MILITARY HOUSEHOLD GOODS SHIPMENTS PULLED AS PRIVATIZED CONTRACT CAUSES ISSUES

There have been reports of the Army looking to pull some household goods shipments belonging to its personnel out of the military's new privatized system that manages moves. This is happening due to "contract performance issues." The household goods belonged to the military professionals who were moving places in line with their service. The new privatized shipment is causing many issues in relation to the military industry and their families, leading to delays in shipment.

The New Household Goods Shipment

A privatized company ran the military household goods shipment in cooperation with the Department of Defense. During their process in the households of the military families for permanent change of station, issues arise.

As of February, at least 1,000 of the 8,900 shipments initiated under HomeSafe Alliance had experienced problems, according to U.S. Transportation Command.

The issue became widespread and was requested by the affected military to address the situation. With the contracting performance issues of delays and inefficient proof before and during the shipment, some of the shipments handled by the private shipment were paused.

On February 28, 2025, a memo was given to pull back some Army shipments to the transportation offices by the Army Personal Property.

This action was done to stop the inefficient and dissatisfied work of private shipments for many years among the affected military families in their permanent change of station.

MyBaseGuide reached out to HomeSafe Alliance, and inquired about the changes that they have implemented to address complaints that military families have raised.

A HomeSafe Alliance spokesperson provided the following statement:

HomeSafe Alliance is modernizing, digitizing, and transforming the relocation experience for military members and their families through the new Global Household Goods Contract (GHC). Military families and Congress demanded this historic transformation to address long-standing issues with the old military move system. The new GHC program brings innovative technology to streamline the move process, a 24/7 customer care center to support military families, and strict requirements to ensure accountability and high-quality move services.

In these early and developmental stages of the GHC, logistical challenges have caused delays for some moves. We apologize to every affected family. Over the last month, HomeSafe has made significant progress in strengthening our network, and we continue to pursue every available option for growing our capacity. We are working with U.S. Transportation Command to resolve issues and maintain a conditions-based phase-in of the new program.

HomeSafe is taking all the lessons learned and continually improving our systems and processes, including enhancing our customer care operations, updating our technology platform, reshaping our training program for service providers, and hiring additional employees.

-HomeSafe Alliance

Apps Associated with the Goods Shipment

Along with the military household goods shipment, the applications included to track the shipment of the goods are Milmove and HomeSafe. These are the applications that have been receiving negative feedback in the shipment of household goods by the military.

The use of applications such as HomeSafe that the Transportation Command oversaw is noted to have made an issue affecting the military professionals. In the Army memo, it is included that their performance is evidently running in many topics in difficulty to track household goods shipment. The command added that full responsibility and measures should be taken to address the underlying problems.

With 1,000 military household goods shipments, they have been experiencing issues such as difficulty communicating the service, missed pickups, and missed deliveries, according to the Transportation Command's estimated statistics for the month of January.

The actions lead to disappointment for the many service members and families, as their services might be disrupted by the issues of tracking their household goods shipment or waiting for the shipment of their goods.

When asked about the negative shipment experiences that families have experienced a HomeSafe Alliance spokesperson provided the following statement:

Regardless of how HomeSafe transports household goods, loads must always be properly secured. We hold ourselves and our service providers to the highest standards to protect the household goods of our service members and their families.

In any case where a load was not secured, it does not meet our commitment to quality, and we take swift and appropriate action to address the issue and prevent recurrence.

-HomeSafe Alliance

HomeSafe Apologizes to Military Families

HomeSafe apologized to every family affected by the issues related to delays in the shipment of Army household goods and the difficulty of tracking the goods by the affected families. They also expressed wanting to learn from those mistakes and be better next time.

HomeSafe assumed their issues have been dominantly disappointing the military families, which is why they will take action and address the issues regarding the disappointment to the families in order to ease their burden. Although there might be a breach of the contract in the memo, HomeSafe will continue to be a solid decision to do better in providing quality services for the military household goods shipment.

One way that HomeSafe provides quality services is by updating its technology platform to cater to military families and make it easier for them to track household goods shipment. They also added a better training program focusing on providing quality education to their employees and hiring more quality workers.

MyBaseGuide reached out to HomeSafe, and requested their comment on how they are addressing the lack of preparation (ie. lack of supplies and scheduling issues) within the assigned contractors.

A HomeSafe Alliance spokesperson provided the following statement:

Regarding our service providers, we grade them based on our Carrier Quality Index (CQI) score, with timeliness and service as primary factors.

For more information on this, please refer to our fact sheet on High Quality Service.

-HomeSafe Alliance

Additionally, we requested a comment on why moving company information is no longer being given to families prior to their move being scheduled. A HomeSafe Alliance spokesperson provided the following statement:

Families can view their assigned service provider through our technology platform HomeSafe Connect, where they can also access details about the moving crew, including photos of the team members who will be handling their move. This feature allows families to familiarize themselves with their moving team in advance.

For more information, you can watch our video explaining this feature on HomeSafe Connect. This video is also available on our customers page on Homesafealliance.com.

-HomeSafe Alliance

Letter to Head of Transportation Command

A letter by Senator Mark Warner was sent to Gen. Randall Reed, head of Transportation Command, on February 26, 2025. The senator wants to request a briefing on the issues of the shipment of military household goods.

Since there have been issues expressing concerns about the shipment of goods, many press reports have alarmed the senator, resulting in the letter being given to investigate HomeSafe. The briefing will focus on addressing the issues of the HomeSafe Alliance’s capacity, specifically regarding the moves of the shipment that have been delayed over time.

Senator Warner expressed his deep disappointment in the private company handling the tracking and moving of household goods and shipments as it affects the military community. From that point on, Senator Warner only wanted to provide the best possible services to military families by shipping their household goods at the right time without any delays.

Read next:

• Moving Under the Global Household Goods Contract: What to Expect
• The Global Household Goods Contract Plans to Add More Installations in 2025
• Top 10 Moving Apps & Websites for Your PCS Move

Sources:

• Army Pulls Back Household Goods Shipments as Privatized Moving Contract Leads to Widespread Issues