Driver Paul Seiffert Retires After 56-Year Career:

What makes a truly great moving truck driver, one who stands out in the minds of customers and coworkers alike? Whether it’s personality, experience, luck or a combination of all three, some drivers manage to excel in their field and leave a lasting impression on everyone they meet. For the past five decades, Paul Seiffert has been such a driver. Paul retired in August with 56 years and nearly 2.5 million safe miles under his belt, having won at least 19 company awards and forged many strong connections with others at Wheaton. Paul’s safety record and many awards speak for themselves, but we sat down with him for a more in-depth look at what it’s like to succeed in the moving business for more than half a century.

We started with a simple question: What drove Paul to become a driver in the first place? “Going from 25 cents to 2 dollars an hour,” Paul said without missing a beat. “That was 1962.” Paul accepted an offer to leave behind the job he had worked through high school and begin driving for Move Way in Minneapolis. He graduated on a Friday, and the following Monday, he went to work.

Paul began hauling interstate shipments the following year, driving a Wheaton truck when he headed east and a Lions Van Lines truck when he went west. He was soon contracted to drive another man’s truck out of Las Cruces, N.M. for a year. After frequent good reports on Paul’s professionalism and abilities, Lions offered to buy him his own truck. Amid these negotiations, Paul was informed that a letter had been following him around for the last year. The letter was from his mother: He’d been drafted.

“So that ended buying a truck,” said Paul. “By the time I got home, they had already filled the position. I never was drafted.”

Despite this brief roadblock, Paul stuck with the moving business and continued to make a name for himself as a dependable, personable driver, well-liked and respected by his colleagues and customers.

Fifty-six years is a long time to spend in any business, and Paul has seen countless changes to moving and to Wheaton itself. Speaking of the old days, he said, “If there were two Wheaton drivers in the same area, we were always together. We always knew each other, we always helped each other.” The only recompense for that help was usually being treated to dinner and good conversation. That kind of camaraderie is something Paul would like to see more of among today’s drivers, citing those good relationships as one of the keys to his enduring success.

Another important relationship in Paul’s life is his marriage to his wife, Kay. Paul and Kay celebrated their 52nd anniversary in August. “It cost me a hundred dollars,” Paul joked. “My wife likes lobster.” Because August is such a busy month in the moving industry, this was one of the first times in 40 years that Paul was able to spend his anniversary at home. He credits his long, happy marriage to his wife’s patience and hard work. “She did it all. She raised the kids, took care of everything at home. Special woman,” he said. Paul and Kay had three children: One daughter in 1968, a second daughter in 1970, and a son in 1977 who, sadly, passed away. They enjoy nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and they have another great-grandchild on the way.

Several Wheaton employees have known Paul for decades, and all are eager to praise both his work accomplishments and his everyday kindness. Ken Krabbe, Sr., who has been with the company for many years and who is currently working as a Seasonal Dispatcher, had this to say when asked about Paul: “I’ve known Paul for at least 40 years or more, and he’s been one the best drivers to work with over the years. He’s always easy to get along with, and he hasn’t really changed over all those years. He always loaded and delivered on time, provided excellent service for all his customers… Just a great person and friend.”

“Paul Seiffert has been a top rate, quality mover for this van line for five plus decades,” said Ron Borkowski, Vice President of Operations. “Even more, he is a selfless, unassuming and classy individual. The value he has brought to our company is immeasurable.”

Chairman of the Board, Stephen F. Burns, says he’s grateful for Paul’s many years of friendship as well as his professionalism. “Paul epitomizes what all Wheaton representatives should strive to be. His work ethic is second to none. His honesty and integrity is above reproach. He will be sorely missed, but his image will be indelibly printed in my mind. Thanks, Paul, for all your contributions in the last 50+ years, and thanks for being such a special friend.”

How has Paul made such an impact on so many? He says that the secret to success is being proud of what you do and doing it to the best of your ability. When asked what advice he would give to young drivers, he emphasized thinking before you act and considering the impact that your decisions will have on you, your customers and the company.

It’s also important, Paul said, to understand your customers and adjust your approach accordingly. “I’ve always enjoyed the work… Even though you do the same thing day in and day out, you’ve always got different customers. You handle them differently to get along with them.” He pointed out that some customers are all business, while others respond to joking and friendliness. Being able to tell the difference can help drivers leave a great impression wherever they go.

One of Paul’s favorite stories comes from his early days with Wheaton, when he and a few other young drivers were playing football in the corporate parking lot between moves. They spotted an older man who was walking around nearby, picking up trash on the grounds. One of the drivers pointed out the old man and said, “We’re so lucky to have jobs!” They all assumed that the man was homeless or unemployed.

Paul knew better. “That’s Mr. Earnest Wheaton,” he informed the others.

Aside from being a humorous moment, Paul always appreciated that Wheaton’s founder, Earnest Wheaton, led by example. No task was beneath him. That same kind of humility is immediately evident when talking with Paul, who dodges praise and shies away from the spotlight. Still, we think it’s important to recognize Paul Seiffert and hold him up as an example of how to be the best you can be, both as a driver and as a friend.

