Imagine you go to move a piano, bookshelf or whatever and discover you’re not strong enough. What do you do?
Call Stefan Collette, who owns Junk In The Trunk Transport Services. The company will help with heavy lifting, deliver furniture, clean out garages or storage units and haul off your junk. Collette says he tries to stand out in a number of ways, including his fast response time and extended hours. He works up until 11 p.m.
Collette recently hauled off a hot tub at 9 p.m. because the owners couldn’t be there until then. He’s taken calls at 6:30 p.m. that someone has a piece of furniture too heavy to lift and needs help ASAP, and he’s managed to be there within an hour.
“We prioritize efficiency and timeliness,” he said. “If they need a job done that night, it helps us stick out. It helps us to be flexible for our hours.”
This new business owner also tries to charge less than big corporations.
Collette overcame rough start in life to get his dream job
Collette launched Junk in the Trunk in September 2023. He also has a full-time job as a police officer for the Willard Police Department.
“It is awesome. I love my job,” he said. “I work with a bunch of really good people. I couldn’t ask for a better chief.”
Becoming a cop was a longtime dream he feared he wouldn’t realize because he had a rough start in life. In his early years, Collette was in foster care in Saint Louis, but was eventually adopted and his family moved to Springfield around sixth grade. He had a lot of anger issues, was getting in trouble and ended up back in foster care.
Collette was released from foster care at age 19, had a stint with homelessness and got connected with Life360 House, which partners with Life 360 Community Services to provide safe and affordable housing for at-risk young adults who are homeless or aging out of foster care. They teach life skills and help them get on their feet.
From there he was connected with I Pour Life, a nonprofit that helps mentor, teach and guide at-risk youth. It was life-changing.
“They helped get me the tools, resources and knowledge I needed to where I was able to graduate from their LifeStrengths Program, started a criminal justice degree at Ozarks Technical Community College and excelled from there,” Collette said.
He went to Drury University’s Law Enforcement Academy and graduated in 2020 with multiple letters of recommendation. Collette said it was a proud moment knowing he achieved his dream despite previous circumstances.
A husband and father of two little girls, 3 and 5, Collette is trying to build a better life for his family.
His wife came up with the business name
Since he has a full-time job, Collette juggles a lot and works into the night. He doesn’t have full-time employees but has contractors and friends who work with him.
The idea for his business started after he was helping a friend who ran a furniture business out of his garage. Sometimes they’d have to haul off sofas to the dump, so that made him think about getting into the junk removal business.
He credits the name of the business to his wife and says she has a great sense of humor.
“There are several things, junk and appliance disposal, yard waste removal, storage and garage cleanout, transport delivery,” he said. “We can deliver from the store. I like driving and meeting and talking to people.”
Free appliance removal helps him find potential customers
Collette tries to respond to calls in 30 minutes with a callback and then gives a quote for the job. Junk disposal starts at $80 and transport delivery services start at $50 to $100, and then mileage.
A free service he offers is hauling away appliances within the city limits of Springfield during business hours. Collette will haul dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers and scrap metal. He does not accept televisions or computers because he has to pay to dispose of them.
He can sell the appliance for scrap, but offering this service for free allows him to meet potential customers and make an impression. Regardless of the job, people want to know if you showed up on time, were courteous and easy to work with, he said.
“Maybe you will use us again for a paid job or refer us to friends,” he said. “That is how we have gotten a lot of business.”
‘We are locally owned, fast and friendly'
Due to his duties as a police officer, Collette has limited hours on certain days of the week. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, he does not accept jobs until after 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, he starts as early as 7 a.m. and works until 11 p.m.
As the business grows, Collette would like to hire someone full time to fill in some hours, but for now he’s still plugging away at his new venture. Since Junk in the Trunk moves furniture, too, Collette says he has to have someone he can trust.
“We are starting this from the ground up without loans, but want to start with good morals, honesty, good communication, transparency, and be careful and respectful of property,” Collette said. “We are locally owned, fast and friendly.”
Find it: Junk in the Trunk Transport Services. Owner Stefan Collette is also on Yelp, Nextdoor and Facebook.
