News>New process improves household goods shipments
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The Defense Personal Property System is making permanent-change-of-station moves more convenient, reducing lost and damaged shipments and saving the government money. Here, a moving truck is unloaded as a military family moves into a new home at Camp Lejeune, N.C. (Courtesy photo)
The Defense Personal Property System is making permanent-change-of-station moves more convenient, reducing lost and damaged shipments and saving the government money. Here, a moving truck is unloaded as a military family moves into a new home at Camp Lejeune, N.C. (Courtesy photo)
12/10/2012 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., (AFNS) -- A system being implemented at U.S. Transportation Command is making permanent-change-of-station moves more convenient, while reducing lost and damaged shipments and saving the government money.
The Defense Personal Property System, introduced in 2009 as a pilot program at 17 installations, now supports 90 percent of all military moves, said Jill Smith, personal property division chief at Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command.
The web-based system automates many of the steps involved in military moves: pre-move counseling, scheduling, tracking, invoicing and claims filing for household goods shipments.
"The beauty of DPS is that customers can do all this from the comfort of their own homes. They can do it early in the morning or at 11 o'clock at night, whatever works best for them," Smith said. "Plus, all the information they might want; whether it's about gypsy moths or weight allowances, or just tips about how they can have a smoother move; is right at their fingertips, a click away, and available 24/7."
DPS also gives customers the opportunity to track their shipments online. If their shipment is lost or damaged, they can file a claim online and settle directly with the moving company.
Moves not yet covered by DPS, generally those involving long-term storage or moves within an overseas theater, will be included as new features are added to make the system fully operational by September 2017, Smith said.
Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Transcom's Army component, processes about 600,000 personal property moves each year for Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Defense Department civilian employees and their families, Smith reported. About one-third of these moves take place during the summer, and almost 70,000 include privately-owned vehicle shipments.
Collectively, they cost the Defense Department about $2.2 billion a year, Smith said. But with DPS, she projects between $117 million and $136 million in annual savings -- while providing customers with better service.
That's because rather than relying on "low-bid" transportation providers to conduct military moves, DPS provides "best value" services. This, Smith explained, factors in not just cost, but also variables such as timeliness, reliability, the incidence of lost or damaged shipments and ease in providing reimbursement for claims.
"We want to provide carriers that are not only qualified, but fully capable of making sure that they protect the members' household goods, provide a great quality move and communicate with that customer," she said. "The bottom line for us is that we want to do business with carriers that pick up the household goods on time and deliver them on time, with no or the least amount of damage -- whether (that carrier) happens to be cheaper or a little bit more expensive."
Those determinations are based directly on customer satisfaction surveys that help ensure the best movers get singled out for DOD business. "We rely on these surveys because (customers) get to evaluate the (transportation service provider's) performance, and that ties directly into the best-value score," Smith said. "The higher the customer satisfaction, the higher the score and the more opportunity that (carrier) gets to participate in future traffic."
As an additional incentive for moving companies to apply extra care while handling DOD shipments, carriers are now required to pay full replacement value for anything lost or broken. Before that change was introduced about five years ago, transportation carriers paid a depreciated value on all claims.
The result has been a dramatic reduction in claims.
"If they break your $500 china, that means they have to replace or repair it. So carriers have a tendency to be more careful," Smith said. "That is a good thing, because it helps make service members feel a little bit more comfortable about turning over their prized possessions, knowing that the carriers are going to be held responsible for it."
Smith said she's looking forward to the complete rollout of DPS and the convenience it will provide DOD customers throughout the move process.
"This will be a brand new era," she said. "Customers will have a centralized one-stop shop that gives them all the tools they need to plan and manage their moves, that provides them best-value service and uses their feedback to ensure other service members will, too."
