Two summers ago, Ralph Herrin had to turn customers away.

Business at his Norcross moving company, Georgia Pack and Load, was strong and steady, he said.

Curtis Compton/AJC (ENLARGE)

Georgia Pack and Load's Felix Fowler helps a couple load. The company lost $50,000 in three months due to a dip in business.

Curtis Compton/AJC (ENLARGE)

Felix Fowler (left) and Prince Ramsey of Georgia Pack and Load Moving & Storage help with a move Monday in Lilburn.

THE ECONOMY Latest Headlines: [an error occurred while processing this directive] • More Business news • Search pending foreclosures • Find metro gas prices • Money-saving tips! Markets »

But last week Herrin agreed to a move that would earn him just $200, a quarter of his going rate.

Summertime is peak season for the moving industry. But local movers aren't as busy as in years past as they struggle to withstand two brutal economic blows: the slumping housing market and soaring gasoline prices.

Herrin's company, which takes in about $1.5 million a year, has lost $50,000 in the past three months. If it wasn't for a contract he recently landed with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, he said, "I think we'd be on the way out of business."

Herrin has decided to double advertising to drum up business. And he no longer lets workers get a lift home on the truck after a move. Not when diesel's running nearly $5 a gallon — more than doubling his fuel costs to upward of $10,000 a month.

The climate is the worst he's seen in his 12 years in the industry here, he said. "It's scary."

Nationwide, household moves dropped nearly 18 percent from January of 2007 to this January, said John Bisney, director of public relations for the American Moving and Storage Association.

The Georgia Movers Association couldn't provide similar data. While Georgia is "doing better than other states," business is off, said executive director Lee Lemke.

Local movers report that the commercial moving sector has weathered the economic downturn better than the residential one.

New home sales in metro Atlanta dropped 47 percent, according to SmartNumbers, a real estate consulting company. Home resales in metro Atlanta dropped 23.3 percent comparing the first quarter of this year to the same time period last year.

Erik Christensen, owner of Bulldog Movers, said he sees the numbers for resales beginning to turn around. People who were holding on to their property, waiting for a more lucrative market, are starting to sell, he said. But there are few encouraging signs when it comes to new home sales, he said.

With 80 percent of Christensen's business invested in household moves, revenue has dropped by 20 percent and profits have plummeted by at least 50 percent, he said. At the same time, his fuel costs have climbed from 1 to 5 percent of his total costs since he bought the company in 2003.

Christensen doesn't want to drop his prices because the company's viability rests on the money it makes during the high seasons of spring and summer.

"You have to be able to bank money and store up in the summertime to make it through the winter," Christensen said.

He's never had to lay off staff come winter. But this year, he said, "it's a definite possibility."

Some movers would like to see the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates the industry, permit a fuel surcharge, as has been done in other states. But so far, the commission has not been inclined to do so, saying movers could simply increase their fees.

Movers reject that argument. A fuel surcharge would go over better with customers than a rate increase, they said. Herrin says he is hearing more often of people trying to save money by renting trucks and handling their move themselves — by recruiting friends or church members or hiring labor to help them.

For its part, business at U-Haul has been steady. Nearly half of the company's moves take place between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and "it's been business as usual," said Joanne Fried, director of U-Haul's media relations.

In the meantime, moving companies are trying to compensate, cutting costs and raising rates where it's possible.

Alan Touart, who owns the North Fulton branch of Two Men and a Truck, has slightly increased his rates to help cover his monthly fuel bill, which has climbed several thousand dollars since January. His sales have dropped at least 10 percent since last year. And business isn't just slower, it's different. With people downsizing, Touart's doing smaller jobs — moving people from houses into apartments — and seeing more activity in the storage side of his business.

For Atlanta Peach Movers, which doubled its revenue every year between 2000 and 2005, today's climate feels like a "big wake-up call," said the company's president and CEO, Orlando Lynch.

Since last year, the company has lost 30 percent of its business in household moves, which comprise the bulk of its work.

"We were using our savings to pay our bills," he said.

Rather than lay off workers, Lynch has cut costs and reorganized the business.

He's trying to offset his losses by delving deeper into the commercial sector. He halved his advertising budget and retired 15 of the company's 45-truck fleet to save on insurance. He's also reconfigured the company warehouse to create more space to rent out for storage and therefore a slight bump in revenue.

"Every little bit helps right now," he said.