From a Dream to Reality: Al Taylor's Journey with Taylor Moving & Storage - A Canadian Saga of Triumph and Endless Opportunity! (Part 1)

Jack August 11, 2023 News

In the burgeoning heartbeat of post-war Canada, where optimism and opportunity bloomed like wildflowers across the landscape, the inspiring story of Al Taylor and the inception and rise of Taylor Moving & Storage emerged. This tale is more than a simple business success; it is emblematic of the very soul of a country and an era, intertwining with the broader societal themes that coursed through the veins of Southwestern Ontario in the mid-50s to late 60s.

As Canada stood on the precipice of unprecedented growth, the words of Al Taylor, a mere 19-year-old #entrepreneur, would resonate with an entire generation: “We had nothing but a dream, a truck and time. I started by hitting the ground running.” With these humble words, a local titan was born, taking its first steps as Taylor Transfer before growing into the company we know today. Al's journey began much earlier, filled with tenacity, relentless work, and youthful determination.

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Coronavirus Statement Taylor Moving and Storage

Rick Taylor March 17, 2020 Resources, Press Release, News

The coronavirus and our reaction to it remains a fluid situation, however we at Taylor Moving and Storage have taken the following steps:

  1. We have ensured that each common area in our facility is disinfected each morning before employee's arrive.
  2. We have provided each employee with disinfectant to wipe down their truck each morning before driving.
  3. We have staggered our crew start times to ensure no large gatherings are happening in the am.
  4. We have asked each employee to wash their hands at each break (including lunch)
  5. We have asked each employee to have no body contact with other employees or customers. (no shaking of hands)

Taylor Moving has mandated that any employee who has any symptoms at all (e.g-cough, runny nose ,fever ) no matter how light to get tested immediately. Taylor will provide the employee's normal days wages during this testing day and will allow the employee back with a negative test result. Obviously any positive test result will need a manadtory 14 day quarrantine.

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Taylor Wins Prestigious Cartus Relocation Platinum Award

Rick Taylor November 28, 2018 Press Release, News, Overseas Moving

Taylor Wins Prestigious Cartus Relocation  Platinum Award

Cartus manages all the aspects of a corporate employee relocation including expense management, real estate transactions, travel, visa management and of course moving and storage. With over 100,000 relocations per year it is the largest customer of moving services in the world.

Each provider within their supply chain is closely monitored based on the employee satisfaction reports received. Each supplier is given a quality report rating based on these.

Taylor Moving was truly humbled to be presented their highest level of service excellance,Platinum, while at their annual conference in Seattle Washington this fall. Only eight other companies from their well over 200 worldwide mover network were so honored.

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Taylor Moving and Storage Wins Business Excellence Award

Rick Taylor April 9, 2018 Resources, Press Release, Events

Taylor Moving and Storage Wins Business Excellence Award

Taylor Moving was selected for this award from approximately 90 approached firms in the City of Burlington.

According to the Chamber, award nominations are based on business excellence in leadership, community contributions, entrepeneurship, enviroment, employee welfare, innovation and market growth.

As one of the two finalists we were thrilled to be presented the award during the black tie Burlington Business Awards Gala presented by RBC on April 5th 2018.

We do thank the Chamber but most of all our team of employees for making this possible.

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Driverless trucks?

Rick Taylor March 23, 2018 Resources, Press Release, Events

Driverless trucks?

Labour costs make up roughly 50% of a transportation companies total cost of operation. Coupled with a severly aging long haul driver pool ( the average age of a long haul driver will approach 50 by 2024) makes this an industry in dire need of change.

Sooner than we think,however, remote and driverless trucks are coming our way.

We were reminded of this recently when one of drivers met with Peter and Howard, owners of Sigma Intergrale while in California. (pictured in the photo, website www.sigmaintegrale.com)

The pictured truck is a fully functional remote controlled vehicle and has been tested on live roads throughout California.

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US Tax Reform and Employee Relocation

Rick Taylor February 23, 2018 Press Release, News, Oakville

With this new tax bill, relocation expenses will be deemed a taxable benefit to the employee even if the various costs are paid by the corporation.