Comments
3/29/2013 10:12:08 AM ET We moved here in Jun 2010 finally gave up after MCO direct deposited a fraction of total losses in Dec 12. To add insult to injury I get a W2 for what MCO direct deposited. IRS doesn't see this as damaged good replacment at depreciated value all IRS sees is I recieved more income that has no federal and state withholding which really bites as I file taxes I find I have to pay the federal government for my reimbursement of lost and damaged household goods
Brian , Barksdale AFB
12/19/2012 11:24:54 PM ET Not sure where any positive feedback is coming from but DPS is terrible notuser friendly so much that the contractors doing the moves have a special version of it built specifically for them because it is that complicated. My last move a door to door was the worst I've had in 20 years of service. They not only lost items they refused to pay for anything...now the AF Claims office has to deal with the problem. This is unacceptable and hopefully someone is doing something to fix this
David V, JBSA-Lackland
12/19/2012 3:42:03 AM ET It seems like a lot of people give up on the claims process and I believe this is exactly what the program is designed to do. In the business world it is called breakage. An example would be rebates that go unclaimed because the requirements to claim them are excessively complicated. It is truly unfortunate that the brave men and women of our military and their families are being treated like pawns in this game of business. But then again the love of money is the root of all evil.
Realistic, Remote
12/17/2012 11:17:12 AM ET Worst experience in a PCS move. For damaged items during the move the process is tedious lengthy and unforgiving. Even with the help of live person on the other end who was very understanding it took months and the items were not paid. They did say I could restart the process and have the Air Force look at it. But why By taking the live person out of the equation there is no common understanding. Ridiculous. Will work strongly to never use this system.
William Ingram Major, WPAFB OH
12/17/2012 10:13:44 AM ET With so many wonderful experiences I'll be counting the days until I get to use this magnificent new system
Furniture 4 Sale, Cheap
12/17/2012 9:50:09 AM ET I'm one of the many who had damaged furniture but have given up on the claims process. I used this new system and the moving company offered me a laughable dollar amount and I rejected it. The next step is so time consuming I've given up and I'll suck up the loss.
Becky, Peterson AFB
12/17/2012 8:23:39 AM ET I've made several PCS's over the years and have seen the process change. It has been less than enjoyable adjusting to a slightly different then wildly different process between bases but I can honestly say that I've never had a large debacle with my TMO. Never had any damaged property never had my stuff lost I really don't think I've ever had to wait very long either.
Chris, Texas
12/17/2012 7:53:02 AM ET I recently PCS'ed using DPS. After several hours of frustration with the system I went to the TMO office and the good airman took care of me. The system is terribly broken. When I moved to my new base several times were damaged but I had such difficultly simply accessing DPS I gave up trying to claim anything. The Air Force is failing Airmen with this system.
Capt Nick Mazula, WPAFB
12/17/2012 2:52:11 AM ET I feel the need to let everyone know that it IS possible to have a good experience with TMO among all these negative comments. From the pick up company in Georgia to the Delivery companies in Germany I had a PERFECT experience. None of my items were damaged and everything arrived that I shipped. I was EXTREMELY happy with the professionalism of the movers in BOTH countries I conveyed this in my DPS Survey as well. A
Jason, Germany
12/17/2012 2:41:12 AM ET Looks like the Systems Owners aren't on the same page of music as the Rest of the Customers...DPS is horrible for everybody just wish they would have caught it like this last One Billion Dollar Logistics System that was just scrapped..
Tim, Spain
12/14/2012 11:16:01 PM ET What do you do with a carrier that uses your DVD player while in NTS and forgets to return the remote control
Never Again, Beale to Civilian
12/14/2012 7:53:48 PM ET I used DPS during my last PCS and it was a terrible experience. The website constantly crashed and it often took me 10x the amount of time to get something done. It was one of my worse experiences ever.I had a few things that were broken during the move but after a dozen or so tries of trying to start the claims porocess on DPS I simply gave up. The time and frustration was not worth the 250-300 claim.
Bryan, Colorado Springs
12/14/2012 4:46:45 PM ET I would have to agree that this sytem is nothing but a way to cut down on the cost of manning. Please listen to the people and change the system already.....
Jeremy, New Mexico
12/14/2012 4:02:48 PM ET Another bad idea in the history of bad ideas. Too many middle-men in this process. In Germany waited for the movers to show up on the scheduled day and they didn't show up. Went to TMO and they said wait another day. Did that and still nothing. Took 3 days to get in contact with the CORRECT people to find out the stateside company in charge of my move did not contact the movers when they were supposed to show up. Showed up in the states on-time with an entire crate missing from my shipment. Will be selling everything before next PCS. VERY disappointed that this is the best the Gov. can provide us service members with.....
