Latest news with #HomeSafeAlliance
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's only getting worse': Hegseth issues changes to fix military moving issues
Top brass at the Department of Defense is weighing in on the way the military moves its members after an Action News Jax investigation. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Transportation Command to implement sweeping changes amid the busy moving season. Hegseth issued a list of changes, starting with slashing the number of moves the new program through HomeSafe Alliance receives, saying, 'We know it's not working and it's only getting worse.' Action News Jax has been covering the military moving nightmares for months, talking to military families who wait weeks, even months, to receive their goods, movers who can't afford to work at HomeSafe's rates, and more. INVESTIGATES: After the military switches to a new company, moving issues continue 'The stress does not end from start to finish,' one Navy sailor told us. Experiences like those with are the reason Hegseth said he is changing the plan. All moves will now be split between the new program with HomeSafe at the helm and the old system with multiple vendors, like Jacksonville-based Stefan Cordeiro of Stewart Moving and Storage Memorandum directing immediate modifications to the personal property program 'Everybody has been spewing their concerns for at least the last two years now,' Cordiero, whose business took a major hit with the new program, said. Now, the DOD is taking action. Earlier this month, it relieved the program's director of his duties. Hegseth also just ordered TRANSCOM to come up with new, more competitive rates for moving companies, increasing the amount military families are reimbursed if they move themselves, and developing a task force to review the entire moving process and see how it can be improved, as well as tracking weekly progress. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] In response to the memo HomeSafe Alliance sent us this statement: 'HomeSafe Alliance is grateful for Defense Secretary Hegseth's attention to the Global Household Goods Contract and the directives he has issued, which will greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families. DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes. We look forward to working with the PCS Task Force to demonstrate how our program modernizes and digitizes the move process and resolves decades-long issues with military relocations.' [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders immediate changes to troops' household goods program
With peak military moving season in full swing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered immediate changes to the system that moves troops' household goods, in light of 'recent deficiencies' in the performance of the new Global Household Goods Contract, according to a Pentagon memo. That includes increasing the reimbursement rate for troops and families who decide to move all or part of their household goods themselves to 130% of what the government would have paid under the GHC contract for personally procured moves made May 15 through Sept. 30. The rate is currently 100%. 'I take my responsibilities to our service members, civilians and their families seriously,' Hegseth wrote in a May 20 memo to senior Pentagon leaders, combatant commanders and defense agencies. The new contract, worth potentially up to $17.9 billion over nine years, is aimed at fixing long-standing problems with missed pickup and delivery dates, broken and lost items and claims. However, amid the contract's rocky rollout this year, families have reported delays in getting their household goods picked up and delivered. 'We know it's not working and it's only getting worse. We've heard your concerns about contractor performance quality and accountability. We hear you loud and clear. That's why we're taking decisive action immediately,' Hegseth said in a video posted on X. He described the process as 'a mess,' and acknowledged 'it's never been a great system.' The current GHC rates 'fail to reflect market rates,' Hegseth said. He's ordered a review of the rates being paid to movers under both the new GHC system, which consolidates management under a single contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, and the legacy system, in an effort to ensure enough companies participate in moving troops' household goods. And since the rates for reimbursing service members for moving themselves are tied to those GHC rates, Hegseth ordered the increase to 130% of the GHC rate for personally procured moves. Hegseth has directed U.S. Transportation Command to hold both the GHC and the legacy moving program 'accountable' and to provide weekly updates to the offices of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness and undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. He's also ordered both of those offices to form a PCS task force to 'act decisively to improve, expand, terminate or transfer GHC or [legacy program] responsibilities as needed,' according to the memo. 