About Us

We Are Family Owned and Independently Operated Since 1978

Firstly, we would like to thank our lord for the blessings of running a business and being able to serve the public community in his name. 

As we celebrate 45 years of business in 2023, we look back into our past and remind ourselves of the history we have to draw from. In 1951, Harry Mans immigrate to Canada from Holland with his family. Harry’s first job was to work on the farm that sponsored them when they came to Canada. He then went on to work at Rainbow Dairy in Welland. Harry married at the age of 21 and went on to have 3 children. As the children were still young, Harry went on to work at the Stoney Creek Dairy for a further 10 years. 

As our family got older, Harry saw the need for his family to work together. We began running the local mail routes for RR1 in Stoney Creek and RR2 in Hamilton and Winona. Later, our family added in a Hamilton Spectator route and soon became known as “Mans Delivery Service”. As business quickly picked up we began delivering flowers as well. 

One day Harry saw an advertisement for a moving business that was up for sale. After some careful deliberation and thinking of his daughter and two sons, he purchased the business name Mountaineer Movers. Thus, the ‘family’ business began!

In the early days, we did local deliveries and local moves. In 1992, we got our feet wet by joining a small van line so we could learn about cross country moving. Harry’s son-in-law, Andrew, went out and received his AZ endorsement and our family bought our first tractor trailer unit. We learned a lot while getting our licensing in place to be able to go from province to province. This was no easy feat when you must go out of your comfort zone while hoping to do well and expanding your new business. Now, over 45 years later, we still go straight across Canada! 

As a family, we understand and realize that moving can be one of the MOST stressful times in a person’s life. We at Mountaineer Movers try to help our customers understand more about their upcoming move and how we can help reduce some of the upcoming pressure. We strive to remember that we are servicing a wide variety of people and demographics and they are confronting a major change in their life. They are leaving a place they have called home for a new and unfamiliar place that will soon become their new haven. 

Nowadays, homes are getting larger; people have more possessions, and things run at a much faster pace than when the business first began. We try to do our best by conducting in home estimates (free of charge!), but we are human and as such, at times we can miss somethings, putting our estimates off. At other times, we have customers who wish to have their indoor furniture put onto one truck and their outdoor goods onto another truck – especially in inclement weather and during winter. We strive to meet our customers’ needs in any way that we are able to. 

We have moved a variety of people, from the newlyweds to the elderly. We try to give our elderly the full comfort of knowing that their needs are taken care of, whether they are downsizing their homes of 30 years or moving into a senior’s residence. We take care to cover their dresser contents and stretch wrap the dresser so their clothing stays in one place. Making sure that at least one thing will be untouched and familiar in their new surroundings. It is a small comfort but something small can mean so much. 

We love dealing with people and what better job can we have – to get paid to talk to customers and the general public. It makes for a very rewarding life. We thoroughly enjoy talking to people and lending a helping hand. We believe, as owners, that we must show our employees the same thing – that everyone is human, no one is perfect and that we need to work together as a team. 

As a family, we all started out together. Sarah, Harry’s granddaughter, is now the President and as always said she has been working since the womb; she is 3rd generation to be running Mountaineer Movers. Harry passed away February 18, 2015 from that dreaded cancer. Wendy suddenly passed away December 5 2020 and Andrew passed away this past April 11 2023 due to complications of a stroke. They live on in our memories and in everyday life we see pieces of them in everything we do. Andrew worked for the company for more than 40 years. For office staff we have Tom Ensign who has been with us for 10 years, he does over the phone estimates, sets up in-homes and does the in-home estimates as well. Alongside Sarah, she has her brother in law, AJ, who helps run the warehouse, trucks, does the moves and helps with the day to day operations.

We would not be a moving company without out movers – our ‘guys’. These men make Mountaineer a continuing success. Dave vanSchyndel is celebrating 33 years with us. Our movers are compassionate and good spirited. Our customers continue to complement their ability to move them quickly and with ease, making the transition between homes less stressful. 

In October 2012, we became independent in shipping across Canada, from East coast to West coast. Mountaineer Movers have 2 – 26-28 Foot trucks, 1 tractor trailer unit, 3 Trailer Units and a cube van. On any given week our estimator, Tom, can be found doing 15-20 in-home estimates for local and long haul. 

We are very proud to be active in our community and we help in many ways. We are members of the Stoney Creek and Hamilton Chambers of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and Paramount Drive Alliance Church, just to name a few. Throughout the year we try and support our community by providing trucks for the collection of food and goods for the Good Sheppard, Parkview Church on West 5th, Christian Salvage Mission and The Dream Centre. 

We firmly believe that the secret to our success is honesty. We believe in being honest with all of our clients and employees. Being personable from the very first call is important; putting a smile in our voices and being as helpful as we can, whenever we can. 

We have found over the years that a simple please and thank you, could you or would you mind, can certainly go a long way with people, customers and employees included. If you do this continually, customers will continue to use your services again and again, and employees will respond by continuing to serve you well. If you happen to make an error – own up to it! With this, you work on building trust within the community. Customers will tell their friends and word will spread. 

All in all – trust your instincts and treat all those around you, whether they are family, customers, or employees with respect, dignity and encouragement. This is our philosophy on running a successful and prosperous business.