Not Impressed, USA
12/14/2012 1:55:01 PM ET This system is another ECSS waste of money and time. The program is NOT user friendly and not compatible for moste browsers i.e. Safari or Firefox. It's already stressful enough during PCS but now you use a system that has a multitude of windows to open and links everywhere ... the design makes zero sense but some contractor is pocketing the money for this. Thank goodness I have ONE LAST PCS move
MSgt T-S, JBPHH
12/14/2012 1:12:33 PM ET The system is far from perfect. I used it my last PCS and it takes forever to complete do to the website freezing up all the time. It was much easier when you get just go to TMO and complete it in a few minutes. Its crap if you ask me
SSgt Jackson, Ohio
12/14/2012 11:16:52 AM ET DPS is hands down the worst IT system I've used. As stated in previous comments I also spent 10 to 15 of my own hours using a program that freezes shuts down and takes forever to load the next page instead of 10 minutes with a TMO counselor. I'm not sure how much money this saves by removing one GS-07 from TMO but making the thousands of people who PCS every year spend 10 hours each using this program.
Lt Col , Nebraska
12/14/2012 8:07:27 AM ET @A1C Spurling Cannon AFB NM - There is a guaranteed solution...do not ship anything.
Realistic, Remote
12/14/2012 7:54:01 AM ET I was deployed to CENTCOM when told I had to use this system for PCS from Alaska to Va. Took me 3 hours to fill in all the data that a TMO specialist would have done in 10 min. Then I had to print those forms and send to Alaska TMO. It saved me nothing. BTW During the trip from AK to VA tried to check on status of shipment. We have all Mac systems not supported. No mobile app. I called for help told to find a PC while driving on the ALCAN highway that was funny. Lucly for me we carried all our prize possessions in a trailer so I didn't even bother to claim the torn couch marred tables broken chairs or smashed rubbermaids. Guess that did save someone money since spending 10 more hours chasing that was not worth my time. I can eat that loss but for the average Airman this is not a good system recommend you dump it for a moble-application based system that actually works. Call USAA and intergrate the claims with the camera of the smartphone let others see the damage of
S. Jackson, Pentagon
12/14/2012 2:07:41 AM ET DPS is the worst system I have used in my military career. There were so many problems with using the site. On top of that the program in my opinion was put in place so TMO can just sit there and not have to do a thing. They saw me sitting there struggling with the program as the program froze multiple times and still did nothing all I have to say is TMO in Little Rock is no help especially the males. Of all people I have talked to in my career I have never heard anyone say they liked DPS instead they have all hated it. I don't know where this article got it's facts but they are wrong. So in my opinion this article is a complete lie just trying to make it seem like the airforce is going down the right path with this program when in fact it is not.
SrA O, Ramstein AB
12/13/2012 9:52:47 PM ET Regardless of what computer system used going with the lowest bidder is what makes PCSing stressful. I had a move scheduled for my upcoming PCS and when I found out that at least 4 different companies will handle my belongings it made me uneasy. This is the second move in a row like this and I wasn't doing it again. I cancelled that shipment and scheduled my own mover. The computer system isn't the issue it's the entire process
Jennifer, San Antonio TX
12/13/2012 6:32:01 PM ET I find that this system is amazing. It makes it so you never have to leave the comfort of your couch. I remember when I was PCSing and a re-run of Smallville was on. I was so scared that I would have to miss what happened to Clark at the end of Season 4. Would he survive I would never know... If it wasn't for DPS thanks to DPS I got my move and the episode accomplished in one day. I've never heard of DVR....
DPS LOVER, www.move.mil
12/13/2012 6:17:16 PM ET DPS is a perfect illustration of low-cost bidding. The site is glitchy looks like a web design from a decade ago and frequently times out. My suspicion is that Ms Miles has never used DPS ... if she had I doubt she would have written a favorable piece.
YoAF, Hanscom
12/13/2012 5:43:38 PM ET Just completed my second PCS using this system. It was my worst in 18 years of service. I question whether taking the customer physically out of customer service has resulted in savings. I'd estimate 10 hours are spent learning and navigating a user interface that is NOT intuitive. In previous years minutes were spent with a knowledgable Airmen filling in the required information. My claim was inputed three months ago with no update or resolution. While it might make sense to automate other systems and processes PCSing is not one of them in my opinion.