Congratulations on your retirement, Paul, and thank you for 56 years of moving people’s lives!

How to Unpack Your Home After a Move—and Minimize Stress!

You’ve spent months planning, packing, and preparing for moving day, and you’re finally able to take a deep breath and assess your new home—only to see rooms filled with boxes that now need to be unpacked. 

Getting your new house in order after a move can be just as daunting as the moving process itself, and Move-Pros is here to help. Below we’ve laid out a few of our favorite tips for making the unpacking process a smoother, less stressful adventure:  

1. First Things First—Start With the Essentials

One of the first boxes loaded into the new house should be the essentials you need to be comfortable while unpacking. These include personal toiletries, cleaning supplies, and any “must-haves” for making it through a couple nights without the rest of your items.

2. Get Your Kitchen Up and Running

Your family needs to eat, and ordering take-out while moving can quickly add up. Get your kitchen in order first to minimize the stress of planning meals. As an added bonus, a put-together kitchen can make everything feel homier instantly!      

3. Set Up Bedrooms and Bathrooms

After your kitchen is good to go, the next step is the bedrooms and bathrooms. Get all the labeled boxes into their correct rooms, and then start with unpacking one area before moving on to the next room of the house.      

4. Plan Out the Room Before Unpacking

When unpacking a house, you don’t want to constantly be moving things around. Before you start on a room, get the furniture arranged and create a plan for how you want it to look. Having a vision of the final outcome in your head while unpacking will help the whole process go more efficiently.      

5. Organize as Your Go

It’s easy to want to hurry through unpacking just to get boxes out of the way, but resist the urge to take shortcuts! If you need to clean, add cabinet liners, or put up shelves, get those projects done first so everything has a place to go and clutter is kept to a minimum.

Getting settled into your new home is an exciting time in anyone’s life, but that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy process! By working with a qualified moving provider like Move-Pros and following the helpful tips and tricks above, you can make your household move a seamless process that gets you back to enjoying your busy life in no time.  

Your Ultimate Summer Packing Playlist:

You’ve set the date, you know your location, and you’ve secured your moving company. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to start figuring out your packing strategy.

Looking around your home and seeing the volume of items you need to pack can be daunting. Thankfully, being proactive and mapping out your strategy early can help. Remember, Gentle Giant also offers packing services, so give us a call if you need an extra hand.

In the meantime, here’s a packing approved playlist to keep you motivated and dancing throughout the process. With a range of genres, you will surely recognize some of these tunes!

1. “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” – Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles
2. “Beautiful Day” – U2
3. “My House” – Flo Rida
4. “Wide Open Spaces” – Dixie Chicks
5. “Cruise” – Florida Georgia Line
6. “Can’t Stop the Feeling” – Justin Timberlake
7. “Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore
8. “Sing” – Ed Sheeran
9. “Move Along” – All American Rejects
10. “Riptide” – Vance Joy
11. “Keep Your Head Up” – Andy Grammer
12. “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
13. “All Star” – Smash Mouth
14. “Something Big” – Shawn Mendes
15. “Renegades” – X Ambassadors
16. “Best Day of My Life” – American Authors
17. “Bye Bye Bye” – *NSYNC
18. “Fight Song” – Rachel Platten
19. “I Like To Move It” – will.i.am
20. “Moves Like Jagger” – Maroon 5

What song would you add to our list? Tweet to us @gentlegiantmove with your suggestions – we’d love to hear them!

Choosing the Right Office Movers:

A relocation is a complex process for an office of any size and significance. If you’re relocating to another section of the building, you still have to fight with coworkers and lift heavy boxes the whole way through. Save the time and effort of moving when you hire relocation services. Find the right office movers to plan, pack and move an office according to your terms.

Check the Experience

Find an office moving company that has helped clients in your line of business. Read customer reviews to see if they’ve worked with companies like yours.

Review the Services

Match the company’s services to your specific moving needs. Avoid looking for a long list of services because you may only need a few. Look for expedited services if you expect a last-minute move, and look for an account manager to help with a large, long-distance move.

Request Moving Quotes

A lot of people don’t consider the task of quoting a move. Instead, they look at general price ranges on the mover’s website and guess how much their move will cost. Every move is different in regards to the moving distance, the amount of weight and the number of items being moved. Even after the quote is made, the costs are not final. Some moves include unexpected charges for excess weight or last-minute packing. During the move, you could run into several problems like lost items or route diversions.

Everyone with a similar moving situation gets a different quote. The quote helps you to realize that moving is more expensive or more affordable than you thought. Overall, find a company that is honest and upfront about their service costs.

Many business owners come up with many excuses as to why they don’t use office movers. They claim that they don’t want to deal with incompetent movers; however, they hire inexperienced employees to handle the move. They think that finding a mover is time-consuming, but they don’t realize that office movers provide expedited services. No matter what type of office move it is, there are companies willing to ease the burden on your office workers.

FILED UNDER: OFFICE MOVING TAGGED WITH: OFFICE MOVE, OFFICE MOVERS, OFFICE MOVING COMPANIES, OFFICE MOVING COMPANY, OFFICE MOVING SERVICE, OFFICE MOVING SERVICES

Speak Your Mind

LOCAL MOVER IN SAN JOSE, CA:

Are you moving within a 100 mile radius of our location in San Jose, CA? Our local moving service is perfect for you!

