Made with FlowPaper - Flipbook Maker
SEP/OCT 2026 THE ADVANTAGE OF UNCERTAINTY Why the Best Leaders Don’t Wait for Stability 11 industry leaders on making the call before all the answers are in. Also in this issue Annual Meeting & Expo 2026: Navigating the Current Inside the Industry’s Most Important Four Days October 21–24 | San Diego, CaliforniaMoving made easy by professionals Relocation services for pets The safest way to transport your pets worldwide. As an animal-loving company, we offer a stress-free, safe, professional and comfortable way to relocate your pet worldwide. We are qualified animal couriers. A service from INTERMOVE GmbH WORLDWIDE MOVE LOGISTICS AND SERVICES INTERNATIONAL RELOCATION INTERMOVE GmbH Parsdorfer Weg 10 85551 Munich / Kirchheim Germany www.petmove.net INTERMOVE GmbH Parsdorfer Weg 10 85551 Munich / Kirchheim Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 89 189 386-0 info@intermove.de www.intermove.deMoving software, CRM, & AI AI | Sales | Surveys | Dispatch | CRM | Warehouse | Claims | Estimates | Crew app | Digital inventories | E-signatures | E-forms | Financials | & MORE! If you haven't seen EDC-MoveStar® lately, you haven't seen it at all! Book demo now! www.EDC-MoveStar.com Moving software that does it all OVER 8M MOVES & 230K INVENTORIESSeptember / October 2026•Vol. 58, No. 5 portal.iamovers.org Publisher: Brian Limperopulos Editor: Will Kohudic Advertising: Matthieu Odijk Circulation:Julia O’Connor Layout/Design: Print Matters Portal is published bimonthly by the International Association of Movers (IAM) 1600 Duke Street, Suite 440 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: (703) 317-9950|Fax: (703) 317-9960 Email: info@iamovers.org|Website: IAMovers.org For subscriptions and changes of address, membership@iamovers.org Send editorial material to william.kohudic@iamovers.org For advertising queries, matthieu.odijk@iamovers.org Send advertising materials to william.kohudic@iamovers.org September / October 2026 5 BRIAN'S BEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 The Advantage of Uncertainty / Brian Limperopulos THE ADVANTAGE OF UNCERTAINTY: WHY THE BEST LEADERS DON'T WAIT FOR STABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Will Kohudic THE ADVANTAGE OF UNCERTAINTY: ANNUAL MEETING & EXPO 2026—NAVIGATING THE CURRENT . . . . .32 Will Kohudic GOVERNMENT & MILITARY PROGRAM REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 The Few, The Proud… Those Who Thrive in Uncertainty / Daniel J. Bradley IAM LEARNING UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Survival of the Fittest? / Ray daSilva VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP IMPACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 PERSPECTIVE SPOTLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Mold, Mildew, and Moving: Why Fear Often Costs More Than the Problem / Boris Populoh INDUSTRY NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 WASHINGTON UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Bryan Vickers, PACE, LLP ADVERTISE IN PORTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 ADVERTISER INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 EVENTS CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 SEP/OCT 20266 September / October 2026 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Stephan Jr . Geurts Government Logistics N.V. VICE CHAIR Adam Hall The Pasha Group PREMIER MEMBERS AT LARGE Lakelan Fennell Suddath Government Services Charles Flowers Coleman Worldwide Moving Erin O’Connor Dice Forwarding, Inc. Susan Staszewski National Van Lines CORE MEMBERS REPRESENTATIVE Boris Populoh Unirisc, Inc. CORE MEMBERS REPRESENTATIVE AT LARGE Catherina Stier Harsch, the Art of Moving Forward NON-U.S. CORE MEMBER REPRESENTATIVES Ido Barner AGS Four Winds International Moving Ltd. Ben Scheiner Global Relocations Ltd. DAB REPRESENTATIVE Tim Wicker Republic Moving and Storage IAM-YP REPRESENTATIVE Lennert de Jong Gosselin Group N.V. PRESIDENT Brian Limperopulos IAM STAFF IAM LEADERSHIP CORE MEMBERS MANAGEMENT BOARD AFRICA Charnel Francis AGS Worldwide Movers Cosmas Kamuyu Nellions Moving and Relocations CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA & CARIBBEAN Carlos Avalos Sandhill Global Relocation & Moving Daniel Rodrigues AIM Brazil EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN ASIA Olivia Alarcon A1 Global Logistics Services Co. Nirav Thakker 21st Century Relocations EUROPE Barbara Savelli Gosselin Mobility Italy Christiaan van der Ent Van der Ent Group MIDDLE EAST & NEAR ASIA Ankit Bhalla Leader Relocations Shankar Ram Delight International Movers NORTH AMERICA Tracie Cohee Von Paris International Leon Johnson Matco Moving Solutions OCEANIA Carlos Ferri Shipeezi Michael Dunstan Palmers Relocation Group Brian Limperopulos President Daniel Bradley Vice President of Government & Military Relations Nicola Collett Data & Finance Manager Steve Cox Chief Financial Officer Angela DeConti Director of the Global Moving Foundation IAM Manager of Industry Initiatives Verena Goetz Membership & Social Media Manager Will Kohudic Editor, Manager of Marketing & Communications Julia O’Connor Vice President of Membership & Communications Matthieu Odijk Director of Sales Rowena Reyes Director of Finance Morgana Somers Director of Global Services Charles Stewart Digital Media Manager September / October 2026 7 Uncertainty is the name of the game these days. How will the political situation in the U.S. unfold? Will interest rates ever come down? What does AI mean for me and my company? How do I comply with cyberse- curity requirements like Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)? How do I stand out in a crowded market when business is not exactly growing? When will the Strait of