By Cullen James, Navy Personnel Command Public Affairs
From www.navy.mil
Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class (SW/AW) Kerik Vargas switches his lights to high efficient light bulbs as part of Commander Navy Region Hawaii's (CNRH) energy conservation initiative. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Mark Logico/RELEASED)
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) – The Navy’s Household Goods department is urging Sailors and civilian employees to postpone the scheduling of any household goods pack and pick-up through July 15, 2011.
The Navy’s current transportation service providers are fully booked to and from Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
“If you can avoid this period, we advise you to do so,” said Frank Piacine, Navy Household Goods director. “Many folks do not have a choice; however, those who have a choice of moving dates should avoid this time frame or else be prepared for possible problems. Short-notice cancellations of moves may occur but the majority of moves will take place as scheduled.”
Those who have already scheduled their household goods pick-up should be aware that they could experience problems too.
“If you have been contacted by a moving company, we recommend you maintain communications with them and call them several times, including the day before the scheduled pick-up,” Piacine said. “If you have not been contacted by a company and your move is fast approaching we recommend you contact your local Department of Defense personal property office for assistance.”
Customers who are projected to move by July 15 and have not yet scheduled their pack-out should immediately log into the Defense Personal Property System (DPS), register a user identification and complete their self-counseling or go to the local personal property office to receive face-to-face counseling. Sailors and civilians can register with DPS at www.move.mil.
According to Piacine, customers whose scheduled pack outs are cancelled need to contact their local personal property office immediately. There are different options available depending on the customer’s circumstances.
“Members who are separating, retiring, vacating government quarters or have a date that cannot be changed will need to work closely with their local personal property office to reschedule the move or have their goods stored at the current location until transportation becomes available. Alternatively, customers can choose to perform a Personally Procured Move (PPM) and move as scheduled to meet their report date or have family member remain behind to conduct the move,” Piacine said.
A PPM was formerly called a do-it-yourself (DITY) move. Personnel who decide to do a PPM will be provided a rough estimate of what the government will pay them to hire someone to move them. This estimate is also how much the member can expect to see come back to them if they move themselves.
“If a member pays attention to counseling, does a proper PPM, then they may even make some money on the deal as the government will pay them 95 percent of what the government would have paid a moving company to move all their household goods in one lot.” Piacine said.
There are many factors that could impact whether or not a pack out or move could be cancelled, according to Piacine. Those elements include the location being moved from, the location being moved to, the weight of the goods to be moved, the specific dates the move must be made and others.
“Overall, less than one percent of moves will be impacted. However, in an area where we experience a ‘perfect storm’ and many of these factors impact a base or bases, the actual numbers for that area could be higher. Planning, preparation and flexibility are keys to success,” Piacine said. “Customers need to get their shipment requests into the system as soon as they receive their orders. Procrastination hurts the customer’s chances of getting a moving company during this time frame. The customer can benefit substantially from paying attention to their counseling, asking questions and staying in contact with their moving company once they have been contacted.”
For more information, contact your local personal property office or send questions tohouseholdgoods@navy.mil.
For more news from Navy Personnel Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/npc/.