LtCol J, DC
12/13/2012 5:31:32 PM ET I am starting my move and so far the DPS system is a joke there is nothing that explains terms I am going to an East coast base had to call all the way to Hill AFB to ask a question. I get my Smooth Move briefing and am told that it doesn't work well for those going from overseas to the states. It took my wife and I 2 hours to do what it used to take 10-20 minutes with a person at TMO. Fire the computer and bring the people back
MSgt J, UK base
12/13/2012 3:38:33 PM ET Easier and better for who I guess if you are a computer geek it might be cool as you can set up new passwords and learn multiple systems which you are only going to use once every few years. I found it to be a pain - glad I won't be moving again.
pj, at the office
12/13/2012 2:59:24 PM ET DPS is great if the website works. It takes days to figure it out but non of that matters when the website constantly crashes and TMO tells you there is nothing they can do about it. And it only works at least when I used it last year with internet explorer. So you mac users are left to do it at work anyway. I found it useful when it worked but that was not very often.
TSgt, AFNCR
12/13/2012 1:03:14 PM ET I will be PCSing 1 May 2013 to Spangdahlem. Do you choose if you get to use this system My dad was in the military for 21 years and ive seen the things that have been lost and stolen. Id rather not get to my new station to find i cant get full reimbursment for things that have been stolen. What is something i can do to look out for myself my wife and our belonings
A1C Spurling, Cannon AFB NM
12/13/2012 11:19:18 AM ET This system is a JOKE they lock you out of the system after 23 days of inactivity. Once locked out you cannot make a claim. I bet that does save the Air Force money...but not because any less is being damanged or stolen. You simply made it impossible to claim. One more big contractor making millions to run a website that is garbage and the help desk is useless. One more office TMO that now gets to blame everyone else and finger point for the daily epic failures.
Donni, Las Vegas
12/13/2012 9:51:22 AM ET The best part is now with reforms to the DITY process you get paid less for doing the move yourself as you once did. This I believe is an effort to start to making economically unfeasible to do DITY moves. If they give us less money we will not be able to rent or contract a transport service to move are stuff. The government gets a better rate then what we do. Basically they will pay someone else to pack your stuff but they dont what to pay you to pack your own stuff and oh my gosh actually take good care of your property and also i doubt it will get stolen. Unlike the current goverment contracted system. Good luck folks
MSgt Winnen, Florida
12/13/2012 9:04:26 AM ET I used the system this March to PCS from Kadena AB Japan to Oklahoma USA... It wasn't bad. I had a few questions that I had to go to the TMO office but they had a PC right there that they where able to walk me through it. As for the claim... I had to do a claim on 2 things... It did take like 59 daysalmost the max for the carrier to respond but they did... and I was satisfied with the response. They gave me full replacement value for the items that closest match what I had. It was convient for me because my Desk broke.. which I was wanting to sell anyway.. but I wouldn't have gotten even close to what I got from the carrier that broke it. So currently I like the system I hated constantly bringing in 40000000 copies of everything to TMO hand writen and then people not show up because the guy at TMO forgot to input it into the system properly or something else. So for some of us the system works I will be using it again in a few months.. less t
TSgt H, OK USA
12/12/2012 12:50:54 PM ET All this does is make it easier for the military member to do their claim. It is still up to the packers to take care of your items then the hassle is getting the claim center to give you money or either fix or replace your items....The worry is still their of whether your items make it in one piece....
B, Texas
12/12/2012 12:21:39 PM ET Now if we can just do something about the quality of the workers that are being employed by the companies contracted by the government. Their work ethic needs improvment so that I can feel confident on a PCS that the packers and shippers at least care even a little about my stuff. The low quality of packers that are hired is the only thing in my 11 year AF career that I felt was a violation forced upon me. What happened to people who took pride in their job No comments on DPS it sort of worked when I used it 6 months ago. TMO told us some functions don't work but use it anyways. Real professional.
TSgt Dempsey, Schriever AFB
12/12/2012 11:12:15 AM ET I concur with Lt Col K. I filled two claims with two separate carriers after my last PCS move. Neither even responded in the 60 days. To top it off you have to fill everything out in DSP for your moves and then once the carriers don't respond there is a button that says transfer to MCO which is the military claims office. Guess what the button doesn't actually do anything. After you call the claims center they tell you that you have to reinput your entire claim into their system thus duplicating the workload. In addition they only pay depreciated value until some time in the future where they may get the additional money from the carrier. This system is seriously broke and the AF can put out shiny new improved versions of this but bottom line the system is broke and they are throwing band aids at it. The reality is the AF has made it so hard that most people simply don't file.