Likewise, a person moving to a new job location who is paying for the move themselves will not be able to claim relocation expenses on their personal taxes.

These changes could have a large impact to the relocation industry as it will drive up costs as the corporation will probably "gross up" an employee's income to pay for the tax consequences of their relocation.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the amount of employee relocations per year or if the corporation reduces other relocation benefits to reduce their costs.

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Small Things Matter

Rick Taylor February 1, 2018 Events, News, Hamilton

Small Things Matter

When you get a chance to see volunteers in action it really reminds you how many great people there are in our community.

We were delighted to be able to donate the boxes needed and moving assistance during the holiday season.

Their work made such a difference to so many in need and I would urge you to look at their website to see if you could help as well.

https://www.hamiltonbasketbrigade.com/

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Things to Keep While in Transit

Rick Taylor November 1, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Things to Keep While in Transit

According to Harvard Medical School, two of the most common causes of forgetfulness are lack of sleep and stress and anxiety.

Unfortunately, both of these factors are often present when you are planning international moves that will take you far from your comfort zone and the support systems of your friends and family.

Some things can be forgotten with nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

But at Taylor International Movers, we know how devastating it can be if certain key things are forgotten. They can derail your move, cause endless delays and make stress unbearable.

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Quality Does Matter

Rick Taylor October 20, 2016 Press Release, News, International Moving

Quality Does Matter

For Immediate Release

Taylor Moving & Storage Ltd. , a Burlington, Ont. based moving service for private and corporate clients, received two prestigious awards for its excellence in service at two recent industry conferences.

At an awards ceremony held as part of the Brookfield Supplier Partner Forum, the Ontario firm received the Platinum Award for service excellence for receiving a cumulative transferee satisfaction rating in 2015 of 100 percent.

They were one of only two Canadian firms to be honored at the event which attracts relocation industry specialists, real estate professionals and service providers from around the world.

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How to select the mover who is best for you

Rick Taylor October 17, 2016 Resources, Press Release, Events

How to select the mover who is best for you

Moving under any circumstances is stressful, but when you are uprooting yourself and your family and heading to another country, that stress is multiplied times 10.

You can ease a lot of that anxiety by ensuring that you select the mover who is best for you.

If your move is to another country, it is particularly important that you select a company such as Taylor International Moving that has experience in shipping goods across global entry points.

The best mover for you will also have established excellent relationships with points of contact along the way.

How will your goods be tracked?

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Conquering the five most common fears about moving

Rick Taylor October 4, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Conquering the five most common fears about moving

Next to the illness and death of a family member or the dissolution of a marriage or long-term partnership, moving is right up there on the stressors that cause most people sleepless nights and daytime attacks of angst.

By knowing that this fear is normal, that it impacts everyone, and that it will pass with coping strategies, you can alleviate it and take further steps to keep it at bay.

Here are five of the most common specific fears associated with moving and strategies to help you deal with them if they threaten your plans:

  1. Anxiety of the unknown – Sooner or later even the freest of human spirits feels the sturdy grasp of the status quo. It is the force that fills our brains with thoughts that what we are doing is ill-conceived, that we will fail, that we are hurting others by pursuing our own dreams, and that we are making a big mistake to move. It pushes us firmly to accept inertia as the compelling force of our lives.

Strategy for coping with anxiety of the unknown – Practice the lost art of self-compassion. Tell yourself you have come this far in life by having the courage to pursue your goals and dreams, and that you cannot stop now. Remind yourself that love and caring has no borders; it is not contained in a box that you move, but will escape and fly back and forth at will and stay alive if you let it. There is no failure, except in missed opportunities in life. The great thing about roads to new places is that while they go forward, they also go backwards, and returning is always an option. You deserve to explore this wide and wonderful world.

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Biggest Mistakes That Will Hinder the Success of Your Move

Rick Taylor September 23, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Biggest Mistakes That Will Hinder the Success of Your Move

According to the Canadian Census Bureau, about three million Canadians live beyond the borders of their country on any given year.

Many of them are away temporarily, often for work or study reasons, or to volunteer or spend a portion of their retirement years in a new environment.