'We're going to fix it holistically after peak moving season, and we're going to throw the kitchen sink at it to make sure your moves work this season as well,' Hegseth said. TRANSCOM, which had been gradually ramping up the volume of the moves with HomeSafe Alliance, since April 2024, had expected to move all domestic shipments under the new contract by this year's peak moving season, but they scrapped that plan earlier this year as problems began to mount with HomeSafe Alliance's ability to provide enough capacity to pack, load, truck and unload service members' belongs. Season of Uncertainty: Many questions remain as peak military moving time approaches In the meantime, officials are continuing to use both the new GHC system and the legacy system to move people, in an effort to ensure there are enough movers. Hegseth also said he fired Andy Dawson, the civilian head of the program, replacing him with a two-star general, Army Maj. Gen. Lance G. Curtis, commander of the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, who will report directly to Hegseth. Defense officials have had multiple meetings about the problem over the past few weeks, Hegseth said. A number of moving companies have declined to participate in the new GHC system, citing lower rates than they've been traditionally paid. When GHC can't find a mover for a service member's belongings, it turns the shipment back to TRANSCOM, and the shipment goes to a mover in the legacy system. At least 5,700 shipments have had to be turned away from GHC, according to the most recent estimate. But movers have complained that legacy system rates released earlier this month are also lower than those of previous years, further contributing to a lack of capacity to move household goods. 'It's a season of instability' for moving companies, said Dan Bradley, vice president of government and military relations for the International Association of Movers. It's been difficult for moving companies to plan for the season and make important decisions such as buying more trucks and hiring personnel, especially since until recently they were under the impression that 100% of DOD moves would be made under GHC, he said. 'They want to support service members in those moves,' he said, but it's difficult to turn around at the drop of a hat. 'They're doing the best they can. They want to stay in the program.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Problems with Privatized Household Goods Shipments Prompt Hegseth to Order Immediate Changes
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered immediate changes to address a multitude of problems this year with domestic military permanent change of station moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC. In a memo Tuesday to senior leaders and combatant commanders, Hegseth announced that he has ordered U.S. Transportation Command to address what he called "recent deficiencies" in performance by HomeSafe Alliance, the company that manages the $7.2 billion contract to run the department's moving process. Military families with PCS orders this year have reported numerous issues with scheduling and executing moves, such as packers who don't show up, delayed pickups and deliveries, and cancellations. Read Next: GOP's 'Big Beautiful' Bill with $8.5 Billion for Military Quality-of-Life Boost Passes House Hegseth outlined six steps Transportation Command will take to better support military personnel and their families when they move. "Relocating our personnel is critical to the military mission, putting human resources and expertise where they are needed to defend the nation," Hegseth wrote. According to the memo, Transportation Command must immediately hold HomeSafe Alliance, as well as the legacy system, known as Tender of Service, accountable in meeting performance benchmarks, providing weekly updates to senior Pentagon acquisition and personnel leadership. The command also must make sure that the GHC is fully operational and, where it falls short, moves should be transferred to the legacy program. The contract, which has been in the works for years, was designed to privatize management of troops' household goods shipments during moves -- and solve widespread dissatisfaction among military families over the handling of the shipments by Transportation Command and the military. Transportation Command must review the rates it pays to HomeSafe under the contract, and "if appropriate, implement economic price adjustments" to raise the rates, which have been criticized by industry officials as not competitive with market rates. And, most important to military families who prefer to execute moves themselves, Hegseth increased the rate the Defense Department will pay service members to move themselves -- a "personally procured move" -- to up to 130% of what HomeSafe is currently supposed to receive if the company performed the move. "As I have determined that the current GHC rates fail to reflect market rates and are in excess of 130% of current GHC rates, implement adjustments to the government constructed costs for reimbursement of personally procured moves from May 15, 2025, through September 30, 2025," Hegseth wrote. HomeSafe Alliance won the household goods contract in 2021 following a series of protests over the award by other bidders. Under the contract, the entire moving process, from scheduling, packing, pickup and delivery, is supposed to be managed by the private company. HomeSafe Alliance conducted test moves last year, and this year was supposed to handle the majority of the domestic moves. According to the publication Federal News Network, however, just 25% of domestic moves had been assigned to GHC by April and, of those, 1,600 were turned back over to the legacy system because HomeSafe couldn't handle the capacity. The DoD oversees roughly 400,000 household goods shipments each year -- 15% of all moves in the U.S. In a statement to HomeSafe Alliance officials said they were grateful for the directive, adding that it will "greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families." "DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes," the company said in a statement. But Dan Hilton, executive director of the American Trucking Associations' Moving and Storage Conference, expressed continued reservations over the contract, which replaced a program that "continues to work well with service members." "We remain concerned over the GHC contractor's unpreparedness, due to lack of industry engagement in its program, to handle any meaningful volume during this peak season. It's been the experience of our members that the traditional ToS capacity has been unable to adequately plan for peak season due to the GHC contractor's failed implementation," Hilton said in a statement Wednesday. Megan Harless, an Army veteran and military spouse who has become an advocate for military families undergoing PCS moves, called the memo and the increases for do-it-yourself moves "a step in the right direction." "It's what we've been asking for since January. This, accountability and transparency," Harless said in a statement on her LinkedIn page. As part of the order, Hegseth also created a PCS Task Force to review the process and make recommendations for improving, expanding, transferring or terminating the contract or responsibilities of HomeSafe or the legacy system. In their statement, HomeSafe officials said they "look forward to working" with the task force to show how their program modernizes the move process and "resolves decades-long issues with military relocations." As part of the ongoing concerns with the PCS process, Transportation Command also relieved Andy Dawson, director of the Defense Personal Property Management Office, this week. He has been temporarily replaced by Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis. Hegseth said that the measures will help ensure that "our warriors and their families receive the best PCS move available." "The department owes them nothing less, and getting this right is part of restoring their trust in our military," he wrote. Related: Army Pulls Back Household Goods Shipments as Privatized Moving Contract Leads to Widespread Issues
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Military Times 2025 PCS Guide
Army wife Vanessa Seals, who was five months pregnant at the time, was forced to sleep on an air mattress for more than three weeks while her family waited for the delivery of their household goods at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. 'As you can imagine, it's quite uncomfortable,' said Seals, mother of three young children ages 5, 3 and 14 months, on March 12. While the movers who packed and loaded their household goods at Fort Cavazos, Texas, on Feb. 19-20 were great, she said, 'now the issue is waiting for our HHG to show up — we have no idea when that is going to be.' The required delivery date was Feb. 28, and their mover, HomeSafe Alliance, told them they hadn't found a driver to deliver their belongings, she said. Ten days later, on March 22, their household goods were finally delivered. And this is early in the season. The busiest season for military moves is generally mid-May to mid-September. With the military moving season bearing down on service members and their families, the prognosis for pickup and delivery of household goods is unclear. Much of it depends on the volume of military shipments and the capacity of movers to handle the load. 'The volume of shipments in the coming peak season ultimately depends on how many people the services are moving,' said Scott Ross, spokesman for U.S. Transportation Command, the Defense Department command in charge of the physical movement of service members' belongings during a permanent change of station. Following recent reports of issues with military moves, TRANSCOM officials no longer plan to fully transition all domestic shipments into the new Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC, by the April/May timeframe, as previously planned. The GHC contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, is handling the Seals family's move. TRANSCOM officials said they are adjusting their plan, but declined to specify how much they are reducing the number of moves that will be handled by HomeSafe. The command will operate both programs — the legacy system and the GHC during the 2025 peak season, 'and hold industry accountable in both,' Ross said. 'This dual approach allows TRANSCOM to leverage capacity from both programs while also allowing HomeSafe the opportunity to improve their services.' Members of the moving industry reported that more than 1,000 shipments were picked up by movers in the legacy system after the shipments were turned down by HomeSafe when it was unable to schedule movers, according to information provided March 13 by Movers for America, a coalition of moving professionals and independent owner-operators who move military families. The coalition has asked members of Congress for a pause in the implementation of the GHC. The new GHC system, which began rolling out in April 2024, aims to fix long-standing problems with missed pickup and delivery dates, broken and lost items and issues with claims. It consolidates management under a single contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, which is responsible for overseeing all aspects of military families' moves. TRANSCOM retains oversight of the program and holds HomeSafe accountable. Under the legacy system, TRANSCOM works directly with more than 900 individual moving companies, making it