because speed limits for trucks differ from state to state, it isn't always easy to know what time the truck will arrive. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, for example, limit trucks to 55 miles an hour. In Missouri, trucks can drive 70. In Nebraska and Wyoming, the speed limit is 75 mph for the trucks.

By feeding information into the computer, such as the point of origin, the destination and the states through which the truck must travel, the company can give the customers a better idea of when their belongings will arrive at their new home. In addition, the computers can help the drivers plan the routes that are the fastest and most cost-effective.

Computers are also used to help determine how much space will be taken up by a load and how much the load will weigh. The weight and the distance are the primary factors used in determining the cost of the move. A computer program is used to give an estimate of the final cost.

Still, even with the advent of computers and satellites in the moving industry, a lot of work depends on physical labor of packing and loading the truck.

Miller estimated that the average household has between 7,000 and 8,000 pounds of furniture and household goods. The largest trailer will hold between 22,000 and 24,000 pounds, which is why movers will often carry two or three households on a single run.

Miller said that the industry is often portrayed as people who are out to take advantage of the customers by quoting one price and then charging a higher one.

"But it cuts both ways," Miller said, referring to the fact that customers often try to take advantage of the movers.

"People will add additional things to the load that wasn't part of the original estimate or will neglect to tell the movers that they are moving to an eighth floor apartment with no elevator," he said.