At some stage of the process, all of them had to ensure that their personal belongings were packed and moved internationally.

If they are students on a short-term program, they will travel by air with one or two suitcases in tow, and the process will be relatively uncomplicated.

But for those who embark on long work terms that may even require indefinite stays, it is common that a condition of accepting the transfer is a budget to cover moving household and personal objects to their new home.

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The 5 Most Common Issues In the Moving Industry In The Summer

Rick Taylor June 3, 2016 Resources, Press Release, Events

The 5 Most Common Issues In the Moving Industry In The Summer

The moving industry is not a commodity. It is not as simple as just ordering more trucks to fill the 100% increase in business that movers will experience during the months of June, July and August.

I thought I would share the 5 areas where the moving industry as a whole tends to "fall down" during these peak months and the issues that arise beacuse of it.

1)Taking On More Work Than They Can Do:

Many movers will look to do a move that they know they will have trouble handling but do so because it is priced so well. By ignoring their own capacity or the "black out" date of their respected Van Line, they will create an enviroment that is putting all of their clients at significant risk. Extremely long transit times and/or having an inexperienced crew handle the move will create service delivery issues to their clients. In other words, it's short term "greed" knowing that they have little hope of delivering what is promised.

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Summer Capacity In The Moving Business

Rick Taylor May 30, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Throughout these summer months the moving industry will witness over a 100% increase in business than our normal fall/winter and spring monthly averages. It is just not possible to hire professional movers for just 3 months to fill the need let alone the equipment needed. As a result, professional movers will experience many days where they simply can't provide service to a client who has booked their move late in the process.

We at Taylor Moving try our very best not to overbook beyond our safe capacity. We do not want to do a move simply to generate revenue knowing that there is a high risk of it not being up to our standards.

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The HST and Moving Expenses

Rick Taylor May 3, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

When an employee gets transferred within Canada the corporation can either choose to pay the move directly or simply give the employee a cash amount (i.e lump sum payment) and let them make the arrangements themselves.

One thing that should play a role in what to do is the effect of the HST on this choice.

Household goods can be a significant part of the overall relocation expense. It is not uncommon for a full household moving across the country to have an overall bill of $10,000 to $25,000.

Take for example an employee moving from Vancouver, BC to Toronto, Ontario. With cars, storage etc. lets assume a bill of $20,000. As the move is coming to Ontario the HST of 13% would equate to a cost of $2600.00.

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Cross Border Moving Options

Rick Taylor April 14, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Cross border moving can be tricky. A Canadian driver is not alowed to inter state in the United States (i.e move household goods within the United States) and an American driver cannot move someone domesticly within Canada. This means that they cannot pick up further customers when they are delivering/loading unless they have a customer that is also moving cross border as well. Since van line tariff's operate under a "full load" basis this means the driver has to wait longer and/or have many empty miles to fill out his truck. This leads to a much longer transit time for the customer in most cases.

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Helping Syrian Refugee's

Rick Taylor February 25, 2016 Resources, News, Local Moving

Appleby Coillege, a private school located in Oakville Ontario, pooled rsources from several firms to help sponsor a Syrian refugee family to Canada. Appleby arranged an apartment and furnishings to the new comers to Canada.

At the last minute they realized they had now way of moving the furniture into the 3 bedroom apartment even though they were scheduled to arrive in 3 days!

I am glad they called us. We sent our crew out to get this done and of course did so at no charge. We felt this is exactly the sort of initiative we want to be part of.

We have found the goodwill it creates with our community and within our staff offers real value to our firm. Even small business' like ours can be active and help in important ways.

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Retirement is Changing

Rick Taylor February 9, 2016 Resources, Press Release, News

Retirement at 65? That may be the way the world worked 30 years ago but in todays world, with people living longer and healthier lifestyles, we believe that this will be the exception and not the rule.

Taylor Moving and Storage actively recruits mature people. From sales, packing and our international services we have found that there lies a large untapped resource that greatly enhances our quality.

Many older workers don't want to work 50 hours a week but do want to continue being busy and to supplement their incomes. By being flexible, we are able to position these employee's to add additional depth to our staff. Their flexible hours allows us to "ramp up" during the busy summer season without sacrificing quality.

