American Moving & Storage Association
Encyclopedia
The American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) is the non-profit
trade association
representing members of the professional moving industry
based primarily in the United States
. Its 3,500 members consist of van lines, their agents, independent movers, forwarders
, industry suppliers, and certain individuals and organizations (AMSA does not represent the self-storage
industry).
AMSA administers the industry’s ProMover quality certification program, aimed at consumers. It offers its members professional training and certification and provides them with federal government representation
, statistical industry reporting, arbitration services for loss or damage claims, safety and compliance guidance, federal government rate filing, professional conferences, public relations, and publications. It publishes a bimonthly magazine, Direction, and a quarterly data summary, Industry Trends.
Based in Alexandria, Virginia
, AMSA is affiliated with 27 state moving associations and several international moving associations. Its Moving & Storage Institute, founded in 2001, sponsors industry research and scholarships.
The NMSA, the first national U.S. trade association for movers, was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1920 as the National Furniture Warehousemen’s Association. In 1935, the Household Goods Movers’ Group of the American Trucking Association was formed as a separate trade organization, changing its name in 1962 to the American Movers Conference. The HGCB was established in 1936 to help carriers comply with the Motor Carrier Act of 1935
. In 1994, the AMC and the HGCB merged; and in 1998, the AMC and the NMSA merged to form AMSA.
for households and businesses; crating and transportation for sensitive freight including trade show displays
, electronics, scientific and medical equipment, privately-owned automobiles
, fine art
, and equipment for college and professional sports teams; and increasingly, portable on-demand storage and records storage and management
. Specialized services may include climate-controlled storage for items such as furs, wine, film
, rugs, art, magnetic tape
, and documents. Many AMSA members engage in supply chain warehousing
.
Members also handle national and international employee relocation
and personal property
moves for the private sector
and U.S. government agencies such as the State Department (through the General Services Administration
) as well as for active duty
U.S. military personnel (Department of Defense
business represents the industry's largest single customer). AMSA has hosted GSA's Household Goods and Freight Forum at its annual conference since 2008.
Members engaged in moving must abide by an ethical code of conduct and comply with state, or for interstate moves, federal transportation safety and consumer protection regulations.
Membership is also open to industry affiliates (companies which provide specialized services or products, work collaboratively with industry businesses, use industry services, or whose own clientele is involved in or impacted by the move process); individuals (industry employees, van operators, and others whose work is impacted by the moving and storage sector); and professional and trade associations, including state, regional, national and international moving associations and related industry professional organizations.
(FMCSA), and agree to abide by ethical standards such as honesty in advertising and in business transactions with customers. Each ProMover also signs a contract to commit to adhere to applicable Surface Transportation Board
and FMSCA regulations. AMSA also examines company ownership and registration with state corporation commissions, and the mover must maintain at least a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau
. Those that pass are authorized to display the ProMover logo on their websites and in marketing materials; those that fail are expelled from the program (and from AMSA) if they cannot correct discrepancies during a probationary period.
In October 2010, AMSA began a two-year pilot program with the California Moving & Storage Association, the first time ProMover certification was made available to qualified movers operating only within a state.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
trade association
Industry trade group
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
representing members of the professional moving industry
Moving company
A moving company, removalist, or van line is a company that helps people and businesses relocate their goods from one place to another. Typically they use moving vans, but for international moves or where storage is required, they may use special containerised vans or shipping containers.National...
based primarily in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its 3,500 members consist of van lines, their agents, independent movers, forwarders
Freight forwarder
A freight forwarder, forwarder, or forwarding agent is a person or company that organizes shipments for individuals or other companies and may also act as a carrier...
, industry suppliers, and certain individuals and organizations (AMSA does not represent the self-storage
Self storage
Self storage is an industry in which storage space is rented to tenants, usually on a monthly basis. A self storage business provides rooms, lockers, containers, and/or outdoor space in which tenants can store and access their goods. Self storage tenants include businesses and individuals...
industry).
AMSA administers the industry’s ProMover quality certification program, aimed at consumers. It offers its members professional training and certification and provides them with federal government representation
Lobbying in the United States
Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the courts. Lobby...
, statistical industry reporting, arbitration services for loss or damage claims, safety and compliance guidance, federal government rate filing, professional conferences, public relations, and publications. It publishes a bimonthly magazine, Direction, and a quarterly data summary, Industry Trends.
