The U-Haul Center, 540 Kasold Drive, was buzzing with activity Friday as workers tried to accommodate customers for their moving needs. Customer service representative Mike Moreno sweeps out the inside cab on a 17-foot trailer to get it ready for the next customer.

Amber Techumseh of Lawrence wheels out a carpet cleaning machine she rented from the U-Haul Center, 540 Kasold Drive, to clean out her old apartment before she moves this weekend.

Business is booming for several local businesses as KU students move in and out of Lawrence. The beginning of August is a demanding time for local moving and storage companies and the city’s hotels.

“We’ve got a lot of customers that need to move,” said Spencer Lamborn, an employee at U-Haul Center of Lawrence, 540 Kasold Drive. The moving company was so busy that the store used a call center to handle its high call volume. “It causes a little bit of a problem,” Lamborn said of the heavy demand from students, which can’t always be met, “but usually they’ll find a way to get their stuff moved.”

Some students look for a cheaper option when it comes to moving, and KU senior Danny Doherty has turned that demand into a profitable business called Student Movers. “It was originally just a Craigslist ad,” he said. “I got a lot of hits there so I put my ad on Google. It’s going pretty well.”

The 23-year-old has run the business for three years using nothing but his pickup truck, trailer and some helpful friends.

“I just started helping him this week actually,” said Andy Obrock. He and Doherty said a majority of their clients are students moving out of their apartments and homes. “We’ve been moving people to storage units because apartments can’t move in until August 3rd,” he said.

The city’s hotels are also filled with parents helping their sons or daughters move. “We’re all geared up and we have done a lot of extra hiring, so we’ve got a lot of employees,” said Nancy Longhurst, general manager of The Olivia Collection, which owns The Oread and the Eldridge Hotel.

Over the next few weeks, thousands of Kansas University students will flood Lawrence as they get settled ahead of the first day of classes. Doherty said he’s looking forward to helping his fellow Jayhawks move in.

“We do cheap labor but it’s more personal,” he said. “We make a lot of friends.”