Article Display

TMO enters peak season

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Jeffers
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron's Traffic Management Office recently entered its busiest time of the year, with service members changing permanent duty stations while their children leave school for the summer.

"The Air Force and the military are trying to be very family conscious and cause (as little) stress to the service members as possible," said Staff Sgt. Michael Garza, 20th LRS NCO in charge of quality control. "So the military is purposefully trying to move people when it is the easiest for them to transition, get their kids out of school and relocate."

The peak season started at the end of April and it will continue until late August or early September. During that time, TMO asks people who are preparing to move to schedule the pick-up date for their belongings at least three or four weeks in advance.

The number of people in and out-processing is substantially greater during the peak season compared to normal. In the winter season TMO sees maybe 100-200 customers a month, while in the summer about 600 a month come in. The three to four week advance scheduling gives the booking office leniency to find an available contractor for each member, said Airman 1st Class Josiah McDonald, 20th LRS personal property counselor.

The booking office that hires the contractors is the Joint Personal Property Shipping Office for the Northeast region, or JPPSO-Northeast, at Chelmsford, Mass. However, before JPPSO-Northeast is able to schedule a contractor, service members must first complete various tasks and paperwork after receiving their official orders.

"Once they have their orders they need to go on to www.move.mil and register for a Defense Personal Property System account," said McDonald. "This is where they do their self-counseling."

"Online self-counseling is beneficial for customers because they can do it on their own time," said Garza. "You can do it anywhere you have access to the internet so there is no more worry about finding time to come in for an hour long briefing. It is faster and takes up much less of their time and it provides them a lot more information because they are able to read it with their family."

The self-counseling isn't just informational. It also takes people through the steps to arrange having contractors pack and ship their belongings.

"It is a step by step program that guides you through the whole process," Garza said. "The first part goes over the orders. Then it covers the moving process and asks how much weight (you are moving), where from and to you are going, and if you have any special items like collections, TVs and electronics."

"Then, every three or four pages, it will brief you based on information you (submitted). So, if you are going overseas, it will actually stop and tell you 'Since you are going overseas you get two moves instead of one because you get unaccompanied baggage and household goods.' It also explains what household goods and what unaccompanied baggage are. It is almost like it is a Wikipedia; not only does it tell you information, but it gives you options to get more information."

In addition to being the portal for DPS, www.move.mil has an array of other tools and information that people preparing to move might find useful. Some of the resources available on the website include a weight allowance table, a weight estimator, information regarding shipping or storing privately owned vehicles and boats, moving tips, travel tips and warnings for overseas travelers, information and tips on traveling with pets, entitlement information and multiple how-to guides. Individuals are also able to see their shipment status.

After finishing their self-counseling and the online portion of the paperwork, people with orders must contact the TMO office. They can either call to arrange an appointment or simply walk-in.

The self-counseling that was completed online is forwarded to the person's local TMO office and a TMO personal property counselor assists with the completion on the final steps before sending it to JPPSO-Northeast.

In addition to having the mover sign specific documents, they also acquire the funding for the move from codes on the individual's orders. The counselor also validates all the information in the forms completed online.

"We make sure the information is imputed accurately," Garza said. "This helps people who are moving to avoid excess costs and it helps them get all the entitlements they are entitled to. We make sure it is booked properly and make sure there isn't any miscommunication being sent to the contractor."

"If someone rushes through and messes up their name with a typo, the contracting company can refuse the mover's shipment because, like a plane ticket, if you name doesn't match your ID they can't confirm it is you," he explains. "Or the person moving will put down the rank on their sleeve instead of the rank on their orders and the weight they're allowed would be off. They're very simple errors and these small errors can change things dramatically."

People moving don't have to use a contractor. They also have the option of doing it themselves which is called a personally procured move. A PPM is also commonly referred to as a DITY, for "do it yourself" move.

"The peaking season will not affect those doing DITY moves," McDonald said. "The only thing it will affect is inbounded service members because it will take us longer to process the paperwork (for their refund)."

Another benefit of doing a DITY move is that people can move on their own schedule instead of having to work with the contractor's schedule, Garza added.

Although people doing DITY moves don't need a contractor, they still are required to complete the online self-counseling and contact TMO afterwards.

A common mistake that people who are doing a DITY move make is that they move prior to seeing TMO. Then, they can't get their refund because they didn't have the right documentation like not having their weight tickets, or they moved before they received their orders, McDonald said.

"It is a lot easier if they come and see us, so that way they know exactly what they are doing," McDonald said.

TMO and www.move.mil provide tips as another way to make moving easier. Examples of these tips include:
· Unplug any appliances that need to be shipped out before hand.
· Clean the house 24 hours in advance because if it is untidy the contractors can charge a fee and reschedule.
· If you have things in the garage or attic, then move the items out of the attic and move the things in the garage to the front. This is because the movers cannot physically go into those areas because it is a safety violation for them.
· Members can pack beforehand, but the contactors will go through the boxes to see if they are securely packed and will repack them if necessary.
· If the person moving takes things a part, like their bed, then the contractors are not required to put them back together afterwards. Let they contractors do all the disassembling so that they are required to put them back together again.
· Jewelry and other high value items should not be shipped. If you decide high value items are to be shipped, they must be listed on the pickup inventory.
· Make sure that items that would not logically be packed in a box based on the contents description are specifically listed. Examples: lamp packed in a box marked garage, or a TV in a box marked clothing.

"If you feel as if the contractors are not doing their job properly or if you don't feel safe, then call the office and ask for a quality assurance officer," McDonald added. "You can request for one to be there at the pack and pick-up dates."

For questions or to arrange an appointment, call TMO Personal Property at (803)895-8613 or (803)895-8611.