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Moving and Your Taxes

Rick Taylor September 22, 2015 Resources, Press Release, News

From The TaxLetter, published by MPL Communications.

Moving Day - Samantha Prasad, LL.B.

I was reading an article not too long ago about how housing prices in Toronto have increased by 9.6 per cent com­pared to a year ago. In fact, the average price for a single-family detached home is hovering around the $1 million mark, catching up to the always expensive Vancouver market. To many observers, Canada's large cities are experiencing a housing bubble; yet it is show­ing no signs of bursting.

Of course, these soaring sticker prices do not include buyers' extra expenses, such as land transfer taxes and moving costs. So it would be an understatement to say that every new owner could use some sort of a financial break. Happily, for those of you who have to move out of town for work, there may be such a break available to you.

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Taylor's New Quality Survey

Rick Taylor July 15, 2015 Press Release, News, Overseas Moving

In 2010, Taylor Moving and Storage did a careful review of our operations and set out an agenda to drive quality improvements throughout our organization.

Our recruiting, hiring and training practices were redesigned with strong involvement from the owners of the firm. We also implemented a company wide technology platform to streamline and improved both our internal and external communications.

We are pleased to announce that we now have also introduced an electronic quality survey tool that was developed in house to assist us in measuring our quality.

48 hours after every move is complete, our system will generate an email to our clients asking them to complete the survey. Once the survey is completed, it is sent directly to Rick Taylor, one of the owners of the firm, for his review.

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Oakville Ontario Real Estate Report

Rick Taylor May 11, 2015 Resources, Press Release, News

April is historicly a busy month for real estate transactions. Coupled with May, it remains the "heart" of the spring real estate market.

April 2015 saw 316 properties sold in Oakville. This compares to 346 properties in 2014. The avearge median price increased from $715,000 in 2014 to $760,000 in 2015.

Various agents suggested it the drop in sales activity was due to a drop in inventory and not demand.

As you can see, Oakville remains a top choice for people to relocate to which has led to real estate fetching premium prices.

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John Alaimo's Retirement

Rick Taylor January 5, 2015 Press Release, News, Local Moving

It is with some sadness that we at Taylor Moving and Storage announce the retirement of John Alaimo.

John came to our company in 1996 after owning his own business. In his role of Moving Consultant, John brought both care and empathy to his clients. Ovet the last 18 years, John has moved many thousands of people both around town and throughout North America.

It was a hard decision for John to leave our company and an industry that he has grown to love. At age 74 however, he and his wife felt it was time to leave the working world.

All of the staff will miss John's energy and love of life. His humour and general likeability will be missed by our staff and customers.

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Oakville's Real Estate Market

Rick Taylor November 11, 2014 Resources, Press Release, News

Oakville remains a popular destination for people relocating into the Greater Toronto area. No where is this more pronounced than in the still solid residental property market.

Year to date 2014, the median Oakville house price increased 13.2% in October 2014 to a record $720,000.

While October saw a slight 2.4% decrease in trasactions from 2013, Oakville still saw a very healthy 683 properties change hands in October.

There are now 1183 properties on the market in Oakville that should moderate price growth in 2015.

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Taylor Continues It's Support of Joseph Brant Hospital

Rick Taylor July 28, 2014 News, Burlington

Joseph Brant hospital is an important part not only of Burlington but for all of southern Ontario. As our community grows,so does the need to expand Joseph Brant's capacity and reach.

Take a few highlights from the year 2013:

*the hospital had 1506 births take place

*there were 46,776 emergency visits

*18,591 surgeries performed backed by 159 physicians

Taylor Moving and Storage has been a long supporter of Joseph Brant and that continues to this day. As a sponsor in the $25,000 to $49,999 category, Taylor remains one of the larger indvidual sponsors year in and year out.

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Taylor Moving Helps Raise $115,000 for WarChild

Rick Taylor June 13, 2014 Press Release, Events, News

Dear John and Taylor Moving,

Thank you for so generously supporting Reclaim Childhood. With your help we are able to support WarChild's programming supporting vulnerable children impacted by the Syrian crisis.

