The moving franchising giant College H.U.N.K.S. has over 300 locations in North America. After visiting the company to learn how it keeps its service consistent, software provider Supermove sent in this report.
Scaling your moving company isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There’s a real chance you might lose the great service that built your reputation in the first place. The more people you hire, the more locations you open, the harder it becomes to keep every move feeling the same.
That’s the challenge Supermove set out to study when its team visited College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving headquarters in Tampa. The software company, whose platform helps moving companies automate their entire operation, has been visiting moving companies across the US, to see what sets the best apart. They sat down with College H.U.N.K.S. Vice President of Operations Dan Whalen to unpack how this franchising giant delivers consistent service nationwide.
College H.U.N.K.S. background
College H.U.N.K.S. began like many small moving businesses do. It was founded in the summer of 2003 by two college friends, Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman. The two had a borrowed cargo van and a dream. Today, College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving is a franchise network that operates more than 300 locations. What’s remarkable isn’t that they scaled the business; but that they never lost the culture, personality, and the service they started with.
Daniel Whalen, who currently runs franchise operations, knows this very well. Before stepping into his leadership role, he ran one of the College H.U.N.K.S. franchise locations himself. He grew it from $1 million to $5.5 million in just a few years. “Moving is boring and stressful,” Daniel said. “We make it fun. We bring energy, professionalism, and a process that’s repeatable. But it’s always about the people.”
Culture meets process
When you walk through the College H.U.N.K.S. huddle room, you immediately feel the culture. Every milestone is there. The Shark Tank appearance, the first million-dollar franchise, the expansion into Canada – it’s all printed on the walls.
Every day at 11:11, franchise owners join headquarters in this room for what they call “the huddle”. For those who rarely see the company HQ in person, this ritual keeps them feeling part of the team. You might not need a daily huddle, but even a weekly check-in can keep your people aligned.
College H.U.N.K.S. have a playbook called “Steps to a Perfect Job”. It translates core company values – Honest, Uniform, Nice, and Knowledgeable Service – into practical steps and checkpoints that must be followed on every job. If you don’t have a playbook of your own yet, start by documenting your perfect move from start to finish.
Protecting standards across 300+ locations
College H.U.N.K.S. has a brand protection team that does proactive monitoring, alongside franchise business coaches who review data for each location and conduct regular on-site operational audits. Coaches follow trucks out on jobs to see how movers are handling furniture and wrapping items. “There’s some things that we can diagnose and detect via Zoom,” Daniel added. “But nothing takes the place of being there and seeing it with your eyes.”
The people who make it work
For Daniel Whalen, consistency starts with people. The best playbook in the world won’t save a branch led by the wrong person. College H.U.N.K.S. has a rigorous vetting process for franchise owners, looking for the right expectations, capitalisation and patience to play the long game. “You’ve got to be right there, boots on the ground with your team members in those first 24 to 36 months,” Whalen said.
Final thoughts
College H.U.N.K.S. makes every move feel the same because they made their service impossible to improvise. They documented it, drilled it, audited it, and expected franchise owners to be committed to enforcing it locally.
This story was based on Supermove’s visit to College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving in Tampa. You can watch the full visit and interview on Supermove’s YouTube channel.