Only the worst of weather can stop Roland Benito, above right, from moving a customer's belongings for M. Dyer & Sons. On Wednesday he was moving the Hughes' family possessions out of a Kapolei home. Helping him on the three-day job were Peter Popa, left, and Chad Kuikahi.
Movin’ on a sunny
afternoon
Roland Benito can help you pack up
and get away soon
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Who: Roland G. Benito Title: Truck driver, packer and mover Job: Packs and moves residential and commercial property for M. Dyer & Sons.
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In between the packing and heavy lifting, Roland Benito spent a little time Wednesday talking with Jana Hughes and her daughter Hana about items that had to be moved.
Answer: I'm not sure. (Laughter)
Q: How long have you been with M. Dyer & Sons.
A: This is my 13th year.
Q: Were you doing it before that?
A: I was doing it for about a year in California.
Q: Why did you move to Hawaii?
A: I was born and raised here, actually.
Q: What brought you back?
A: Just job-wise, I think. Back in '92, California, I think, wasn't in the right time for a job. So when I came back here I applied for M. Dyer & Sons and they hired me shortly after.
Q: How many people do you work with at M. Dyer & Sons?
A: Including the office people or just the people on the road?
Q: Just the people on the road.
A: Rough estimate, probably about 30 to 35.
Q: How many people do you work with on a particular job?
A: Just me and my helper (Peter Popa), and occasionally we have a third man, depending on how big the job is.
Roland Benito is one of M. Dyer & Sons' crack packers and movers. Above, he boxed all the blankets and clothing in one of the bedrooms of the Hughes family's home in Kapolei on Wednesday.
A: We start at 7:30 a.m. and anytime between 4 and 5 is pretty much my cut-out time, the time by which I'm supposed to be done, but it could be later sometimes.
Q: How many jobs a day do you go on?
A: At least about two small jobs a day or sometimes one job all day.
Q: What's the typical customer?
A: Ninety-eight percent is military. And we do residentials. Occasionally we have commercials.
Q: Are you getting real good at wrapping up things to protect them and then packing them away in the truck?
A: I do OK. (Laughter)Pretty good, I guess.
Q: What happens if you guys damage something?
A: Very slim on the damages.
Q: Well, what happens if they complain?
A: It goes to the transportation office and then to claims, and they reimburse them. The government takes care of the bill, I guess, or replaces the furniture or repairs the damage, for that matter. Then we get feedback from them and they'll let us know about the damage.
Roland Benito marked what was inside each box so the clients could find them later.
A: Yeah, sometimes pianos because we deal with the stairs. That's the mover's weakest point, the stairs. Other than that, everything is just everyday things we do - just pack it and move it into the crates.
Q: Do you ever get to a job site, maybe a house with lots of stairs, and go, "Oh man, I don't like how this looks?"
A: Yeah. I think it's kind of rare that we have a lot of stairs, but when we do move people out of the barracks, there are a lot of stairs involved because they don't have elevators to the third floor. If there's more than three floors, there's usually an elevator, because the transportation office, they impose additional moving charges after the third floor.
Q: What's the worst thing that ever happened to you on a moving job? Did you ever drop anything and have it go all the way down the stairs?
A: No, I can't even think of one right now.
Q: It seems like your job is pretty physical sometimes.
A: Yeah, it's physical labor, but you just gotta put your mind to it and make it work. Not everybody's cut out for it.
Q: But a lot of thought goes in to moving that heavy stuff, too, yeah?
A: Yeah. You got a look at the weight of the job on the bill of lading, then look at the access to the unit, then plan your day of work.
Q: Do you ever do any off-work exercises to stay in shape for your job?
A: Yeah. I do run the marathons and the Great Aloha Runs and work out when I do have the free time.
Q: When is your free time?
A: When the kids go to sleep. (Laughter)
Q: You work weekends?
A: No I don't. I take my kids to swimming, take them out to the park, mall, movies, things like that. My wife is currently deployed to Iraq.
Q: What's her position?
A: Her regular job is she works for Civil Service at Schofield (Barrracks), and she's part-time with the Army National Guard. She's a captain.
Q: How long has she been in Iraq?
A: Since January. But she left in September for her training prior to her deployment.
Q: When is she coming back?
A: Supposedly March of 2006.
Q: Are you worried about her?
A: Always.
Q: What about the weather?
A: That's another thing, too yeah. You gotta work it with the customer, if they want to move or not, but if the rain's pretty bad, we gotta cancel it until a better day.
Q: What about when it's really hot.
A: We're working. (Laughter) The only holdback is the rain.
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