A Tale of Two Cars…

October 7, 2010 by Frank Peditto

In the transportation business we witness a lot of strange occurrences, some of which we share in this blog, others of which we tell at conventions and industry events. In the world of relocation, it’s always an adventure.

It’s not often that you have two of the exact same vehicle: year, make, model and color, in one family, but it has happened. Ironically, this was a few years back and the family was relocating from northern California to Manhattan. A complex move that involved a wine collection, temperature controlled storage, a vast household goods shipment, artwork, multiple drop-off locations and four vehicles. With all of those moving parts you would have assumed that the vehicles would have been the easiest component…well, guess again.

On the pick-up day for the cars, the transferee’s wife, a lovely woman, was on-site. She confirmed with the driver that one car was to be dropped off at their corporate apartment in the city, while the others would go to ‘storage’ until their home outside of the city was ready. Ironically, they had two of the exact same SUVs – and one was going to their city apartment and the other to storage. Everything is progressing nicely – well, that is what we thought – as the vehicle arrived in Manhattan and the wife accepted delivery. About a week had passed when an irate call from the client was received – the wife had been arrested for driving an unregistered vehicle. The arrest was actually due to the fact that she decided to get a ‘new look’ for New York City and had a makeover along with a new hair style and color so when she was pulled over for driving without a plate (and registration) she didn’t look anything like her California license leading the police to bring her in for questioning. All of the details had been worked out once her husband arrived and she was released with no formal charges.

Immediately reacting to the client’s call, we moved into action. After a bit of research, it was uncovered that she, in-fact, confirmed the wrong vehicle for shipment and immediate use in New York and it was the other, exact SUV that was registered and to be shipped. Of course, she was mortified and we were relieved, as was the client, that it was an unfortunate accident and not our mistake. Her correct vehicle was immediately delivered and, after about a week, she had recovered enough to laugh about the entire incident.

As I always say when talking with our team or other industry veterans, ‘stranger things of happened’ and typically the next one is even more unbelievable than the last.