Staff Spotlight on Michael Leaburn

Michael Leaburn wouldn't have called himself an Edmonton moving expert when he started working at Two Small Men with Big Hearts a few years ago. He may have had previous experience working with hands, but the moving industry was pretty new for him. Although he quickly understood what the job was really about: helping people take the stress out of moving day.

“I was a driver in Edmonton for a year before moving into management,” Leaburn recalls. “Previously, I was a carpenter and worked on the rigs.” 

From those humble beginnings, Michael became a master of the trade and eventually took over the entirety of the Two Small Men Red Deer branch where he is now the dispatch manager. That title, however, doesn't even begin to describe everything Michael has to do in a day.

“A little bit of everything," he says. "I’m on a truck, doing computer work, confirmation calls, answering emails, putting in the guys’ hours, dealing with sales, dispatchers, and whoever else happens to call me. Even though we only have three trucks, we’re pretty much busy every day.”

While local moves tend to be the bread and butter of Two Small Men in many locations, things are a bit different in Red Deer, he explains.

“I’m lucky if I do two local moves a week in Red Deer. Most of my work is in the surrounding communities or between cities,” he says, listing off names like Lacombe, Sylvan Lake, Innisfail, and Ponoka.

He mentions that long-distance moves in Red Deer are pretty common place and that some clients need to move as far away as Vancouver Island or Winnipeg.

A recent job that Michael took on started with picking up a client's possessions in Red Deer then heading to Nelson to meet another client before going to Vancouver to drop off the first client's load. Then he had to take the second client's things onto a ferry to cross over to Chemainu before detouring towards Gold River to meet a third client. The end of that trip took him through Langley, Wendell, and Lacombe. If you're keeping track, that's a lot of coordination and stops for three moves. But it's all in a day's work.

“It’s one of the bigger ones with two loads on the truck at the same time, but I’ve dealt with bigger ones,” Leaburn says casually. "Right now, the manager stuff is more challenging because I’m on a truck for eight hours a day, then spend another four hours on the computer."

Because he started off as a mover, Michael understands what his crew needs to move forward and get every job done.

“Getting them days off so they can rest” is certainly a challenge during business season.

Michael doesn't mess around when it comes to keeping his crew safe.

“I make sure the trucks are always in for their scheduled maintenance and oil changes, and that the guys are aware of any issues on site,” he says. 

“Probably the most important thing for safety is hours of service. If a driver is tired, I’ll extend the trip rather than risk them driving fatigued.”

Summer is obviously the most hectic and busy season for Michael and the team in Red Deer, but they don't stop working once the snow starts falling and this can pose it's own challenges.

“Keeping the ramp safe is huge. Snow and ice build up quickly, so I keep buckets of ice melt on the truck,” Leaburn explains. “In winter we slow down a little, the guys can’t work quite as fast as in summer.”

While Leaburn is aligned with all of Two Small Men's core values, he's especially proud of the company's commitment to giving back to the community and he himself has worked on several of these initiatives.

“I’ve done a lot of charity moves here in Red Deer,” he says.

Some of the groups he's worked with specifically include the the Autism Society in Calgary and Sylvan Lake women’s shelter, where his team relocated the entire business.

In general, Michael tends to lead towards being a pretty good guy.

“If customers want to get rid of good furniture, I’ll store it in my shop until I can take it to Habitat for Humanity rather than charge dump fees,” he says.

And at the end of the day, he stays positive and doesn't complain much.

“My experience so far has been fairly good. I can see myself being with the company for a lot longer, but I don’t have plans on moving up. I don’t need the headaches of all the other stuff.”

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