New military relocation program moves forward

After nine years of trying to find the best way to relocate service members, officials at the Military Traffic Management Command are confident that they have finally crafted a winning plan.

"At last," said Col. Silvia Anderson, deputy chief of staff for passenger and personal property. "We're moving forward."

The "Families First" relocation plan will focus on providing better service by increasing communication, reducing damage and loss claims, and expanding the number of direct moves.

"Right now there is a very high percentage of temporary storage," Randt said. "With better communication the moves can be directly to residences and prevent the need for storage and lessen damage."

MTMC officials presented the new plan to the U.S. Transportation Command last week after spending the summer working with military and moving industry representatives to hammer out the new relocation program. The teams studied moving rates, payment methods, quality control measures and claims processing. Their final product, the "Families First" program, incorporates aspects of several relocation pilot programs tested by MTMC to improve the Pentagon's much-maligned relocation program.

"We took the best from all those plans and put it together in the new system," Randt said. "It's been a long run after nine years, but we hope this will be a good start to the new program."

The Defense Department spends about $3 billion each year moving military service members and their families, including the transportation, storage and management of household furniture, goods and baggage. MTMC, the Army component of the U.S. Transportation Command, performs, on average, about 500,000 moves a year. According to Randt, the new program will cost 13 percent more than previous programs, but the extra cost will result in better service.

Movers are expected to provide a higher liability payment for the full replacement value of lost or damaged goods under MTMC's plan and allow service members to settle their claims with the moving company. Currently service members are paid only a portion of the value of their lost or damaged items. The program will also use feedback from service members to gauge its best performers. That will help determine which movers get the most Defense business.

"In this system a higher proportion of move referrals go the companies who get the best rating," Randt said. "It's a win-win scenario multiplied a couple of times over."

The new relocation program should be in place by October 2004, Randt said.