What do Jack Vickers and Nick Saban have in common? 

Both drive University of Alabama Football.  In Jack’s case, he literally drives the Coleman Allied University of Alabama Football Trailer and has for the past six years.

When he’s not travelling with the team to each away game, the Coleman American Moving Services driver has maintained the trailer with a busy 2011 schedule before even nearing the smell of SEC tailgating, fall weather, and the snap and crackle of pads and helmets colliding.  Thus far this year, Jack has been to Orlando for the 2011 Capital One Bowl, has helped put a unifying face towards Tornado relief efforts, and has maintained his duties at Coleman American Moving Services Midland City, AL headquarters.

For anyone who is a fan of our Coleman American Moving Services Facebook Fan Page, may have seen this post from one of Coleman’s corporate employees  pop up a couple of days ago: 

Jack was able to play a huge role in Jarvis’s life as Coleman American Moving Services supported the Kid’s Wish Network by giving Jarvis a memorable road trip and a truck large enough to hold the contents of his big shopping spree.  Wiregrass Area CBS Affiliate, WTVY News 4 has a video below detailing Jarvis’s journey followed with some pictures that were taken during Jarvis’s big day:

The moving company has left, you have unpacked, but there’s a pile of cardboard boxes taking up space in the garage. Your first thought might be to take them to a recycle center, which is an option, but cardboard takes a lot of energy to recycle. It is better when the boxes can be reused.

1.    Give boxes to a charity. Local food pantries often need cardboard boxes to transport food. Be generous and offer to deliver them.

2.    Post your boxes on a moving company’s message boards. These are public forums where you can either sell or give away your boxes. List the number of boxes you have, the approximate sizes, and the cost per box. Or you could offer one price for all your boxes.

3.    Some moving companies offer drop-off and pick-up locations for boxes. This is a free service meant to swap favors between movers. But be sure to down your boxes and bundle similar sizes to make transporting them easier.

4.    Give your boxes away on Craiglist.org. Under “for sale” there is a “free” tab.  Just make an ad with the number and type of boxes you have and arrange to be available for pick-up.

5.    Sell your boxes on BoxQuest.com or BoxCycle.com. These sites help the environment by making sure gently used boxes get reused. You simply sign up, fill in the blanks to create your ad, and the website will help you find a buyer. They advertise for you and deal with collecting the payment. You just make yourself available for the pickup.

Feel good about making sure your boxes are being reused. When you recycle you are contributing to a healthy environment!

On April 27, 2011, tragedy struck close to home for many as tornadoes ravaged its way across the south.  Of that devestation, none appeared to be harder hit than Central and North Alabama especially around the areas of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Cullman, and other smaller surrounding areas. This natural disaster prompted President Barack Obama to tour the damage less than 48 hours later where he would state that, "I've never seen devastation like this." Since that time, the outpouring of help from within the state and all over the country has been overwhelming.

Below, there is a brief announcement attached detailing some of Coleman Allied's support followed by photos of donated goods that filled the University of Alabama Trailer. This is one example of the assistance provided by this moving company, as our Virginia-area locations are also helping assist with the relief efforts for victims in Gloucaster, Va.

The City of Dothan and Houston County set up a centralized drop off point for the collection of items requested by the Alabama Emergency Management Agency for tornado relief efforts in North Alabama.

At a press conference Monday, Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz, Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver, Dothan Fire Department Public Information Officer Chris Etheridge and other city and county officials announced that the Westgate Fire Station at 401 Westgate Parkway would be the main drop off point for items requested by the state EMA to help those affected by the deadly tornadoes that recently rampaged through North Alabama.

Coleman American Moving Services donated their 53 ft. custom wrapped Alabama football trailer to collect and haul these needed items to Tuscaloosa. The truck is now loaded and on it's way to Tuscaloosa.

Our thanks go out to everyone who has helped and plans to help with the relief efforts.

More people move during the summer months between May and August than any other time of the year. The kids are out of school, the weather is warm and beautiful, and many front yards become decorated with for sale signs. While the summer roads are increased with moving traffic, it’s important for a consumer that their goods are relocated in a safe, timely, and efficient fashion. Therefore, twice a year, Allied Van Lines Quality Committee meets and discusses the year, the industry, and ways to improve quality across the Allied Van Lines network. This committee consists of senior Allied management and members of various agents in the Allied network. This year, the committee met at Coleman American Moving Services Houston, TX location to prepare for the National Moving Month in May and the upcoming summer moving season. The topics of the meeting varied across the spectrum with issues such as:

· Claims and revenue processing

· Quality management and quality performance reviews

· Allied’s Certified Labor Program (This program requires that all labor has a background check ran on an individual basis to ensure that quality help is being placed in each home).

· Allied’s Better Together Platform (This program encourages teamwork between the Allied’s agents).

· Q&A session on improving quality.

For Allied Van Lines and Coleman American Moving Services, these bi-annual meetings are crucial in terms of sharing communication with both Allied management and other members of Allied’s vast agent network. Quality and consumer satisfaction are two staples of the Allied brand which is highlighted via Allied’s website here. Understanding how to improve quality is important in order to keep customer satisfaction with the services of Coleman American Moving Services running high and allow for more satisfactory letters like the one below to be sent.

