David Marx, president of New World Van Lines, gives his company's moving teams due credit when he says, “Our philosophy is that what makes or breaks our company is the drivers and helpers we employ to move our blue-chip clients' households.” New World Van Lines' market niche is relocating corporate executives' households using a two-person team — a driver and a helper — to do everything from packing and loading to moving, unloading and unpacking the entire contents of the transferee's home.
“Our reputation is in the hands of our employees every time they enter a transferee's home,” says Marx. “We're a family-owned carrier with a long-standing tradition of providing high-quality service, so we are very careful about who we hire”. Drivers and moving helpers undergo extensive background checks, including drug testing and physicals.
New World Van Lines' history dates back to 1919 when David's grandfather, Michael Edward Marx, bought a truck and began a successful business in household moving in the family's hometown of Chicago. In 1982, when the moving industry was deregulated, David's father, Edward Marx, began operating the company as a 48-state carrier and dedicated the business to “corporate” moving and relocation.
When Edward Marx passed away in 1995, David's mother, Shirley, took over as chairperson of the company. David is one of seven Marx children, six of whom currently work in the family business.
Personal attention to the business and a commitment to excellent customer service are two reasons for New World Van Lines' continued success. The company currently earns between $65 and $68 million a year in revenues.
New World Van Lines has a dedicated fleet of 225 Kenworth tractors, mostly T2000s, spec'd with numerous driver amenities, including air ride suspensions. “We know how important our drivers are to the business, so besides offering them excellent benefits, we give them the best equipment to drive. The average tenure of our drivers is better than nine years,” says Marx.
The fleet also includes 350 Kentucky furniture vans spec'd with highly polished hardwood floors and logistics channels placed on both sides of the trailer every 1.5 ft., from front to back, to tie up loads.
“All of our trailers are equipped with the Meritor Tire Inflation System by PSI,” Marx notes. “It uses compressed air from the trailer air system to automatically inflate any tire that falls below a pre-set pressure when the trailer is moving. While our drivers are each assigned to a specific tractor, they switch trailers continuously and seldom check air pressure in the trailers. By using PSI, we've eliminated uneven tire wear and blowouts.
“To give us uninterrupted communication with our drivers, Aether's MobileMax 2 satellite communications systems have been installed in all our tractors,” Marx adds. “The system also provides an emergency call button for when a driver is in distress.”
All fleet equipment is 100% company-owned. Marx says the Kenworth tractors are spec'd with Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines. “We started using Series 60 diesels in 1990 and have had no major engine failures in 12 years.
New World Van Lines buys used as well as new Kenworth tractors, but Marx says it will only buy used equipment with good, solid maintenance records behind it. Maintenance of the fleet is mostly performed at the Chicago facility, where 12 mechanics do everything from preventive maintenance to bodywork. New World Van Lines also conducts DOT inspections three times as often as the agency requires. “We can't make money if a truck breaks down on the road,” Marx points out.
As a final note on the personal service New World Van Lines offers its clients, Marx says drivers and helpers are carefully matched to the specifics of each move. “We also have a strict dress code. We're sending complete strangers into peoples' homes to pack and move everything they own, so building confidence is critical in everything we do.”
