The Independent Mover of the Year Award (The "Indy”) reflects AMSA's and the industry’s commitment to outstanding performance among independent movers.  Outstanding performance may be demonstrated in a variety of ways including community service, employee relations, innovative operations or customer service practices. This award is presented annually to an independent moving company nominated by an employee or business partner and selected by a panel of industry experts.

The judging panel is appointed by AMSA’s CEO and may include representatives from the AMSA arbitration service panel of judges, AMSA staff, industry partners, the Director of the Moving & Storage Institute and previous Indy Award winners. The winning company is selected through a “blind” judging process, wherein all references to company names and affiliations are removed before information is distributed to panelists for review.

Gentle Giant president Larry O'Toole

In 1980, Gentle Giant President Larry O'Toole founded the company with a friend's borrowed truck and an ad in a weekly Boston newspaper. In its 30-year existence, Gentle Giant has expanded from a single truck business in Massachusetts into six other states and Washington, D.C. and employs more than 200 people that it proudly calls “Giants.”

The firm has received the Better Business Bureau's International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, as well as the distinction of being a nine-time recipient of Boston Magazine's Best of Boston Award and being named a Top Small Workplace in 2007 by The Wall Street Journal. From the start, Gentle Giant has had a tradition of hiring college rowers as movers. Its culture of hard work and service led to the creation of the Gentle Giant Charitable Foundation which supports the Gentle Giant Rowing Club in Malden, Mass., a nonprofit that gives city teens a chance to learn about and compete in the sport of rowing.

“Congratulations to Gentle Giant,” said AMSA President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr. “The company has set highest standards and is committed to community involvement. I’m delighted to see a member as deserving as Gentle Giant get such recognition.”

Prior Winners

2008 Executive Moving Systems, Woodbridge, Va.
2007 Interstate Van Lines, Inc., Springfield, Va.  (Inaugural Award Winner)