            When planning or completing a move, you fully appreciate the amount of work and time that goes into getting and keeping a house in order.  From beginning the moving process by scheduling a free in-home estimate all the way through unpacking and situating your belongings while learning the layout of a new city, there’s an increased amount of stress that goes with this change.  Due to this stress, some families may choose to use part of their leftover budget by upgrading on various electronic devices.  Coleman American Moving Services, an agent for Allied Van Lines, would like to provide you with some basic tips when purchasing and transitioning into new devices or electronics starting with buying a new computer.

·        Research and Understand Your Needs:
We all buy computers for varying reasons; therefore, understanding your specific needs remains important when deciding what the proper specifications and cost one should associate with a purchase.  For example, someone who wants to build a computer for gaming is going to spend upwards of four times the amount that someone who is just using their system email, web browsing, and word processing.

·        Think about Longevity:
The old adage “you get what you pay for” is especially true when buying a computer. When buying a laptop, try to buy with the intent of having technology that will at least hold up for three years. When buying a desktop pc, know what can be upgraded in the system down the line in order to insure overall longevity.  Normally, understanding video card upgrades and the maximum RAM the computer’s motherboard can hold are great places to start.

·        BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!
Depending on the amount of files, photos, music, and other media you plan on transferring, the choices for storage may vary between DVD-R/+R, USB Thumb Drives, or better yet an external USB Hard Drive.  USB Hard Drives are also useful for backing up all data in case the unthinkable happens.  This great lifehacker article provides one possibility for utilizing backups. For you online shoppers in search of a solid USB Hard Drive, Newegg has a great variety and user-based reviews to help you make an educated decision.

·        Viruses are BAD!
A consequence to the digital age is that the internet is under constant attack, therefore, making security that much more important.  Nowadays, many computers come preinstalled with six months to a year of a security suite.  If the computer you have in mind provides this amenity, then this step doesn’t apply to you as long as you keep it updated and realize that switching to another suite can be quite burdensome. For those that weren’t afforded this luxury, DO YOUR RESEARCH! A solid review site such as the one on CNET can provide you with expert advice on the various software packages that exist.  However, the best advice is to not skimp on features. Antivirus, Spyware, and Adware prevention is an absolute must when considering protection, and most packages that cost around $60-$80 a year will provide you with these features as well as additional firewall protection and offsite data storage.

These simple steps should start you on your way to make an educated post moving computer upgrade!

                Small towns and cities all across the United States hold little events year after year that honor their heritage.  On Thursday, we highlighted one of these more well-known events with Savannah, Georgia’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.  However, there are many other events that honor many staples of small American culture through parades, fairs, pageants, races etc. Plant City, Fl celebrates this tradition with its annual Florida Strawberry Festival and describes this notion beautifully on its website when it states, “The fabric of American life is woven into the Festival through social events, contests, youth developmental programs, top-name entertainment, and parades with glorious floats and high-stepping marching bands.”

                Coleman American Moving Services, a Tampa Mover, was proud to sponsor a float in this year’s Plant City, Fl Strawberry Festival parade and witnessed a community have ten days of exciting events.  As a moving company in Florida, Coleman American was delighted to take some time away from the day to day activities of the moving business and offer a helping hand by participating in this great community event.

Below are some of the photos of the float while on the parade trail during a beautiful day in Central Florida:

Those who heavily follow college football know that yesterday was one of the last major days of the football year before everything slows down until kick off in September.  Yes, yesterday was National Signing Day, and the University of Alabama had another banner year in recruiting to which we here at Coleman American Moving Services offer a huge ROLL TIDE!  However, it was just a month ago that the University of Alabama Football Team and Coach Nick Saban made the New Years Day journey down to Orlando, Fl to play the Michigan State Spartans.  With being the official moving company for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team, we decided to take a short video of the Alabama truck sitting outside the Citrus Bowl in Orlando along with a unique take of Green Day’s hit tune Basket Case by The Million Dollar Band.  Enjoy!

Last week, Allied Van Lines released its 43rd Annual Magnet States Report which tracks inbound and outbound traffic amongst US States.  This report revealed a continuing trend for the great state of Texas, which has received higher net gains from people moving into the state as opposed to outside of the state.  These numbers were staggering as Texas had 5,617 shipments moving into the state as opposed to 3,977 that were leaving the state.  These results coincide with the numbers that Texas metropolitan areas are seeing increased rankings as the largest in the nation with Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin all ranked amongst the top 35 metropolitan areas in the United States.  Whether coming or going, Coleman American Moving Companies would like to be your Texas Moving Company of Choice.  We feature six agents in the Lonestar State who look forward to providing you the best service possible.  If 2011 is the year you're looking to move deep into the heart of Texas, please check back here for our weekly series highlighting points and areas of interest for anyone new to the Houston, Dallas, FT. Worth, Belton, Austin, Corpus Christi, San Antonio or El Paso areas!