More vehicle processing centers available to DOD service members

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (USTCNS) --- The opening of three more vehicle processing centers enhances the quality of service member moves managed by the Military Traffic Management Command.

In recent months, centers have opened in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska; and in Sigonella, Italy.

The centers expand the scope of the Global Privately Owned Vehicle Contract by benefiting more service members.

Benefits of the contract include such customer enhancements as: conveniently located centers, direct damage settlements up to $1,000 and in-transit visibility through the Web site www.whereismypov.com.

The original contract was awarded in September 1998 to American Auto Logistics, Inc., of Monroe, N.Y.

Since then, the contract's original 32 centers have been expanded to 39 - adding thousands of annual vehicle movements to the contract.

Prior to the contract, each of MTMC's privately owned vehicle shipments were handled by as many as four, five or six individual contractors. The Global Privately Owned Vehicle Contract placed the movement of approximately 75,000 vehicles a year in the hands of a single contractor.

The new Alaska centers opened Feb. 1 and greatly expand quality of life initiatives for all military service members shipping vehicles to or from Alaska. The centers replace two facilities operated under precontract standards by other subcontractors.

"The centers will improve customer service," said Greg Wellstead, a spokesman for American Auto Logistics, the general contractor. "They will help us provide customer value."

The Alaska centers are expected to process 4,000 vehicles annually while Sigonella will handle 1,000, he said.

The new centers streamline the time and effort required for service members to process vehicles.

The new centers were developed by Mary Jane Pasha Maxstadt, General Manager, AP Logistics, Anchorage, the subcontractor for the two new Alaska centers.

"This is one-stop shopping," said Maxstadt. "Rather than go back-and-forth for paperwork, all the necessary processing is done in one place."

The centers include a voluntary appointment system which provides "added value," said Maxstadt. Center staff review orders, registration and documentation before the arrival of service members. This ensures all documentation is correct and necessary paperwork is preprinted.

"Basically, all you have to do is add the odometer reading," said Maxstadt. "It cuts the processing time from 15 minutes to five minutes."

Among those processing vehicles through the center March 8 was Pfc. Josh Chapman, of Headquarters & Headquarters Co., 1st Battalion 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Richardson.

A year into his assignment, Chapman, 19, asked his family to ship his car to Alaska. The vehicle was turned in to the St. Louis vehicle processing center Feb. 8 and Chapman was promised the car March 8.

The vehicle was waiting for him. It arrived at the Anchorage Vehicle Processing Center on Feb. 26 - 10 days earlier.

"It has been smooth," said Chapman, an anti-tank specialist. "I thought it would take longer than it did."

Before he departed, Chapman wrote checkmarks next to a string of "Excellent" ratings on a MTMC feedback form used to evaluate the contractor.

Fellow soldier Spc. Jose Guzman provided the final word. He drove Chapman to the center to retrieve the car.

"It is much closer," said Guzman, who months ago moved his own vehicle to Alaska.

"You had to go down to the port to get your car," he said. "You get lost back there. The first time there we were all over the place."

Chapman's experience brings a friendly nod to Katie Frey, General Manager, of the Anchorage center.

"The first comment we hear customers make is it is more convenient, comfortable and personalized," said Frey.

Shortly before the Anchorage center opened, Frey trained with the staff at the two existing California centers - in Richmond and Carson.

"The quality of customer service is our focus," said Frey. "We provide a quality experience." (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).