Dunmar Moving Systems

The Origin Story

In May 1970, in Petersburg, Virginia, Dunmar opened its doors. What started in Petersburg eventually found its permanent home at 8030 Whitepine Road in Richmond, where Dunmar has been headquartered since 1999.

For more than five decades, the company has grown steadily outward from that Richmond base, five offices and four warehouses now spread across the Commonwealth. All the while remaining anchored in the values that defined it from the start: a commitment to the Commonwealth, to move its families, its businesses, its military families, and its institutions with care and reliability. Allied Van Lines has been Dunmar’s van line partner since the beginning: 55 years and counting, a relationship that has outlasted industry consolidations, recessions, and the digital transformation of nearly every sector that moving touches.

The family that has run Dunmar across generations didn’t set out to build a moving empire. They set out to build a company that people could rely on. How Dunmar hires, retains employees, it invests in facilities, is how it has earned recognition as one of Allied Van Lines’ top booking and hauling agents in the country.

The People

At Dunmar, how long their people actually stay is one of their most distinctive assets. Most members of the management team have been with Dunmar for more than 20 years. Many owner-operators have been with the company since its founding in 1970. Second and third generation employees, even grandchildren of original crew members, now work alongside the leadership that their families helped build.

Britt LaLiberte, the company’s VP, traces this to the way Dunmar has always treated its people. “It speaks volumes,” he says, when asked about the multi-generational workforce. “We have grandfathers, fathers, and now their sons working for us.” It’s something he watches unfold every year. It’s a company where moving isn’t just a job, it’s a vocation that gets passed down.

LaLiberte himself is a product of this culture. His father also serves in leadership at Dunmar, sitting on the Quality Committee of the Allied Agent Association, the national body that brings Allied agents together to guide the van line’s direction. Father and son are both shaping the industry from the inside, at different levels.

That depth has a compounding effect on quality. When experienced people stay for decades, knowledge doesn’t walk out the door when someone retires, it gets transferred. Young employees learn from veterans who have managed thousands of moves, in every condition, across every service line.

Dunmar’s annual Holiday Awards Luncheon is a tradition that brings the full team together each year and a true expression of this investment in people. In an industry where crew turnover is often treated as a cost of doing business, Dunmar treats recognition as a strategic imperative. The people doing the work are the product, and celebrating them isn’t optional.

What Makes Them Special

In 2018, Allied Van Lines named Dunmar Moving Systems its Consumer Channel Agent of the Year, the award given to the Allied agent that demonstrates the greatest consumer growth year-over-year, measured by incremental shipment volume, transportation revenue, and overall quality of customer experience. The announcement was made in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Allied Van Lines annual gathering, in front of the company’s full national network.

Britt LaLiberte’s response at the time was telling: “We are truly humbled to accept this recognition amongst a strong network of Allied agents. Our team’s commitment to high standards in quality and customer service in all areas of our business kept us motivated to strive for excellence.” Patrick Redmond, VP of the Consumer Channel at Allied Van Lines, put it plainly: “It is no surprise that Dunmar Moving Systems won Consumer Agent of the Year; their focus and dedication on the consumer sets them apart. They are always looking for ways to improve and innovate the moving experience.”

That award didn’t come from size. Dunmar isn’t the largest Allied agent in the country. It came from consistency from an organization that treats every move, regardless of size or distance, with the same standard of care. Allied’s network spans more than 400 agent locations across North America. Being recognized at the top of that network is not a small thing.

The company’s service portfolio has also expanded well beyond what most people think of when they think of a moving company. Through sister companies, Dunmar has built capabilities in records management for businesses, exhibit services for the trade show industry, last-mile delivery and logistics, and SMARTBOX DIY moving — a portable storage product for customers who want to manage their own move. The company holds Virginia intrastate authority, providing statewide legal coverage for every service line it operates.

Britt’s role at the Allied Agent Association IT Committee adds another dimension entirely. He is not just running a regional moving company, he is actively shaping the technology direction for one of the largest van line networks in the world. When Allied Van Lines makes decisions about how its agents will use technology, what platforms they’ll adopt, and how digital tools will be deployed across the network, Britt LaLiberte is in the room. His voice carries weight not just at Dunmar, but across hundreds of Allied agents nationwide.

The Leadership Philosophy

Britt LaLiberte grew up in Richmond, and went to Virginia Tech. He came back to the family business. He is a product of the Commonwealth, and the way he runs Dunmar reflects that: methodically, with a long view for the next twenty years.

His most revealing decision in recent years had nothing to do with moving trucks. In 2022, Britt and a business partner acquired the Mobiledumps franchise for Richmond and the Tidewater markets, a company that rents dumpster trailers on wheels for residential and commercial cleanouts. The logic was straightforward: "Many times when people are moving, they take that opportunity to dispose of items prior to their move. We see Mobiledumps as a great addition to fulfill our current customers' needs during their move." Dunmar now holds first right of refusal on the Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Williamsburg Mobiledumps markets as well.

What the Mobiledumps acquisition reveals about how Britt thinks is more interesting than the acquisition itself. He saw the dumpster business as a way to fill a gap in the customer journey, a moment when Dunmar's customers had a need that Dunmar wasn't filling, and he closed it. That instinct, to follow the customer rather than stay inside the moving lane, is the same instinct that has driven Dunmar's expansion into records management, last-mile logistics, and exhibit services. The question isn't "what business are we in?" It's "what does our customer need that we're not providing yet?"

The Heart of It

Dunmar sponsors Cap2Cap, a nonprofit building out the Virginia Capital Trail, a 50-mile route connecting Williamsburg to Richmond along the Route 5 historic corridor. The company supports the Richmond Community ToolBank, a 10,000-square-foot warehouse that provides tools and equipment to volunteers across the region. The company is also a partner to the Richmond Strikers, the nonprofit soccer club that has served Greater Richmond since 1975.

These are relationships with organizations that, like Dunmar itself, are committed to the long-term health of a community. The Virginia Capital Trail preserves history and builds access. The ToolBank amplifies the capacity of volunteers who couldn’t otherwise afford specialized equipment. The Strikers give young athletes a place to compete. Dunmar shows up for all of it.