About OOMovers
OOmovers is a new and different type of moving company. The Internet has now made possible a more direct relationship between the moving customer and the men who actually move them. Our movers are all independent owner operators who enjoy the rewards and responsibilities of being a self employed business owner. We can offer the customer mover direct pricing and service from a mover who has a vested interest in his work- Through modem communication we have been able to connect the consumer direct to the moving service provider without the negative influence of a middle man "BOSS" to drain all the money and the joy from the work.
History
Our business has grown along with the development of the Internet and IT technology. OOmovers originally evolved from a Vancouver moving company called MiniMove, begun by our general manager. John Anthony in 1982. In those days he was a small truck owner operator and he loved his work, as did his customers. John was just a "man and a truck" for many years until one day in 1991 he moved a pretty kindergarten teacher named Carol. Several years later he found himself owning 7 trucks and looking for a house he could afford for his two growing boys Rob and Jack. Vancouver was too expensive so a little cottage on the Sunshine Coast became their new dream home. Wanting to spend more time than weekends there, John the techno-nerd began developing software to run his movers remotely. As these new management tools soon enabled him to expand to Victoria and Nanaimo he also began to lose control over standards and quality of the work. It became apparent that the problem was the attitude of the employee movers- Even with a "Boss" in the same city, employee movers were never under control or reliable once they left the office. He realized that this employee problem was the root cause of all the well known unprofessionalism that gave the moving industry such a bad reputation.
John searched for over 10 years to find employee movers that cared about their work. He tried hiring friends, relatives and university students, even poaching movers from other companies. He treated them like family and went outside industry custom to pay overtime, holidays and bonuses.
Neither love or money could get someone to work as well as he did when he was a happy little "man and a truck". Any one who had enough brains or heart to do the job well would not stay long as an employee and all the best guys left to buy a truck and start their own companies. In desperation he began to subcontract some moves to these ex-employees. When the complaints stopped and compliments started to pour in he had the answer he was looking for. The concept of OOmovers was born. Much less profit per move but many, many more happy customers made it a win-win situation for everyone involved- He sold the trucks to his employees and became their partner. working for them instead being their master.
OOmovers Today
In 2011 we are now proud to be Canada's largest group of Owner Operator movers and one of Canada's largest moving companies. OOmovers offers service to all points across the country and local move service in the major cities of Alberta and British Columbia. Over the next year we plan to expand our local move service across Canada. Many years of constant development and improvement have refined our software and technology to a state-of-the art standard. Our admin and sales staff are all seasoned professionals ready to deal with any moving situation. As a multi million dollar business, we are able to insure all our work and offer a satisfaction guarantee few other moving companies can match. Some of our partner owner operators are approaching their 10 year anniversary as members and we have a long list of new members waiting to join up.
OOmovers is a success today because it offers the mover work with dignity and rewards while providing the customer better value for their moving dollar. With more time and luck we hope to influence the entire industry in a positive way and make moving more of the respected trade it deserves to be.