Moving families for over 40 years
Starting with just one truck, American Movers was built from the ground up. Throughout the 90’s American Movers started to grow as the fleet was built. Originally based in Sand City, CA daily operations grew as the military base known as Fort Ord grew until the base’s closure in 1994. Many moving companies stopped servicing the area as the military work declined. However American Movers continued to develop and grew. The company leased a 14,000 square foot warehouse that is still in use today in Marina, as well as a second 17,000 square foot warehouse in the Firestone Business Park in Salinas which is also still in use today. The fleet of trucks has grown significantly, as well as our hauling capabilities.
In 2021 the family business grew even more. John’s two sons Austin and Justin Lima joined the family business as well. Austin taking on the role of Office Manager, and Justin taking on the role of Warehouse Manager and being a major part of the day to day operations. The two sons have played critical roles and have helped continue to grow the company and give the flexibility needed to expand our hauling capabilities.. Servicing our local community in Marina and the Monterey County area has been a priority as well servicing our military. In 2023 American Movers won the 2022 Lambert Enterprises Agent of The Year Award, given to the agency that had the highest military customer survey scores. As the two sons continue to learn more about the industry and learn from the decades of experience that came before them the company continues to grow and expand into new territory and we truly believe this is only the beginning. All 4 of us continue to look forward to serving our beautiful community, as well as the Military as we continue to expand. We strive for excellence, and the best customer service. We aim to make your move as stress free as possible. Thank you for looking into our companies past and we look forward to continuing to move families into the future!
Put a Name to the Face
American Movers is Family owned and operated by 3 Generations.
Val Lima was born and raised on a small set of islands off of the Portuguese coast known as the Azores. After serving with the Portuguese military he moved to America in 1968. He had nothing but a work ethic and a determination to build a life for himself and his family. After working in the moving industry for 15 years in every part of the industry from packing, to being a driver, he started his own company American Movers in 1983. As American Movers turns 40 years old Val is still the owner and is heavily involved in the day to day operations, performing surveys, guiding packing crews, and making sure that the customer is always treated fairly.
In 1995 Val Lima’s only child John Lima started to work for American Movers and started the next generation in the family business. John is now in charge of day to day operations and is often out on the job sites and is our main out of town driver. After being in the industry for almost 30 years there isn’t much he hasn’t seen or moved. His leadership is a huge reason the company continues to grow and expand, expanding our service area to include all of Monterey County as well as expanding into neighboring counties. Under John’s watch he has grown our commercial accounts to include major local and national brands including the Monterey Bay Half Marathon, Kitchen Works, Carmel Kitchen and Baths, CSUMB, the NFL working with the then Oakland Raiders, Gingerich Built Mattresses, Costco, Mecum Auctions, and many more. He has also expanded our military carriers to include major nationwide carriers such as Lambert Enterprises, Unigroup, Mayflower, National Van Lines, Tier One, Interstate, TMM and many more. John’s focus has always been on the customer and giving them the best possible service, whether a big national account, or a new couple moving into their first home.
