Chris DiJulio is a seasoned veteran in the moving industry and has been an integral part of the sector since 1967. Chris has served on the Board of Directors of the American Moving & Storage Conference since 1984. Having been very involved in the Moving & Storage Industry, DiJulio served on the Household Goods Carrier Bureau from 1984 until it closed its doors. In addition, Chris served on the Washington Movers Conference and was a past President of that association.
His career began right after his sophomore year of high school when he started working at Lincoln Moving & Storage. “On June 6th, 1967, my father dropped me off at Lincoln Moving & Storage Co., Inc.,” Chris recalls, “I was sixteen years old and was on summer break from school.” Lincoln was a family business owned by Chris DiJulio’s father and his father’s six older brothers. They had purchased Lincoln in 1944 and had become a United Van Lines agent in 1947.
In 1974, Chris’s dad and uncles sold Lincoln to Loomis Armored Car. “I had worked there, as a driver/packer, laborer, every summer and winter break while finishing high school and attending Seattle University and the University of Washington,” Chris remembers. In 1975, just one year after the DiJulio’s sold the company, the new Lincoln management asked Chris to work full time in the office. For the next five years, Chris worked from dispatcher to manager of his own branch in Tacoma, Washington.
In 1980, Mayne Nickless, an Australian corporation and the largest armored car company in the world, purchased Loomis Armored Car, the owners of Lincoln Moving & Storage at the time. This Australian company wanted to grow its transportation business in the United States, so they asked Chris and two other managers to go to California and purchase Lyon Van Lines.
Lyon Van Lines was a 48-state van line with an agency network throughout the United States in the 1970s and 80s. At that time, Lyon had $20 million in annual revenue. “So, I left the Lincoln/ United Van Lines system and started competing against Lincoln at Lyon Van Lines,” Chris recalls, “We moved Lyon Van Lines to Dallas, Texas, in 1981. I worked my way up to President of Lyon Van Lines in 1985.”
Then, in 1987, his Mayne Nikless Australian superiors told Chris they thought they could make a better ROI in other parts of the world. They made Chris a deal: “If I sold their seven trucking companies in the United States, they would sell me my old family business, Lincoln Moving & Storage, for a book value of $619,000. Lincoln’s annual revenue at that time was 3.2 million,” Chris states.
At that time, Lincoln was still a United Van Lines agent, and Chris preferred maintaining that relationship. However, during the closing process of all the sold companies, Global Van Lines negotiated that Lincoln and Chris DiJulio would switch to Global Van Lines to finalize the sale.
Chris took a big leap by buying Lincoln Moving & Storage, showing his commitment and belief in the company. His entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop there; he expanded the Lincoln Family of Companies by acquiring APACA Moving & Storage, with branches in Albuquerque and Alamogordo in 1998. In 2003, Chris purchased Apaca Van Lines in Denver and Colorado Springs. In 2015, Chris purchased Lompoc Van & Storage and Vandenberg Van & Storage, expanding the company’s reach to California. He also purchased Star Moving & Storage in Tacoma that same year, demonstrating his business acumen and vision.
Chris’s approach to business is hands-on, a philosophy born from years of doing every job in the moving industry, from sweeping warehouse floors to driving tractor-trailers. He has been doing all kinds of work for Lincoln since he started at age 16. “Work originally included sweeping warehouse floors, loading and unloading sea containers … Generally, I did everything the older crew members did not want to do. A lot of running,” states Chris.
DiJulio’s belief in learning tasks firsthand before delegating ensures he understands every aspect of his business, has contributed to his personal growth and shaped the ethos of the companies he leads. The Lincoln Family of Companies is a family-owned and operated business, and this hands-on approach is evident in every aspect of its operations. Chris DiJulio works closely with his son Danny DiJulio, Vice President of the Lincoln Family of Companies, who has been with Lincoln Moving & Storage for 27 years.
Beyond the office, Chris is a family man. He is married to his wife Kathryn and has five children and ten grandchildren. “We have a great time when we are together,” Chris DiJulio says.
