New program aims to reduce woes with household shipments               Mike A. Glasch   Leader Staff

Permanent change of station moves can be a stressful reality of military life for service members, military civilians and their families. DoD is in the process of removing that stress by implementing the Families First Property Program (FFPP), an automated process for the worldwide relocation of civilian and military employees and their families.  “The government is trying to improve the way we transport household goods, in particular the companies we use to provide those services,” said Jackie Flowers, chief, personal property and personnel movement. Currently the first two phases of the program have been implemented. Flowers expects the third, and final phase (a new computer system, the Defense Personal Property System), to be implemented by the fall. Once all the elements are in place, some of the key improvements to be expected are: –– Shipments awarded based on quality of service and best value carrier selection. –– Full replacement value on loss and damage claims. –– Increased direct deliveries –– reducing temporary storage needs. –– Claims will be filed directly with the movers. “FFPP allows the service member and other DoD personnel to rate the companies,” Flowers said. “Everyone (who PCSs) will be asked to complete a customer service survey and satisfaction survey. Based on their information and input, they will determine how much business the companies get after that.” With DoD moving an average of 500,000 shipments of household goods a year, occasionally items get damaged or broken in the process. In the current system all claims go through Judge Advocate General’s Office. Under FFPP, customers will submit their claims to the moving companies directly. Also, full-replacement coverage insurance will be included, whereas before service members had to purchase it, now it is just a general part of the program. “Currently, customers only receive a depreciated value for property lost or damaged beyond repair in a move,” Flowers said. “In the new program, a customer is entitled to the current replacement value of the item.” For example, a five-year-old television is depreciated at 10 percent a year –– or half of the original cost. Under full-replacement value, the transportation service providers will either replace the lost or damaged item with a new item –– or reimburse the customer the full cost of a new one. Flowers added that since FFPP is designed to promote better service, and a more quality service-oriented program, the moving companies will feel a little more pressure to get these shipments delivered. “One of the goals is to afford service members more direct deliveries which would help eliminate a lot of unnecessary storage,” she said. “There should be less handling, less storage, and as a result, less claims. “I think it is going to be positive. It is also going to require a little bit more effort on the part of the customer because they are going to have to participate in the surveys. The whole program is dependent upon them returning those surveys via e-mail.”