You’ve found a new home and you and your family are excited to get started in a new neighborhood. First, you have to go through the endless labor of planning your move and carrying all of your belongings to your new address. Speedee Movers can do the work for you so you can relax.

We offer local moving services in San Jose. Our experienced and professional local movers will handle your belongings with care. We work quickly and diligently to get the job done.

Professional movers you can trust!

The basic cost of your local move is determined by the number of movers, the time it takes to load and unload your belongings, and the time it takes to drive between your old and new residences. Trust our professional movers to get you to your new destination!

Our moving services include:

• Door to door service
• Loading and unloading
• FREE - Industrial strength blankets, wrapping paper, and tape
• FREE - Use of wardrobe boxes
• FREE - Basic insurance of 60 cents per pound
• Disassembling and reassembling of your furniture
• No Booking fee or deposit required
• FREE - Taxes, tolls and mileage
• NO EXTRA CHARGE for using any stairs and/or elevator
• Guaranteed move dates
• Time starts at your door

Speedee Movers will also match or beat any reasonable quote from any insured and licensed reputable moving company!

Our local movers are available within a 100 mile radius of San Jose, CA. Call us today to talk to our professional movers and get started on a hassle-free move!

Check out all of our moving services!

• Local moves
• Long distance
• Commercial moves
• Packaging services
• Storage rentals
• Back to main moving services page

Supreme Court Allows Partial Travel Ban to Take Effect:

Worldwide ERC just issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to allow a partial travel ban to take effect.

Arlington, VA— On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order to allow the implementation of parts of an executive order signed by President Trump to temporarily suspend foreign nationals from six countries from entering the U.S. Based on the facts of the case, the Court formed a distinction between nationals who have “a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” and all other foreign nationals. The Court upheld the suspension of the ban for foreign nationals who have such a relationship, including individuals employed by a company in the U.S.

In its order, the Court did not rule on the legality of the executive order and stated the Court will hear arguments when it convenes for the October Term 2017. In the meantime, the Trump Administration may suspend from entering the U.S. those foreign nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who do not have a relationship with a person or entity in the U.S. The suspension may also apply to the admission of refugees from the six countries.

The President issued the revised Executive Order (No. 13780), Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States, on March 6 in response to courts halting implementation of his initial Executive Order (No. 13769) on the travel suspension. In his revised order, the President made several changes to the initial order including exempting green card holders. Both orders had an effective period of 90 days for foreign nationals and 120 days for refugees. The Administration could put the partial suspension into place beginning on June 29.

Key Reference for the Workforce Mobility Industry

While the revised executive order had exempted foreign nationals with green cards and visas, the Supreme Court order cites as an example the travel suspension should not apply to those foreign nationals who have “accepted an offer of employment by a U.S. company.”

Want to know more about International Relocation Policy Best Practices?

5 Reasons for Air Duct Cleaning:

By removing contaminants from a home’s air duct system, the effects of dust and mold are greatly reduced. Clean, healthy, circulating air is a must for those sensitive to indoor air contaminants, especially with allergies being at an all-time high in America. It is not unusual for a person to realize immediate relief upon completing a cleaning of a home’s HVAC ductwork.

Here are the top five reasons air ducts should be inspected and serviced:

1. Allergies. By properly cleaning their air duct system homeowners protect their families from harmful dust and other contaminants. Air ducts provide an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, mold, fungi, and other allergens.  Children under the age of four are particularly vulnerable and the result may be allergies or asthma.  Seattle Healthy Projects reports, “New research indicates if children do not come into contact with asthma triggers between birth and four years old they may never develop asthma.”

2. Mold.  Many air duct systems are located in a home’s basement.  Most have had a wet, damp, or flooded basement in the past. This moisture may cause mold and mildew to grow in and around the ductwork.  An anti-microbial should be fogged into the system after the cleaning to prevent future growth.

3. Pets.  Animal fur gets trapped in the vents and builds up living germs, fungus, and allergy-causing bacteria. Pet dander will still exist from a previous owner and will cause reactions for people with allergies. The fur and dander can also hinder the efficiency of the HVAC system. Clumps of hair will slow down the airflow for the entire system.

4. Dust.  New homeowners may do constant dusting only to find the dust back the very next day. The reason is the dust continues to flow through the house and ductwork until it is properly cleaned.  Homes built today will have drywall dust and construction debris in the ductwork before the owner even moves in.

5. Efficiency.  Years of dust, hair, pests, and other pollutants in ductwork will hinder an HVAC system’s airflow.  A proper cleaning will help remove the buildup and promote the proper airflow needed to run the system at peak efficiency. The spiders, insects, and rodents that have been living and dying in ducts for years will be cleaned out as well from a thorough cleaning.

When dirt and debris are removed from ductwork, the fans and motors that power a furnace no longer need to work as hard to distribute air. Advising people to routinely get their air ducts inspected and serviced is important. Not only does this properly maintain a home, but it keeps the quality of indoor air as pure as possible.