JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The military is working to fix major issues with the way it moves its members after an Action News Jax investigation exposed serious concerns.
The busy moving season will start in just a few weeks and already we’ve found huge headaches with the system it rolled out this year. Now, US Transportation Command is " adjusting” its plan for the upcoming moving season- essentially slowing the rollout of the new system that’s created all the issues we’ve reported on.
Action News Jax has talked to families who have had to deal with those issues firsthand.
“The stress does not end,” says Olivia, who just moved to the DC area from her Naval station in Jacksonville. She made the more than 700 mile trip to the D.C. area, but says it was a nightmare and she had to do it herself.
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That’s because she wasn’t sure Homesafe Alliance - the military’s designated mover - would get her there on time and undamaged.
“They never called me,” Olivia said, “they never set up the appointment. They never showed up. They failed to follow through on everything they said they were going to do.”
Her story is not unique. You just have to go to any military Facebook page or chatroom to see that the transition to Homesafe has been a bumpy one. It launched a lawsuit, a change.org petition, and a bevy of complaints within the community the new program was supposed to help.
In 2018, we covered local moving company Suddath and its military customer issues.
Action News Jax first told you about this issue with Homesafe Alliance in February.
Read: INVESTIGATES: After the military switches to a new company, moving issues continue
Now, TRANSCOM says the number of “missed pickups and deliveries and other issues, led USTRANSCOM leaders to take corrective actions.” leading them to adjust “the volume Homesafe will manage.”
That’s a very different stance from what TRANSCOM told us in this interview last month: Andy Dawson with the Defense Personal Property Management Office said, “despite some of the early challenges we’ve seen, we see many positive aspects in GHC and we truly believe this will improve our service member relocation experience. ” but now, to protect that relocation experience, TRANSCOM is throttling back Homesafe’s rollout. Instead of giving the company all of its more than 300 thousand yearly moves, TRANSCOM service members can use the old system where other movers can participate.
This move comes too late for that to benefit Olivia, but she hopes it will make a difference for her sailors.
“There’s like a huge cascading effect here for the military as a whole and the individual and the service members,” she said. “Let’s just openly admit that there’s obviously a problem here and our service members need help…now. "
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Action News Jax reached out to Homesafe Alliance and received this response on Monday:
“HomeSafe Alliance is modernizing and digitizing the relocation experience for military members and their families through the new Global Household Goods Contract (GHC). In these early, developmental stages of the GHC program, there have been some delays related to the capacity of our service provider network. Over the last month, HomeSafe Alliance has made significant progress in strengthening our network, and we continue to pursue every available option for growing our capacity. We sincerely apologize to every family affected by delays, and we are working with U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) to resolve issues. We are closely coordinating with USTRANSCOM on a conditions-based phase-in of the new program to ensure a smooth peak moving season. We look forward to growing throughout peak season.”
Scott Kelly, President of Government Services for Suddath, a Jacksonville-based moving company that services military household moves:
“It’s good that TRANSCOM and the military service branches are aware that military families are suffering from ongoing failures with the GHC rollout, but what’s missing from TRANSCOM’s announcement is a real plan to fix it. Suddath remains committed to serving our military families, and we’ve stepped in with short notice to pick up moves that the GHC contractor has been unable to service. But at this point, everyone is waiting for a long-term solution.”
Matt Connell, CEO at TMM, a Jacksonville-based moving company specializing in military moves:
“TRANSCOM’s announcement lacks clarity on what specific changes will be made or what they will mean for Jacksonville movers and the military families we serve. We all want the best for our troops, and that starts with identifying long-term solutions. What concrete steps will prevent more military families from enduring the stress of continued GHC failures? And how will TRANSCOM ensure that legacy movers aren’t left scrambling at the last minute to rescue shipments?”
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