Special thanks to our wonderful hosts and their families, to Chantal Kreviazuk and to all our generous supporters.

We hope that this event will have inspired you to continue support of our work, as it is only through the genorsity of people like you that we are able to reclaim childhood for so many vulnerable children in some of the most volatile areas of the world.

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Taylor Moving Quality Scores 2013 - Allied Van Lines

Rick Taylor May 5, 2014 News, Burlington, Oakville

Allied Van Lines has hired an independent firm, Telesight , to conduct independent surveys of all moves registered into it's network. This would include all Allied agents coast to coast for moves over 250 miles.

Telesight receives approximately a 40% survey return success rate.

Each question is ranked out of 5 (with 5 being the highest). Below is the results for Taylor Moving and Storage in 2013:

  • Overall, how satisfied were you with the salesperson? 4.387
  • Did you have any special requests? If so, how satisfied were you with the arrangements made? 4.73
  • Did we pack your boxes? If so, please rate how satisfied you were with the packing. 4.385
  • How would you rate the arrival time of the driver and crew based on the promises made for loading day? 4.517
  • How would you rate the care and attention shown by the driver for your goods? 4.75
  • How would you rate the care and attention shown by the driver’s crew while loading your goods? 4.655
  • How satisfied were you with the loading overall? 4.586
  • How would you rate the arrival time of the driver and crew based on the promises made for delivery day? 4.647
  • How would you rate the care and attention shown by the driver during the unloading of your goods? 4.824
  • Please rate the level of care and attention shown by the driver’s crew during the unloading of your goods. 4.588
  • How satisfied were you with the unloading process overall? 4.765
  • How satisfied were you with our communications throughout the move? 4.262
  • How likely is it that you would recommend this van line to a friend, colleague or family member? 4.268

The average score for Taylor Moving, based on these 13 questions was 4.567 or a 91.34% satisfaction rate on our Canadian long distance moves booked into the Allied Van Lines network.

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Taylor International-Recent Quality Score

Rick Taylor January 16, 2014 News, Burlington, Oakville

Taylor Moving and Storage was involved with 46 international moves with this leading US Relocation Management company. This firm manages employee relocations that are international in scope on behalf of Fortune 500 companies around the world. They track very closely the quality,as measured from the relocating employee's, of the moving companies they work with to provide service.

In 2013, Taylor International effected service on 27 moves where we acted as the origin agent. The origin agent is responsible for the packing of boxes, the international wrapping of furniture, crating when needed, arranging the sea ship container or air freight and accumulating all of the customs documents. Out of a score of 5, Taylor was rated at 4.71 or 94.2% satisfaction rate. The worldwide average of this firms movers network was 4.41 or 88.2%.

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Dave Wilson's Retirement

Rick Taylor June 10, 2013 Press Release, News, Burlington

It is not too often in today's world when an employee stays with the same firm for 10 years let alone over 40 years, yet Dave Wilson has done just that.

Dave started with Taylor Moving in 1972 as a young man. He quickly rose through the ranks due to his unbridled enthusiasm and professionalism. He became a van foreman for our firm where he continued to rack up driver of the year awards and an extremely low claims record. During this time he moved well over 5000 households around the block and/or across North America.

Dave continued his excellence until he approached his 60th birthday. When Russ and Rick Taylor bought the firm they knew great,dedicated and talented people like Dave are just too hard to replace. After much brain storming they moved Dave into the newly formed position of Quality Control Manager. Over the last 10 years Dave has been responsible for all aspects of training new and existing Taylor staff. His knowledge and passion is going to be very hard to replace.

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Taylor Wins Readers Choice Award-Best Mover

Rick Taylor February 26, 2013 News, Local Moving, Burlington

We are grateful to the local community for their nomination and write in votes for this years Readers Choice Award.

We continue to work on improving quality in all aspects of our business and it is indeed satisfying that our customers took the time and effort to nominate us for this award.

We look forward to building on this momentum and to bring our quality levels to even a higher level in 2013.

