From left: Oded Carmi, president of DN Van Lines and moderator of the event; O’Gorman; Wirks; Yarham; Reed. (Ruthie Himpler/American Trucking Associations)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was an exercise in good fun when four executives at independent moving companies sat at the front of a large audience for a lively debate about some of the moving industry’s hot topics.
But the fun was mixed with some serious dialogue.
The topics included:
- Should movers pay their drivers by the hour or mileage, or a steady salary?
- Should a mover do business on Sundays?
- Should a mover promote from within or use an outside recruiter?
- Should a mover establish a local market first before offering national moves?
- Should a mover require customers make a down payment or be trusted with a handshake?
The debate, “Dueling Perspectives,” took place in a large meeting room on March 10. (Ruthie Himpler/American Trucking Associations)
The debaters included Tom O’Gorman of Gentle Giant Interstate Movers; Steven Reed of Big League Movers; Eric Wirks of Wirks Moving and Storage; and Brian Yarham of Eyring Movers.
The debate, “Dueling Perspectives,” took place in a large meeting room on March 10 at Music City Center during American Trucking Associations’ 2025 Moving & Storage Conference Annual Meeting. The members of the audience were the judges who decided the winners with applause and hands raised and also chose the top debater of the four participants.
Like any interesting contest, the debaters’ opinions were widely divergent.
For example, on the topic of pay, the audience agreed with O’Gorman, who argued that consistent pay is the best way to find and keep the best drivers.
“This is a professional service, and for that service, we ought to pay people well,” O’Gorman said. “We ought to hire and attract and retain great employees, and for that we have to pay the absolute best consistent wage that we can in order to keep those employees in our companies.”
On the topic of Sunday work, the audience agreed with Yarham.
“For us, it’s all about the employees,” Yarham said. “Not that I can mandate rest, they can do whatever they want. But for us, it’s about taking that break, it’s about taking that rest and recharging. We don’t have other competitors who are pushing for Sundays. I’m not going to suggest you should go to church, but I do and I really like it.”
On the topic of hiring from within a company versus looking outside, in a close decision, the audience voted for promoting internally, agreeing with comments made by Reed.
“When I look at my team, I see where we’re going,” Reed said. “Leadership is a thing I can’t replace. That’s what I’ve invested in my team, to be leaders.”
The audience agreed with Wirks, who said that with all the planning to make a move, his company required people moving to put down a deposit.
“Based on what I’ve actually seen, I can’t think of a good argument against a deposit,” Wirks said.
On the topic of servicing local versus national markets, the audience supported focusing on local sales.
“I think generally you start local,” O’Gorman said. “You build your local presence, you build your community. You try to do it on a referral basis, that employee base. From there, you can scale and become more of a long distance, when you find the right people and the right state asking to do some long-distance moves.”
