How Budd Van Lines’ customer centric approach has fueled 50 years of longevity 

Founded in 1975, Budd Van Lines is a family-owned and operated moving company. The VP of National Sales, Gary Grund, shares an overview of the business: “We’re an independent national van line based in the United States. We’re not part of a franchise agency system; we’re our own company that handles every move with our own driver teams, no matter where it is in the 48 contiguous states. 

“Ninety-seven percent of our business is corporate relocation. We serve Fortune 500 companies, including pharmaceutical businesses, law and accounting firms, as well as defense contractors, manufacturing specialists, hospitals, and universities. We relocate our clients’ key executives and employees for strategic business initiatives. 

“Typically, in a van line system, there can be a lot of different people involved. There would be a packing crew to pack the contents of the home, another crew to load the truck, a driver, and another crew at the destination to unpack. Our approach is significantly streamlined. From day one, our clients are managed by one driver team from start to finish. It’s a lot more cohesive and consistent. Unexpected challenges still occur occasionally, but when something unpredictable happens, we have a direct line to our driver. We don’t have to go through a bunch of people in the middle to get something resolved for a customer. 

“Our founder, Dave W. Budd, Sr. was a driver. He created the concept of our unique modular Load it Once system over 20 years ago. It took a while to design and manufacture the system, but in 2014 we did so. Dave secured all the patents in the Americas for Load it Once. 

“In a nutshell, when a shipment comes into storage, goods are handled a lot. They must come off a truck, they’re unwrapped, then inspected by warehouse personnel, they’re then rewrapped and put into storage vaults, where they stay for a set period, 30 days, for example. 

“Furniture is not meant to be moved that often. The moving industry has been doing it that way for over 100 years. With Load it Once, now we can fit 15,000 pounds in each container. We take a family’s goods and store them in the container at the original residence, and then we seal the container. We don’t touch those goods again until we deliver them to the new house. This dramatically decreases the likelihood of damaged goods; it’s a much more secure system. It’s also a far more efficient operation on our side. 

“The 15,000 pounds stored in a traditional way would take a full day for four men to offload from the truck and put it into storage. The same process occurs when it comes out of storage. With our system, we can transfer the containers safely in less than 15 minutes. Today, we have 40 Load It Once trucks and 325 containers seamlessly handling 3000 moves a year.”

Driver diligence 

Gary then reflects on the other factors that set Budd Van Lines apart in such a competitive landscape: “Our people and our culture differentiate us. We do whatever we can to make a family comfortable during such a stressful life event. It requires heavy-duty training, both on the customer service side as well as on how to handle goods safely and how to drive safely. 

“The real key, though, is how our drivers seamlessly integrate the whole process for our customers. Every year we receive tons of letters from clients telling us how our drivers became a part of the family during the move. We’ve actually had drivers who have been invited to Holiday dinners. Moving is such a stressful event; if you have the right person in front of a customer, they really form a bond and transform the whole experience.” 

As the company approaches its 50th anniversary, Gary reflects on what has contributed to the firm’s success: “The secret to our longevity, since Dave began, has been our very consistent, high levels of service. For example, for 21 years in a row, our corporate customers have rated us top in the country.” 

Gary then highlights the company’s commitment to sustainability, detailing a new, more environmentally friendly offering the company developed: “We came up with the Eco Crate in 2011. The Eco Crate is used to move artwork, large glass tabletops, mirrors, and flat screen TVs that would have traditionally been transported in wooden crates. We established a method where we wrap paintings in brown paper, and place them carefully in a reusable, corrugated, Eco Crate, which is proven to be just as safe as a wooden crate. It also provides our clients with a 25 percent cost saving over traditional crating.” 

Gary concludes with a look forward to the company’s ambitions for the coming years: “We’ll be seeking continued growth. We have our eyes on a number of strategic locations earmarked for expansions. We want to get into the Pacific Northwest, for example. We will also be expanding certain sectors; for example, we will be doing more commercial moving.”   

www.buddvanlines.com