Dave, Colorado Springs
12/12/2012 10:01:00 AM ET The Full Replacement Value claims process only works if the carrier responds to your claim. I could not even get the carrier to acknowlegde or respond to the claim. When that happens you get kicked over to the old claims process through the consolidate process at Wright-Patt---you spend weeks trying to make a claim and ultimately give up in frustration when you realize the pain of the process is not worth the cost of what you are claiming in damages.
LtCol K, MacDill AFB FL
12/12/2012 5:10:20 AM ET I've only got two words for this DITY move I would be careful about touting the success of this system until more people have used it. I was forced to use this system right up to the point where the local TMO office realized that it could not be used for certain remote overseas assignments. Make no mistake the purpose of this system was to automate as many functions as possible take people and their paychecks out of the loop under the guise of doing more with less. In the end less will get done and the military members and their families will be the ones left holding the bag.
Realistic, Remote
12/12/2012 1:58:09 AM ET I'd like to see a new process that helps to prevent cats from being shipped in mattress box springs. During a PCS from Edwards AFB to Elmendorf we originally thought our cat ran out an open front door. Lucky for us we found our cat 3 months later in a wooden crate in our box spring.
RetiredAK, Anchorage AK
12/11/2012 4:05:41 PM ET This system is by design ok. It does what it is designed to do. The hang up lies in that when the user puts a request into the system that is where it ends there was no interface between the local TMO office and the DPS system. Had to search in vain to find a phone number for a local TMO office only to find out that their local policy required me to log in to DPS print out the filled-out forms attach the orders that were already in the system mind you and email to a person so that they could research the request and pull it over from DPS. Only after having personal interaction did the move go forward. I'm sure the program will improve as time goes on but it was far from seamless.
Chris, USA
12/11/2012 2:57:21 PM ET If only this system had a way to handle TMOJPPSO shops that fail to perform. I was waiting two months after arriving at Keesler for my HHG shipment to be packed because JPPSO repeatedly lost my paperwork after confirming that they had received it.
KI, Keesler
12/11/2012 12:53:14 PM ET It was awesome when i PCS'd to my current base and Colorado Springs called my movers and they had no idea where my stuff was for almost a week. The movers stopped answering phone calls from my wife, me, my moving, counsler and Colorado Springs. The system can only be improved so much before people mess it up.
lost in the move, conus
12/11/2012 12:47:29 PM ET I worked with this new system for last PCS. The idea is sound but once again the follow-through falls short. When issues or questions come up that can't be handled online and believe me those things ALWAYS come up it's a serious hassle to actually get a live person to help. Also not to demean anyone but there are people out there who can't find the nose on their face and now they are being asked to use a system that relies on their own ability to find the answers to their questions and problems and get things scheduled. The military is going more and more to online solutions trying to save money but at the cost of actual customer service.
James, Virginia
12/11/2012 12:03:33 PM ET If this system just stops the theift done by many of the overseas movers on unsuspecting military folks returning to the USA that will be greatly appreciated. It happend to me little did I know that a big X on the box ment the box would be replaced before the containers would reach the port in England coming back to the USA but I am sure it happened in other Countries as well. The loss is just not on the government because there is a replacement cost which the government does not fully cover so any loss hurts us all not to mention the unreplaceable items lost and cant do a thing about it becuase the movers are 3000 miles plus away and laughing.
SNCO Ret 89, SW Ohio
12/11/2012 10:11:38 AM ET Can't remember how many times in my 26 year career I had to go to TMO in person and resolve issues with a move.I had to fire a packing crew---the carrier hired temp workers who couldn't speak English and had no idea what they were doing---. The TMO reworked my entire move that day couldn't have done that online or by calling someone in Colorado Springs. One day we'll learn it's MUCH more customer friendly to be able to communicate with a person at your losing or gaining base who knows and deals with the local carriers every day.
Sgt Snorkle, USA
12/11/2012 8:50:24 AM ET good job people. personally i hate when Superman calls me up to Metropolis and Robin forgets to pack my extra utility belt...cuz i'm Batman
Batman, The Alleys of Gotham City
12/10/2012 9:31:39 PM ET I just want them to help my son get his furniture and belongings shipped overseas. Can't believe the trouble he's had trying to get it done.