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Oakville's Olympic Athletes

Rick Taylor September 18, 2012 Resources, Press Release, News

Residents of Oakville showed their pride yesterday, cheering on their hometown Olympians at Centennial Square.
The recognition event kicked off at 2 p.m. with a parade along Lakeshore Road, starting at Reynolds Street and finished with a reception and autograph session at Centennial Square (Lakeshore Road and Navy Street).

The attending Olympians included Adam van Koeverden, Diana Matheson, Mark Oldershaw and Kyle Jones.
Douglas Csima and Tera Van Beilen are unable to attend, but will be represented by their parents.
The athletes signed autographs for the many fans who filled the square.
Oakville’s athletes scored many successes during the London Olympics.
Van Koeverden received a silver medal in the men’s kayak single 1,000m, while Csima received a silver medal in the men’s eight rowing competition.
Matheson scored the winning goal during the bronze medal women’s soccer game against France.
Oldershaw, who trains out of Oakville, won a bronze medal in the men’s canoe singles 1,000m.
Jones’ performance made him the highest finishing Canadian triathlete in the London Olympics and Van Beilen’s near berth in the finals of the 100-metre breaststroke was also something to celebrate.

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Winner - 2012 Burlington Post Readers Choice Award

Rick Taylor April 30, 2012 Press Release, News, Burlington

April 30th 2012 Burlington, Ontario:

Taylor Moving and Storage is proud to be recognized as the Readers Choice winner in the Platinum division for moving and storage companies.

Each year, the Burlington Post surveys their readership regarding the best service providers in the local community.

As this years winner, we are delighted to see our efforts in continuing improvement are being well received by our valued customers.

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BurlingtonGreen holding a community cleanup day

Rick Taylor April 12, 2012 Press Release, News, Burlington

In association with Earth Day, a local environmental organization is once again hosting a community cleanup.

BurlingtonGreen, with support from the City of Burlington, is holding its annual Community Clean Up Green Up Event on Saturday, April 21.

The 42nd annual Earth Day will be celebrated internationally on April 22.

The BurlingtonGreen event provides an opportunity for residents, schools, groups and businesses to team up to clean up the city.

It will take place along Sheldon Creek in Sherwood Forest Park. Participants are asked to meet at the new bridge, behind the soccer fields, at 11 a.m. Bring gloves, garbage bags and appropriate footwear.

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Business Excellence In Oakville

Rick Taylor March 1, 2012 News, Oakville

The Oakville Awards for Business Excellence (OABE) are dedicated to recognizing exemplary models of excellence and community service by Oakville’s businesses. The Oakville Chamber of Commerce in partnership with The Rotary Club of Oakville West organizes the OABE now in its 17th year.

The OABE culminates in a prestigious Gala Dinner and Award ceremony. This year’s dinner event for the 2011 Awards will be held March 7, 2012 at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre (Wyecroft Rd. and Bronte Rd).

The proceeds from the Gala Awards Dinner, including the considerable support from our many Partners, provide funds for the Rotary Club’s numerous youth and academic programs such as the Oakville Awards for Academic Excellence, the Oakville Youth Development Centre, and Camp Enterprise. The funds raised are vital to the Rotary Club of Oakville West’s Vocational program. To date, the OABE galas have raised over $500,000 to support the Rotary Club of Oakville West’s youth programs such as the Oakville Youth Development Centre, Kerr Street Ministries, school breakfast and lunch programs as well as scholarships and bursaries for Oakville’s top students.

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Ribfest will soon be here!

Rick Taylor July 27, 2011 Press Release, News, Burlington

Canada’s Largest Ribfest, organized by the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore, is ready for its 16th year of bringing you a family-friendly, four-day food extravaganza! As one of the leading annual events in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada’s Largest Ribfest brings together 18 Ribber Teams from across North America, hungry to compete for the Best Ribs Title, and more than 100,000 people hungry to taste their mouth-watering fare! But that’s not all! There are also great musical guests, and activities and games for kids of all ages – all in beautiful Spencer Smith Park in Burlington on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The proceeds from this event go directly to the community – a good cause, good food, good times and the perfect way to bid farewell to summer.

