New program aims to improve moving process

  • Published
  • By Army Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Full replacement value for lost or damaged items is among several changes taking effect in October as part of a new program called “Families First” which aims to improve the moving process for military families.

“We’re going to have a lot of happier campers because they are not going to be losing any money out of their pockets like they did before,” said Cullen Hutchinson of the passenger and personal property office at the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command in Alexandria, Va.

Under the current claims process, servicemembers only receive a depreciated value for property that is lost or damaged, he said.

For example, a $200 television that is lost or damaged might only be valued at $100 after depreciation, he said.

With Families First, he said, “the carrier will either replace the television with a similar one or reimburse the servicemember the full cost of a new one.”

Another benefit of the program is that servicemembers will now deal directly with the carrier to arrange direct delivery of household goods, thus alleviating the need for temporary storage, he said.

“What makes this even better for the servicemembers is that whenever you have temporary storage (and) more handling of your household goods, the more susceptible it is for loss or damage,” Mr. Hutchinson said.

He said direct delivery will also save the services money now spent for temporary storage.

In Families First, servicemembers will file settlement claims directly with the carrier, using a Web-based claim-filing process.

“There will not be a middle man; the servicemember will be able to address the carrier directly on the issue (he or she has),” he said.

“And the carrier will have an incentive to take care of that servicemember in a positive way.”

Mr. Hutchinson said servicemembers will be encouraged to complete a Web-based customer satisfaction survey that measures the performance of carriers, and that survey will become part of that carrier’s record.

“If the carrier’s performance is poor, then the amount of business he’s going to get from the government is going to fall off or stop completely,” he said. “So there is an incentive there. It’s no longer a competition on cost, but it’s a competition now with cost and performance.”

The survey gives servicemembers a chance to influence decisions on whether a carrier continues to do business with the Defense Department, Mr. Hutchinson said.

“And that decision is going to be based on the performance of that carrier,” he said.

“(The result will be) more quality carriers, which will translate into quality service for our servicemembers,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “And higher-quality carriers will ultimately mean higher-quality moves.”

He said efforts like Families First should help improve the quality of service in the military moving industry that carries household goods of more than 500,000 servicemembers and their families each year.

He said problems in the moving industry have plagued the services for years, and that efforts to improve the moving process have been ongoing since 1994, starting with re-engineering of the household goods process.

“The perceptions were that DOD was experiencing a very high loss and damage rate,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “When we looked at the numbers, it was significantly higher than some of the corporate accounts.”

In addition, he said, claim rates also were higher for military moves. While average military claims ranged around $500, he said many corporate claims were in the range of $100.

In the end, he said, DOD officials expect to see a “considerable decrease in loss and damage claims.”

“The reason for that is that the carrier is assuming a higher liability for claims,” he said. “So it’s in their best interest to protect the goods better so they are not subject to this loss.”

Mr. Hutchinson said the program also should ease some of the stress involved with moving.

“What we’re trying to do is reduce that stress for our servicemembers so they can concentrate on more important things and not worry about (their things),” he said.