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Task Force Fix: MTMC seeks faster improvements in service members' relocations

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (USTCNS) --- In the near future, military service members may find their relocation moves are a lot easier.

That is the goal of a bold partnership initiated by the Military Traffic Management Command with several national household goods moving associations.

Task Force Fix seeks to upgrade qualitative aspects of the relocations provided by the moving industry to members of the Department of Defense.

"We are determined to make progress," said Lt. Col. Nonie Cabana, chief, of MTMC Passenger & Personal Property Division.

Currently, MTMC is responsible for the moves of approximately 646,000 service members annually.

Unchanged for three decades, many service members complain their relocations are not on an equal footing with their civilian peers. Several pilot programs designed to improve the situation are probably several years from resolution.

Changes should be made now, said Cabana, to benefit the bulk of MTMC's military customers. Only a small number of service members currently benefit from one of several re-engineering programs within the Department of Defense.

"If I had my way," said Cabana, "we 'd have made the changes yesterday."

As partners, MTMC is working with the directors of three household goods trade associations. They include: Joe Harrison, of American Moving & Storage Association; Terry Head, of Household Goods Forwarders Association of America, Inc.; and Linda Rothleder, of the Military Mobility Coalition.

An initial meeting was held Oct. 17.

"We want a more immediate improvement to the existing program while we await resolution of the Full-Service Moving Program," said Dinah Locklear, program manager.

The later program, recently initiated by the Department of Defense, is the latest pilot designed to re-engineer the moving process for military service members.

Locklear said program improvements could lead to increases in retention and readiness for the nation's service members.

Areas to be reviewed, said Locklear, include:

· Quality of Life - Several features that will directly benefit service members include requiring movers to have a toll-free phone numbers and to provide full-replacement coverage for lost or damaged property.

· Quality/Price - The alignment of moving company compensation with customer satisfaction.

· Customer Survey - Development of a better survey of a customer's moving experience.

· Carrier Risk Assessment - Review of moving companies' financial data for early identification of high-risk carriers.

· PowerTrack - Implementation of USBank's PowerTrack payment software for household goods moves. (By Nov. 30, virtually all other MTMC freight carriers are required to use the system.)

Results of the task forces' first meeting were positive.

A requirement that MTMC movers maintain a toll-free 1-800 phone number for military customers will probably be implemented in the near-term future, said meeting participants.

Another improvement that saw no major disagreement was the required use of PowerTrack for moving company payments.

"If it works the way USBank says it will, at the costs stated, my industry has absolutely no problem with it," said Harrison. (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

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