Hormuz open back up, and what happens to fuel prices if it does not? Will the new Personal Property Activity really foster the stability and investment the DoD program needs? These are the questions I have heard time and again this year. Take technology. AI is something nobody can ignore. From a moving perspective, will it reshape how we price, survey, and communicate faster than we can adapt, or is a lot of it noise? Cybersecurity is another. For requirements like CMMC, compliance takes real time and real money. And even with all the resources in the world, it is not clear every company can meet the bar. If I were certain about the answers to any of these questions, I would be betting big in the stock market and turning that certainty into a nice return. Instead, all any of us have are guesses. Educated ones, but nothing I would stake my life savings on. I do not like uncertainty. I don’t think anybody does. But uncertainty is where we prove ourselves. We either sink or swim, and swimming through it is a powerful feeling. To find a way through a hard stretch, and to recognize the resilience it took to get there, is one of the more satisfying things in life and in business. So, what makes the difference between the two? Why do some companies swim while others go under? Because they have prepared. They have prepared by thinking ahead and planning for challenges. These companies are running the aging report every week and chasing the slow payer at 60 days instead of 120. They know their costs per move well enough to know when to hold their rates, because they understand what chasing the cheapest job does to their margins. They also recognize the value of keeping a relationship warm with a backup partner they may not need this year but will be glad to have next year. Preparation is the real advantage when facing uncertainty. The people and companies who prepare best do not just meet the moment. They come out of it further ahead than they ever could have in easy times. Uncertainty rewards the prepared. Preparation is where IAM comes in. We put a lot of effort into giving you what you need to see around the next corner. Read the news in this magazine and in our weekly newsletters. Watch your receivables and report them to IAM before they pass 120 days, so the Receivable Protection Program can serve as a safety net if you are owed money by another member. And take a close look at the Global Pulse Report from the CMMB, informed by our Regional Pulse Surveys, which gives you a real-time read on conditions across regions. My thanks to the CMMB for the care and rigor behind it. Do not stop at IAM’s offerings, either. A lot of our fellow industry associations offer unique resources to their members. Take the time to understand what IAM does for you, and also what your other memberships do. Preparation means using every tool you have at your disposal. IAM’s Annual Meeting & Expo is one of those tools. This year we gather in San Diego, October 21 to 24, under the theme Navigating the Current. It is a fitting one. Behind every successful move are pressures the client never sees, and our members deliver anyway. Read more about the sessions we will be hosting in Will Kohudic’s feature on page 32. Book meetings to build your network and ensure you are driving business to your company throughout the year. I hope you will join us. The Advantage of Uncertainty Brian's Beat Brian Limperopulos IAM PresidentThe Advantage of Uncertainty Why the Best Leaders Don't Wait for Stability “Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyze every possi- ble obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers.” – Xerxes of Persia (486-465 BCE) Uncertainty has overshadowed human affairs for thousands of years. We are no strangers to its influence. Lately, uncer- tainty has emerged as a defining con- dition of global business, especially in the moving industry. Currency collapses, border closures, armed conflict, shifting customs, and sudden regulatory changes are everyday events for IAM members. In this feature, leaders from around the world share how they have learned not to wait for stability before acting. From Ebru Demirel’s three decades of building trust across geopolitical tension, to Patricia Fluck’s account of leading Transpack through Argentina’s 2001 currency collapse, to Curt Clements describing how Move One operates in countries facing active con- flict, the stories gathered here span con- tinents and crises. Vincent Ugochukwu Nwaugha describes Eaglenet’s response to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy shock and new customs platforms. Sjaril Bahar traces Retrans International’s growth through Indonesia’s 1998 unrest. Tim Helenthal draws lessons from Eisenhower’s D-Day decision. Oded Carmi describes how three competitors became partners through Boots on the Ground. Kay Kutt, Ajay Goel, Manu Raj Bhalla, and Aakanksha Bhargava each add a hard-won perspective on leading when the picture is incomplete. Leaders in different regions, facing dif- ferent crises, reach similar conclusions: the leaders who thrive are not the ones who eliminate uncertainty, but the ones who build the relationships, culture, and decision-making structures that let them move forward without it. Communication replaces false confidence. Distributed authority replaces paralysis. Trust, built long before any crisis begins, becomes the asset that carries a company through it. Taken together, these essays offer more than encouragement. They offer a practical case for treating adaptability as a permanent capability rather than a temporary response. This is a lesson every IAM member, regardless of size or region, can put into practice today. By Will Kohudic, Editor, Portal 8 PORTAL September/October 2026Next >