difficult for the government to track and resolve issues. Those problems culminated in the summer of 2018, when moving companies didn't have the capacity to handle the number of moves. HomeSafe officials have acknowledged there have been some delays in moving families, related to the capacity of their network of moving companies. Some companies have been reluctant to do business with HomeSafe because its rates are lower than those under the legacy system. Some families are feeling the effects of the delays both at the beginning of their move and at the end, when they are awaiting delivery. An Air Force lieutenant colonel and his wife at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, are among the military families who have felt the direct impact. More than a month after his move was awarded to HomeSafe, the company was still telling him 'we are diligently working to find you a service provider,' said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous. He was in communication with his local transportation office at Ellsworth the entire time, which he describes as 'awesome.' At the beginning of March, about two weeks from his requested move date, his transportation office on base transferred the move back to the legacy system. The Air Force and Army have issued notices to their transportation offices that any service members' shipments that have no mover assigned with less than a 21-day lead time before the move must be pulled back into the legacy system. The legacy system found a mover for the officer's family. A moving company drove from Great Falls, Montana, to their home in Rapid City. 'They're loading today, so big win there — no thanks to HomeSafe or GHC,' the officer said on March 18. HomeSafe Alliance has made 'significant progress' in strengthening its network of movers, and is pursuing 'every available option for growing our capacity' for the next months of military moves, officials told Military Times. It's working with TRANSCOM to resolve issues and closely coordinating on a careful phase-in of the new program 'to ensure a smooth peak moving season,' they said. As for the broader universe of moving companies, some of which are doing business with both HomeSafe and the legacy system, there is uncertainty. In general, moving companies are struggling a bit, because business across the board has been slow during the winter, said Dan Bradley, vice president of government and military relations for the International Association of Movers. But if the number of people moving in the DOD system is similar to what it's been over the past two years, there shouldn't be a capacity concern, certainly not in the legacy system, he said. But there is uncertainty. TRANSCOM had previously touted its plan to move 100% of all domestic shipments under the GHC by the start of this year's moving season, he said. Movers have been unsure how many people to hire for the summer or whether to buy more trucks, because they don't know how business will be split between the legacy system and GHC, he said. There's also uncertainty about whether TRANSCOM will reduce competitive rate ranges that affect what movers are paid under the legacy system. Those new rate ranges go into effect May 15. 'Movers are asking, 'How far do I go right now to prepare for the summer, when I don't have real good visibility of the landscape for the summer?' ' Bradley said. All this boils down to whether there will be enough movers to move military families this spring ans summer. As soon as service members get orders to make a PCS move, they should visit Military OneSource, where they'll find a variety of tips and instructions, and a link to start setting up their move. At that point, they will be put into either the HomeSafe Alliance system or the legacy system. They'll either deal directly with HomeSafe, or with a moving company assigned by the legacy system. A number of military families who described their experience said they've had trouble communicating with HomeSafe about the status of their shipment. One soldier said he went through the system as soon as he received his orders in October 2024. HomeSafe completed his pre-move survey Feb. 7, but as of late March had yet to assign a moving company to pack and load his belongings ahead of his May 10 report date to Fort Irwin, California. Communication with HomeSafe has been 'horrible,' he said. 'This will be my fifth PCS move, and I've never had to wait this long to find out who was moving my stuff.' HomeSafe officials said they have addressed issues with communication to ensure service members get the timely updates they need. They've standardized communication between departments, improved their training program, and added more 'proactive communication to customers throughout their moves.' When service members are having any type of problem — regardless of who is moving them — they should contact their local transportation offices, Ross said. HomeSafe advises service members to set up their HomeSafe Connect accounts as soon as possible after receiving an email with instructions for using the Okta user authentication system and HomeSafe Connect. They also advise to: * Update the destination address in HomeSafe Connect as soon as possible; when the shipment is ready for delivery, it will notify the service member. * Have someone available at the residence — the service member or someone standing in — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all scheduled moving dates. * Separate items such as medications, important documents, uniforms and other essential items, as well as jewelry and other valuables, to carry yourself. Place them in a separate, marked part of the house, or in a locked car, so they aren't packed with the household goods shipment. Those who experience delays should contact HomeSafe or their moving company to file an inconvenience claim. 