HEGSETH DIRECTS CHANGES TO ADDRESS MILITARY HOUSEHOLD GOODS SHIPMENT SHORTFALLS

By Allison Kirschbaum

Peak PCS moving season is fast approaching. In light of the ongoing reports of military families facing significant issues and hurdles during the last PCS season, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Transportation Command to change how the Global Household Goods contract is being implemented, to help better serve military families. Keep reading to learn more about the change, and the action being taken.

Hegseth Addresses PCS Season Issues & Lays Out a Plan

Many military families have shared their PCS experiences and struggles, calling for much needed changes. On May 20th, Hegseth addressed families, noting that while the PCS process has, "never been a great system," recent changes have only made the process worse.

He stated, "We know it's not working, and it's only getting worse. We've heard your concerns about contractor performance, quality, and accountability. We hear you loud and clear, and that's why we're taking decisive action immediately."

In his memo, Hegseth explained that during the 2025 PCS moving season, TRANSCOM should be prepared to fully leverage the new GHC program.

"We're going to split this year's peak moving season between our new and legacy systems. There's a new system we've been trying - it's not working very well - and then there's a legacy system that wasn't perfect...those systems can talk to each other and work together, so we're going to use both in every way possible."

Hegseth has now directed TRANSCOM to develop and implement rates similar to the legacy ToS system to increase vendor capacity and ensure that there are enough companies that are willing to move military family household goods.

Problems Under the New Household Goods Shipment Have Been Ongoing

Under HomeSafe Alliance, a privatized company running the military household goods shipment in cooperation with the Department of Defense, military families have been experiencing a number of issues.

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 soon became widespread. 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

Families Share Negative Shipment Experiences and Ill-Prepared Contractor Experiences

Many families have shared their poor moving experiences with HomeSafe, reporting damage to their household items.

Other families have reported their items being late, and not receiving adequate assistance to locate their belongings.

Families have also gone on record to report moving companies not being secured in advance, deliveries not being scheduled as promised, waiting weeks for furniture delivery, and more.

MyBaseGuide followed up with HomeSafe regarding 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

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

New Memo Directs Transcom to Make Changes

Pete Hegseth is making significant changes to improve moving experiences for military families for the upcoming PCS season. "We're heading into peak season of moving - PCS moving - and that process, I know, has been a mess, and we are addressing it. We have...to take some aggressive action and fast," said Hegseth.

In a memo released on May 20th, 2025, Hegseth directed USTRANSCOM to take the following actions immediately to help support military families during the upcoming 2025 PCS season and beyond:

In the memo, Hegseth called for the GHC and ToS programs to be held accountable for meeting their KPIs (key performance indicators). They are also required to provide weekly updates to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense and the Office of the USD for Personnel and Readiness.
He also directed that both the GHC and legacy ToS program be leveraged in a way that ensures maximum coverage for moves during the 2025 PCS season.
Hegseth directed that offramp non-serviced GHC customer shipments into the ToS program be based on capacity shortfalls.
He called for the development and implementation of ToS rates to ensure vendor capacity.
Lastly, he called for TRANSCOM to review and implement Economic Price Adjustment provisions in the GHC contract, when appropriate.

In addition to the above directed changes, in the memo, Hegseth directed the formation of a PCS Task Force.

This task force will be in charge of improving the quality of moving services provided to servicemembers and their families. Additionally, they will, "act decisively to improve, expand, terminate, or transfer GHC or ToS responsibilities as needed."

HomeSafe reached out to MyBaseGuide and provided the following statement in regards to Defense Secretary Hegseth's recent memo.

HomeSafe Alliance is grateful for Defense Secretary Hegseth’s attention to the Global Household Goods Contract and the directives he has issued, which will greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families. DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation’s heroes. We look forward to working with the PCS Task Force to demonstrate how our program modernizes and digitizes the move process and resolves decades-long issues with military relocations.

-HomeSafe Alliance

Many Are Applauding Hegseth for Taking Action

Despite there being much uncertainty around what will happen next, many movers and military families are applauding Hegseth for taking a leadership stance on this critical issue.

One such individual is Dan Hilton, the executive director of the American Trucking Association's Moving and Storage Council.

He released a statement staying, "As we have said from the beginning, the tender of service program worked in the past and continues to work well for service members, despite the challenging environment now created by the failures of the GHC contractor. We’ve continually seen shipments moved from the GHC contractor back into the tender program with minimal notice, reduced compensation, and already impacted service members,” he said.

“It’s imperative that TRANSCOM better engage members of the industry with actual capacity to find solutions that best meet our service members’ needs. We look forward to mitigating any further decline in service provided to our nations valiant service members and working with the Secretary’s team to help right this ship on behalf of our men and women in uniform.”

Others have applauded Hegseth for holding contractors accountable for damaging or destroying household goods, and for standing up for service members. You can watch the full announcement here.

Updated by Lauren Piette

Read next:

Sources:

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

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