Based in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, AMSA is affiliated with 27 state moving associations and several international moving associations. Its Moving & Storage Institute, founded in 2001, sponsors industry research and scholarships.
History
AMSA is the result of three predecessors merging over time: the National Moving & Storage Association (NMSA), the American Movers Conference (AMC), and the Household Goods Carriers’ Bureau (HGCB).The NMSA, the first national U.S. trade association for movers, was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1920 as the National Furniture Warehousemen’s Association. In 1935, the Household Goods Movers’ Group of the American Trucking Association was formed as a separate trade organization, changing its name in 1962 to the American Movers Conference. The HGCB was established in 1936 to help carriers comply with the Motor Carrier Act of 1935
Motor Carrier Act
Motor Carrier Act may refer to:* Motor Carrier Act of 1935, an amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act that regulated bus lines and airlines as public utilities* Motor Carrier Act of 1980, a law that deregulated the trucking industry...
. In 1994, the AMC and the HGCB merged; and in 1998, the AMC and the NMSA merged to form AMSA.
Membership
Member companies include local, national and international firms and their suppliers offering moving and associated storage servicesWarehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
for households and businesses; crating and transportation for sensitive freight including trade show displays
Trade show displays
A trade show display normally describes a graphic display device designed to be used at a trade fair or trade show. These displays typically consist of some type of wall surface which can be a graphic image or a velcro compatible fabric surface on which a wide variety of graphic images printed on...
, electronics, scientific and medical equipment, privately-owned automobiles
Classic car
A classic car is an older car; the exact meaning is variable. The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic, while cars over 45 years fall into the Antique Class.- Classic Car Club of America :...
, fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
, and equipment for college and professional sports teams; and increasingly, portable on-demand storage and records storage and management
Records management
Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal...
. Specialized services may include climate-controlled storage for items such as furs, wine, film
Film stock
Film stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
, rugs, art, magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
, and documents. Many AMSA members engage in supply chain warehousing
Warehouse management system
A warehouse management system, or WMS, is a key part of the supply chain and primarily aims to control the movement and storage of materials within a warehouse and process the associated transactions, including shipping, receiving, putaway and picking...
.
Members also handle national and international employee relocation
Relocation services
Relocation services or employee relocation include a range of internal business processes to transfer employees, their families, and/or entire departments of a business to a new location. Like other types of employee benefits, these processes are usually administered by human resources specialists...
and personal property
Personal property
Personal property, roughly speaking, is private property that is moveable, as opposed to real property or real estate. In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In the civil law systems personal property is often called movable property or movables - any...
moves for the private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
and U.S. government agencies such as the State Department (through the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
) as well as for active duty
Active duty
Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...
U.S. military personnel (Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
business represents the industry's largest single customer). AMSA has hosted GSA's Household Goods and Freight Forum at its annual conference since 2008.
Members engaged in moving must abide by an ethical code of conduct and comply with state, or for interstate moves, federal transportation safety and consumer protection regulations.
Membership is also open to industry affiliates (companies which provide specialized services or products, work collaboratively with industry businesses, use industry services, or whose own clientele is involved in or impacted by the move process); individuals (industry employees, van operators, and others whose work is impacted by the moving and storage sector); and professional and trade associations, including state, regional, national and international moving associations and related industry professional organizations.
ProMover program
In January 2008, to help consumers avoid unscrupulous or illegitimate movers (many proliferating on the Internet), AMSA created the ProMover certification program for its members that have federal interstate operating authority. Such members must pass an annual criminal background check, be licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety AdministrationFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration , established January 1, 2000, regulates the trucking industry in the United States. FMCSA is headquartered in Washington, DC and employs more than 1,000 people in all 50 States and the District of Columbia...
(FMCSA), and agree to abide by ethical standards such as honesty in advertising and in business transactions with customers. Each ProMover also signs a contract to commit to adhere to applicable Surface Transportation Board
Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board of the United States is a bipartisan, decisionally-independent adjudicatory body organizationally housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The STB was established in 1996 to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the...
and FMSCA regulations. AMSA also examines company ownership and registration with state corporation commissions, and the mover must maintain at least a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...
. Those that pass are authorized to display the ProMover logo on their websites and in marketing materials; those that fail are expelled from the program (and from AMSA) if they cannot correct discrepancies during a probationary period.
In October 2010, AMSA began a two-year pilot program with the California Moving & Storage Association, the first time ProMover certification was made available to qualified movers operating only within a state.