'When a claim is approved, we compensate the service member and each of their family members on the PCS order for every day that their move is delayed,' HomeSafe officials said. While the services' transportation offices are being watchful of these HomeSafe shipments, and pulling them back if HomeSafe can't find a moving company within 21 days of a move, service members should be mindful and keep in touch with their transportation office if they haven't been contacted by a company. Regardless of who is moving you, take photos and videos of your household goods beforehand so that if something is lost or damaged, you have proof of their prior condition. Before disposing of broken up or damaged belongings, check with your moving company or transportation office to see what evidence is needed for the claim to be substantiated. One military wife who just began the moving process in March expressed the hopes of many for the busy moving season to come: 'I am trying to stay positive with our PCS move this year as changes occur within the military system,' she wrote. 'As of now we are skeptical, but hopeful, things will turn out for the better with our move come this summer.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Military moves are improving some under new contract, general claims
There are positive signs emerging about the troubled new system for moving service members' household goods. Officials have seen a decline in the number of inconvenience claims being filed by service members for out-of-pocket expenses they incurred because of delays in shipments being picked up or delivered, said Air Force Gen. Randall Reed, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, in testimony Tuesday. 'As we continue to look at performance, and [the contractor responds] to shortfalls we had seen before, we have seen within the last few weeks the number of those claims declining,' Reed said. The contractor, HomeSafe Alliance, has resolved 100% of the claims, he said. HomeSafe was chosen as the contractor for the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC, which TRANSCOM started gradually implementing in April 2024. A drop in these inconvenience claims, which are tied to delays, implies delays are becoming more infrequent. Inconvenience claims are separate from claims for lost or damaged belongings. 'While there's still work to go, we're actually getting improvements we're seeking,' Reed said during a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee panels on Readiness and Seapower and Projection Forces. HomeSafe has experienced difficulties with getting enough movers to pack, load, truck and unload service members' belongings, as a number of companies in the industry have declined to participate in GHC, citing lower rates paid for the work than under the legacy system. A number of lawmakers expressed concerns about the quality of moves for service members. 'As summer approaches, many thousands of service members and their families will be moving under a program that has not quite proven capable of meeting capacity needs,' said Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash. Constituents, including service members, have contacted Strickland with stories about the stress, financial impact and failed moves under the new contract, she said. Service members told her office of significant out-of-pocket expenses related to delayed moves and last-minute changes. In response to a question from Strickland about what TRANSCOM does to help people in those situations, Reed said service members who experience delays can file inconvenience claims with HomeSafe for reimbursements. Moving headaches lead military to slow new household shipping program Following reports of issues with military moves, TRANSCOM officials said they no longer expect to fully transition all domestic shipments into GHC by the April to May timeframe, as previously planned. Spring marks the start of the busier moving season for military families. Although TRANSCOM continues to award shipments to HomeSafe Alliance, it's adjusting the volume awarded to the company. Reducing the number of shipments is one option to try to avoid problems for military families. The new GHC system aims to fix long-standing problems with missed pickup and delivery dates, broken and lost items and issues with claims. It consolidates management — and accountability — under the single contractor, HomeSafe, while TRANSCOM maintains oversight. Under the legacy system, TRANSCOM deals individually with more than 800 moving companies. Because of HomeSafe's IT system and its interaction with TRANSCOM technology, officials can see what's happening in the program in a way they couldn't before — and identify problems and trends, working with the contractor in real time to fix them, Reed said. 'Because GHC is reshaping how we move service members, their families and their memories, we remain in close collaboration with the services to identify and and take action to resolve issues,' Reed said. 'While it has not been an easy path, and there have been issues, there should be no doubt we will see this through [for] the fellow service members and their families who deserve an improved moving experience, and we are going to deliver on this experience.'