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New Appointment - Arthur Drewry

Rick Taylor May 28, 2011 Press Release, News, Burlington

Arthur Drewry, recently named CMMB Representative for Region 6, was raised as a British expatriate and in 2000 began his career in the household goods relocation industry in the Middle East. Drewry got his first taste of the international moving business while working with Gulf Agency Company, a respected international removals company. There, he played an integral role in handling corporate relocations for Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Elf Petroleum, and Chevron Phillips. During that time, Drewry earned his FIDI Diploma, the highest international education designation in the international relocation industry.

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Entrance Fee for Canadians travelling to the U.S.

Rick Taylor March 3, 2011 News, International Moving

The Obama administration has submitted a draft budget proposal to the Congress, which includes a proposed fee of $5.50 for Canadians traveling to the USA by air and sea. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the revenues from this charge would generate approximately additional $110 million a year. This amount is intended to financially support activities of US Customs and Border Protection’s inspection, which has intensified its activities recently.

It was confirmed that the fee would not apply to Canadians traveling to US by road.

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Moving Industry: Who will lead it in the future?

Russ Taylor November 2, 2010 News

Where are the young up and comers in the household goods industry?

I have attended numerous industry association conferences over the last while. I found myself looking at the same familiar faces that I have seen for years now.

As I approach 50, I started asking myself "Where are the next generation of leaders?"

As the average age of a van foreman increases year after year,so is the average age of the owners and managers of household goods moving companies. Indeed, I have met very few young people entering our industry.

Household goods moving and storage is a multi billion dollar industry in North America. It will be very interesting to see what effects this talent shortage will have in the shaping and productivity of our industry in the future.

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US/Canadian Dollars at Par - What does it mean for the moving industry?

Rick Taylor October 13, 2010 News, International Moving

As I write this, the Candian dollar and US dollar are virtually at the same level. If it stays in this range for some time, how would it effect the moving industry?

Canada and the United States are each others largest trading partners. Not only do we move goods and services across the border but people. Indeed, employee relocation to the United States from Canada and vice versa is a very important part of the moving industry.

Trucking laws prohibit Canadian drivers to interstate (i.e. perform moves within the United States) and for US drivers to do the same in Canada. As such, it is very difficult for moving companies to get effecient full loads on cross border moves. Many drivers have to go a fair distance in between stops (called empty miles) for their next pick up or delivery. This does add significant costs to the van foreman as these "empty miles" are not revenue generating.

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India

Arthur Drewry September 23, 2010 News, Overseas Moving, International Moving

Commercial vehicle movement will come to a standstill in New Delhi from 24 September, 2010, as the city prepares for the XIX Commonwealth Games which will take place from 3 – 14 October.

New Delhi authorities will regulate traffic in and around the JLN Sports Complex and other venues to help ease the massive volume of vehicles and pedestrians expected during the games.

In order to avoid any unnecessary delays, we advise you not to plan any shipment arrival between 24 September and 14 October, 2010. If a shipment during this time is unavoidable, please contact us and we will advise you on the best procedure.

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France

Arthur Drewry September 23, 2010 News, Overseas Moving, International Moving

The port of Marseille in France, has been experiencing severe traffic congestion since the 18 September. The mounting congestion is preventing the docking and unloading of containers in a timely manner at the port of Fos-sur-Mer.

Since Monday, 20 September, a number of carriers have been unable to access cargo & collect any containers from the port. This will continue until the situation improves.

Furthermore, a strike is likely to start from 1 October.

Source : AGS - France.

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Russia

Arthur Drewry September 23, 2010 News, Overseas Moving, International Moving

A new customs union between Russia, Belorussia, and Kazakhstan was adopted on July 1, 2010 introducing new customs regulations. Those new customs regulations severely restricted the type of household goods and personal effects that could be imported temporary duty-free by foreign citizens leading to a significant increase in customs duties that often far exceed the cost of the move itself.

Based on a recent meeting of Russian Customs officials, unofficial sources are discussing the possibility that the Russian government is expected to waive import customs duties for household goods shipments imported by foreign citizens on a temporary basis. An official release is expected shortly but the precise details of the decision are unknown at this time.

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